By Uche Amunike
The Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Highness Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, has expressed his anger over the controversy that has trailed the conferment of chieftaincy title to the Senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone, Senator Ifeanyi Uba.
Recall that the traditional ruler of Neni community in Anambra State, Igwe Damian Ezeani, conferred a chieftaincy title on the Senator, an act which has raised lot of dust ever since it took place.
Recall also, that the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in Anambra State, Hon. Tony Collins Nwabunwanne, had issued a letter of suspension to the traditional ruler of Neni Community, on the instruction of Governor Soludo, for conferring a chieftaincy title on Senator Ifeanyi Uba.
In the letter, Nwabunwanne alleged that some traditional rulers in the state were conferring titles on unscrupulous personalities, even as he described Senator Ifeanyi Uba as an unknown person. As a result of this, two other monarchs who also conferred chieftaincy titles on Senator Uba were led to apologize for their actions.
The suspension of Igwe Ezeani angered the Obi of Onitsha, even as he wrote a letter addressed to the Commissioner for Local Government, where he pointed accusing fingers at the Soludo administration for not having any regard for monarchs in the state.
His letter partly read: ‘Your reference to a second-term Right Honorable Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as “one Senator Ifeanyi Ubah” is most disrespectful, offensive, and unbecoming of one holding a political office as Commissioner.’
‘It is noteworthy that a person can only qualify to contest elections after scaling through the highest level of security checks at the federal level. Furthermore, Distinguished Senator Ubah holds a chieftaincy title of his hometown, Nnewi, conferred on him by his monarch and Grand Patron of the Anambra State Traditional Institution, His Majesty, lgwe Kenneth O. Orizu.’
‘He is also a well-known business investor in Anambra State and a generous philanthropist. Thus, assuming that lgwe Neni did not strictly comply with Code of Conduct, would the foregoing factors not be sufficiently extenuating to warrant a far less sanction on him as was meted to some other ‘tiny fen’ that also failed to comply?’
‘The severity of suspension and threat of withdrawal of Certificate of Recognition suggests that there may be other issues with either lgwe Neni or Distinguished Senator Ubah which are being stealthily ventilated in this circumstance’, the Obi of Onitsha added.
He laid blames on the commissioner for not handling the matter properly while further accusing the administration of Governor Soludo of having no regard for traditional rulers in Anambra State.
The letter further stated: ‘I would like to state very clearly that your handling of this matter of conferment of honorary chieftaincy titles is the apogee of the progressive dehumanisation and dismantling of the traditional institution of Anambra State by the present administration.
