Lawyers speak on Eze Ndigbo’s terrorism charge acquittal | TheNiche Jan 17, 2025
By Oduche Azih
“However, the court convicted and sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment for unlawfully parading himself as a certified Chief in Lagos State, a violation of the Oba and Chiefs Law of Lagos State.”
I can never understand this irresistible itch, this persistent urge “to teach Ndigbo a lesson.”
Which lesson?
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Years of experience and well-documented history have shown that this is a mission impossible. It is the teachers that have proven unteachable. I cannot help them in their delusion.
It was only two days ago that I responded to my friend Dr Frank Ojiakor on the general matter of “Igbo Kings in diaspora.” Far from disagreeing with his dismissive thrust, I chose to once again flesh out the oft-ignored origins of the Eze Igbo phenomenon and its many variants, an original creation of Gen Yakubu Gowon’s Federal Military Government. I presented no new arguments but much of what was already residing in my archives – Again on Ndigbo in diaspora and titles.
I had subsequently written and published other variants of this same theme.
Has any new fact emerged or anything changed to contradict the position that I have held and shared for over a decade now?
I would like to hear it.
Hence this residual matter of finding Eze Nwajagu guilty of parading himself as chief, certified or not, in Lagos State smacks of fishing for judicial relevance. I imagine that an appeal out of the narrow confines of the APC judiciary in Lagos State is in the works. Many Obas in the South-West who have been conveniently complicit in these matters, often with the approval of interested governors, would have to be joined in several law suits over non-existent, or ill-defined norms that have hitherto served everybody well. For goodness sake, they should have let the sleeping dog lie.
We shall see how all this goes.
Suffice it to say that chasing after Ndigbo, wherever you find them, and for whatever reason, is never going to pay. I hope that our Ndigbo legislators would take some time away from the feeding trough to consider these issues.
For the record, I have never had a soft spot for the proliferation of Eze Ndigbo across Nigeria or overseas. Hence nobody should misunderstand me.
- Engr. Oduche Azih wrote in from Isolo, Lagos State
