Isulor community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra looks to have joined the long list of communities in the state ravaged by traditional rulership crises, following the enthronement of a new traditional ruler in the town.
In the build-up to the selection of a new king for the community, some members of the town had raised concerns over the candidacy of one of the contestants, Chike Maduka who they alleged, is an ex-convict.
The concerns, however, were not heeded as elections went further and Maduka emerged.
Upon getting information that Maduka will be presented with a certificate of recognition by the State Government, people of the Community had Wednesday, led a protest to the state government house in Awka, calling on the government to refrain from such.
The protesters who bore placards bearing inscriptions such as “Chike Maduka is not our Igwe elect,” “an ex-convict cannot rule Isulo,” “stop issuance of any certificate of recognition to Maduka,” among others, disrupted movement at the entrance of the government house, accusing Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano of making plans to install a monarch in the community against their wishes.
The Chairman of Isulo community, Innocent Ugbasoro, who spoke during the protest regretted that despite a letter written to the state government with documentary evidence of the person of Maduka, he was still considered for the chieftaincy stool of the community.
“We wrote to the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters over the plan to install an ex-convict who wants to be the traditional ruler of our community. We are here to hear from the government if they are truly supporting someone who is our brother, and we know that he went to jail for five years over fraud to take over as the monarch of Isulo.”
According to Ugbasoro, it is against the constitution of the community for someone with questionable character to take up the kingship of the town.
A nonagenarian from the community, Anthony Maduafor said he had to join the protest to correct the tide of things which he noted, are already getting out of hand in his community.
In his words, “I came because we heard that Governor Obiano plans to issue staff of office to one Chike Maduka who is not from the right village. He is also an ex-convict and not fit to hold any position in the community according to our constitution.”
However, against the pleadings of the Isulor people, Governor Obiano yesterday at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia went ahead and presented a Certificate of Recognition to Maduka alongside the Igwe-elect of Nkpologwu, Moses Obijikwe on behalf of the State Government.
Making the presentations, Governor Obiano called on the traditional rulers to support the State government’s policies and programmes as well as use their new positions to form a rallying point for their community members.
The Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs, Chief Greg Obi whose Ministry oversees the Igweship process, stressed that Governor Obiano’s administration abhors a vacuum in leadership, explaining that the Ministry, in line with the constitutions of their respective communities supported the election process.
Many communities in Anambra State are presently at war within due to issues related to traditional rulership tussle, most of whom have accused the State Government of enthroning unpopular candidates as their Monarchs.
Among some of the communities are Uga, Alor, Oraukwu, Ojoto, Aguleri, Adazi-Nnukwu, Uke, Awka-Etiti and many others.
