KINGSHIP IS NOT AND NEVER WAS A FEATURE OF THE IGBO CONSTITUTION.

Where it occurs it is clearly of exotic origin. But as it does in fact occur in one or two communities it must be described.

And for this purpose a brief account may be given of the constitution of Onitsha, which, though a small community, has played no small part in the opening-up of Nigeria.
The kingship at Onitsha was derived from Benin.

It is confined to two kindreds, viz. the Umu Eze-Arole and the Umu Dei, whose leaders agreed on their arrival from Benin that each should take it in turn to provide a ruler.

It is common in African states, in which the kingship is supposed to pass from one kindred to another, to find that the theoretical rule is readily set aside by any kindred which is strong enough to do so; and this is what happened at Onitsha.

The Umu Eze-Arole provided six Kings in succession until 1900, when the kingship returned to the Umu Dei kindred in the person of Okosi.

Throughout his long reign of thirty-two years Okosi had to contend with the continuous intrigue of the kindred which had been displaced, and it is almost true to say that every political difficulty experienced at Onitsha in recent times has been due to the jealousy existing between the two kindreds.

" It is said that the King of Onitsha is called the Obi because he is the ‘court’ (obi) of the people.

He had the power of life and death and was referred to as Ogbu onye mbosi ndu na gu ya, i.e. ‘He who kills a man on the day he desires a life’.

There was a royal executioner known as Agwagu, and it is said that before the Agwagu performed the duties of his office the King rubbed some white chalk on his arm as a sign of his sanction for the execution.

The King was also saluted as ‘Nkpu’ or ‘Ant-hill’, for just as an ant-hill has innumerable apertures so the King has innumerable eyes, being aware of everything that occurs in the town.

His counsellors saluted him as ‘Leopard’, one of the commonest titles of African kings. Leopards are the brothers of kings, and if any one killed a leopard he had to surrender the corpse to the king.

The King was also entitled to the carcasses of hippopotami, ‘bush’ pigs, buffaloes, manatees, and fish-eagles. Runaway slaves from other towns, if recaptured at Onitsha, had to be handed over to the king.

Any one who succeeded in obtaining the head of an enemy killed in war had to show the head to the king, who inscribed a chalk mark on the head-getter’s arm and placed an eagle’s feather in his hair.

At harvest all farmers were expected to present the King with gifts of yams, the number of which varied with the status of the farmer.

Ndichie

" The King ruled his people mainly through the titled officials known as Ndichie. Indeed, in many respects he was not so much a King as president of a bureaucratic society.

There were (and are) three grades of Ndichie, namely, (a) the Ndichie-Ume, (b) the Ndichie-Okwa, and (c) the Ndichie-Okwa-Araze.

The senior grade, namely, the Ndichie-Ume, consisted of six persons who acted as the king’s counsellors and chief executive officers.

They bore the following titles in order of seniority: (i) The Onowu, who is saluted as lyasele; (2) the Aje (or Ajie), who is saluted as Esagba; (3) the Odu, who is saluted as Osodi; (4) the Onya, who is saluted as Ozoma; (5) the Ogene, who is saluted as Onira, and (6) the Owele, who is saluted as Osowa.

It is said that these titles were originally conferred on those who had specially distinguished themselves in war, and not on account of money payments as at the present time.

This is hardly credible as no African King ever conferred a title without receiving some form of payment.

In any case it is clear that the Onitsha titles are modelled on those held by the Eghaivbo nobles at Benin, and some of the titles are in fact identical.

Thus, the Onowu’s title of lyasele is obviously the same as that held by the senior noble at Benin, viz. the Iyashere.

The Aje’s title of Esagba corresponds apparently with the Benin title of Esogban, which was held by the second senior noble.

The Odu’s title of Osode is no doubt the same as that of Oshodi, who was head of the Eruherie quarter at Benin.

The titles of Osuma (Ndichie- Okwa) and Isama (Ndichie-Okwa-Araze) are both found at Benin.

The word Araze would seem to be the ‘Arase’ of Benin.

A curious feature of the Onitsha system of titles is that the forms of salutation have a Yoruba rather than an Edo (or Bini) flavour. Thus, Orowu or Olowu is typically Yoruba, and Ogene is clearly the same title as is borne by the Oni of Ife (viz. Ogenni).

This may be due to the fact that the Kings of Benin were of Yoruba origin, or it may be due to a later association between the people of Onitsha and Yoruba-speaking groups.

Law And Authority In A Nigerian Tribe by Meek, C. K (1937)


Credit: Kehinde Thompson