Agbogidi: His Royal Majesty, my friend
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
When I stepped out of the main auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) to welcome Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha, to TheNiche lecture on April 23, 2026, I knew the sacrifice he made to be there.
Yet, my “thank you Agbogidi for coming” greeting was gently rebuffed with a riposte: “I wasn’t going to miss out on this, not with you and Alex involved.” To be sure, he owes me nothing and may well have stayed away. But being eternally loyal to friendship – he calls me a friend – he was obliged to come. Talk of everlasting kinship! Dr. Alex Otti, the guest speaker, was already delivering his lecture and Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II, Emir of Kano, seated as the chairman, when Obi Achebe arrived.
But I had no doubt that he would join us at some point because he gave me his word and his word is his bond. To be there at the time he did, he excused himself from a board meeting he was chairing, an enormous sacrifice he was making for us at TheNiche for the second time; the first time being in 2019.
Popularly called Agbogidi, the voice of thunder, the all-powerful monarch with his semi-divine status is an embodiment of ancestral wisdom, whose supreme authority over the Onitsha kingdom is inviolable. Yet, he is humility personified, a living embodiment of modesty – unpretentious and self-effacing
This tribute on his 85th birthday is my modest attempt at thanking Agbogidi, a man of uncommon qualities for his enduring friendship, which I consider a privilege.
Born on May 14, 1941, Igwe Achebe turned 85 on May 14, and to mark what is, indeed, eight decades and half of glorious sojourn on earth, Governor Otti, who embodies in significant ways the leadership qualities of Dr. Michael Okpara, Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, and Chief Sam Mbakwe, Governor of old Imo State, rolled out the red carpet in his honour at the Michael Okpara Auditorium in Umuahia, on May 15. That recognition was a proof that Otti’s leadership trajectory is in a class by itself.
By officially celebrating Agbogidi in Abia, God’s Own State, Otti demonstrated in practical terms not only his reverence for Igbo cultural heritage but also an unmistakable appreciation of the need for Igbo rebirth at a time of anomie. The gesture was also a subtle rebuke to some deluded political leaders who revel in the prevailing state of normlessness in Alaigbo by willfully undermining the authority of traditional rulers like the Obi of Onitsha that serve as the moral compass of the society. But that is a story for another day.
Agbogidi flanked by Dr. Alex Otti and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe at the Michael Okpara auditorium on May 15, 2026
The Obi of Onitsha with other Royal Fathers at the Umuahia reception
For anyone, 85th birthday is a milestone worthy of celebration. It is even more so if the life being celebrated is so eventful that even age seems incapable of slowing it down. For Agbogidi, everything falls into place in significant ways. Being mentally alert and physically fit at this stage cannot but be an extraordinary blessing from God. What is more, he, in turn, is a blessing to Alaigbo.
Ever since he emerged the 21st Obi of Onitsha on May 14, 2002, his 61st birthday anniversary – mind you, the Obi of Onitsha is not crowned, he simply emerges – he has come to embody royalty in its truest essence. In the 24 years he has been on the throne of his forefathers, he has positively redefined royalty by sheer dint of hard work, character and an uncommon commitment to the service of not only the good people of Onitsha, a community on the eastern bank of the lower River Niger but the entire country.
On the throne, he has conducted himself with exemplary dignity, poise and nobility of purpose. It is not always that monarchs act as stewards of their own lives, not to talk of the lives of other people. But Agbogidi’s legacy of grace, resilience, and personal impact has redefined royalty in important ways.
It is, for instance, his sense of traditional pride and the ease with which he blends the culture of his people with contemporary style that has catapulted the annual Ofala festival onto the global calendar of cultural festivals.
On October 1, 2025, I received two text messages from him. The first, a well-designed card inviting me to the 2025 Ofala Festival, read: It is the wish of His Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe CFR, mni, Obi of Onitsha, Agbogidi that you be invited to his 2025 Ofala Festival at Ime-Obi Onitsha.”
The second message was an explanatory note. “Kindly accept the soft copy of the Ofala Onicha invitation. It is expeditious, inexpensive, easy to hold on your hand device, and environment friendly. Sincere regards. Agbogidi.” I smiled. That was quintessential Agbogidi, a man of culture, tradition and élan, who is up-to-the-minute, suave and impeccably urbane.
The 2025 Ofala festival themed, Njiko na Ntachi (Unity and Perseverance), was broadcast live globally. Physical presence in Onitsha ceased to be an issue. Bu that was hardly surprising for a festival championed by one of Nigeria’s most digitally-savvy monarchs, who is also a public relations aficionado.
Since Agbogidi succeeded Obi Okechukwu Okagbue, he has taken Onitsha to a dizzying height through cultural renaissance. Though the Ofala festival dates back to the 16th century, in the 24 years of his kingship, he has enhanced its stature and relevance, thus elevating it to a global phenomenon. Sponsored by Globacom, the digital solutions giant since 2011 in what has become a perfect intersection of culture and technology, that marriage has transformed the Ofala into a huge tourism spectacle by introducing several innovations.
For instance, the Oreze International Arts Exhibition, which was introduced in 2012 has so far led to the exhibition of the works of over 5,000 artists at the annual event. In recent times, the Ofala attracts over 500,000 visitors annually and reaches more than 10 million people through extensive media coverage. With the technological innovations introduced last year, distance was no longer a barrier. The global audience participated in real time in all the activities.
But it is not only Onitsha that has benefitted from Igwe Achebe’s stewardship. Nigeria also continues to reap bountifully. In 2004, he chaired the presidential panel that looked into the February 2003 fuel shortage crisis in the country. A year later, he was a delegate to the National Political Reform Conference where he not only represented South East traditional rulers but also became chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Management Reforms and coordinated the Traditional Rulers’ Forum at the conference. He was appointed chairman of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council in 2008 and he is currently a trustee of the National Traditional Rulers Council.
Nothing in his life is by happenstance. He personifies excellence. On his return from the U.S. in 1972, he worked with Shell Petroleum Company where he had a long and distinguished career, so much so that even when he retired in 1995, they wouldn’t let him go. He was posted to Shell International in London, where he served as “ambassador at large,” for Shell Nigeria, a position he held until his emergence as the Obi of Onitsha.
Highly gregarious and urbane, Igwe Achebe is a member of several social, professional and non-profit organisations at home and abroad – Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management and Nigerian Institute of Public Relations; Life member, Nigerian Economic Society; member, Nigerian Institute of Personnel Management and Nigerian Environmental Society; Vice-Patron of both Lagos Island Club and Lagos Country Club, and member of the Metropolitan Club, Lagos.
His abiding faith in education as a fundamental factor in national development and the philosophy that lack of funds should not prevent any child from acquiring good education led to the setting up, early in his reign, of a manpower development trust fund for his beloved Onitsha community. In 2007, together with Oba Okunade Sijuwade II, the late Ooni of Ife and Alhaji Ado Bayero, the late Emir of Kano, Agbogidi was guest of the Director-General of UNESCO in Paris to share thoughts on the strategic role of monarchs in promoting STEM education.
All these were informed by his cosmopolitan worldview, which is hardly surprising considering his own quality education background, having attended Stanford and Columbia universities, two of America’s most iconic universities.
For his exceptional contributions to the country’s development, he was decorated with the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 2004, made an Honorary Fellow of the Nwafor Orizu College of Education in 2008. That same year, Anambra State University awarded him a Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) degree and two years later Kogi State University followed suit with a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree.
But despite these glorious heights, Agbogidi remains himself essentially, staying true to his authentic character and pristine values, always eager to listen and help. To say that his kind is rare will be an understatement. A moral force with exceptional qualities, to borrow an age-long cliché, “they don’t make them like that anymore.” His wise counsel, like the one he gave at TheNiche lecture barely one month ago concerning the imperativeness of independent candidacy in our elections, is exactly what Nigeria, a country in deep moral crisis, needs at a time like this. If only self-absorbed Lilliputians, masquerading as leaders, will listen.
Happy birthday Agbogidi – the people’s monarch!
