Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
Another history was made on Saturday as Nweke Fidelis Ogodo, a retired captain in the Nigerian Army, was coronated the new traditional ruler of the Umuezeoka community in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The community has been without a traditional ruler for about five years following the death of their traditional ruler.
Different women groups in their beautiful attires came en mass to cheer the event with their dancing groups.
The event was attended by people from different parts of south east including retired soliders from Ebonyi State.
The newly coronated traditional ruler promised to rule the community with honesty and justice and will not yield to temptation and corruption.
He commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for allowing communities in the state to freely elect their traditional rulers, describing him as a Democrat
“I will rule them with the fear of God, I will rule them with honesty and justice, I will not disappoint and I will not yield to temptations and corruptions. By the divine grace of God, I will do my best to uplift Umuezeoka in all aspects of life.
“I want to appreciate His Excellency for his openness, for his disposition as the executive governor of the state, for the free hand he gives to each community to elect a person of their choice and I want to thank him for all the projects he has awarded in my community ranging from building akadoro bridge, road contracts, the appointment he gave to my subjects, I am grateful and I am pledging a total loyalty to the culture initiative of his Excellency for the people of Ebonyi State”, he stated.
His wife, Ngozi Fidelis Ogodo, said she would assist her husband to succeed on the throne.
“I am very happy about what happened today. My role as his wife is that I will be supporting him. I will direct him to do good always, to rule with the fear of God. I will offer good advice that will make him rule very well because he is there for our people as the traditional ruler”, she said.
Dr Williams Alo who was the chairman of the organizing committee of the coronation, Dr. while giving background history of the kingdom, opined that the Umuezeoka community installed their first eze, Ezeogo Nicholas Chukwu, in the kingdom in 1979.
He explained that the ship rotates in kindred and now favoured Unwu-enyi people and enjoined the entire community to rally around the new traditional ruler to enable him to perform optimally.
He admonished the newly installed traditional ruler to unite the people devoid of their weaknesses while thanking the stakeholders, especially the commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Engr Jude Okpo, for supporting the choice of the people.
Jude Okpor, who is the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, enumerated all the projects of the state governor in the community, stating that the decision of the state government to allow the people to elect their traditional ruler engenders peace and boost communal trust in various communities in the state.
The Ebonyi state commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr Uchenna Igwe, represented at the event by the Special Assistant, Chukwuma Ujebe, commended stakeholders of the Umuezeoka community for their peaceful disposition and called on other communities yet to elect their traditional rulers to emulate the peaceful steps.
The state Commissioner for Rural Development, Ikeuwa Omebe and his counterpart on Border Peace and conflict resolution, Donatus Ilang, who was represented by the Head of the Department, Ifeanyi Igurube, described the event as peaceful and called on the community to continue supporting the ongoing administration as development only thrives in an atmosphere of peace and unity.
On their part, the national president general of the Umuezoka community, Comrade John Nwite, the traditional ruler of the Amawala autonomous community, His Royal Highness, Ezeogo Peter Oroke and Peter Nwakpa, Director Planning and Research Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr Peter Nwakpa advised the traditional ruler to be a good listener while maintaining impartial judgement.