Otti enjoined the new Eze Aro to be firm, courageous and to do the right thing at all times and pledged that the government would support him.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has congratulated His Royal Majesty, Eberechukwu Eni Kanu Oji on his emergence as Eze Aro the ninth of Arochukwu Kingdom.
Otti stated this when he received the monarch, Aro indigenes, and members of Nzuko Aro Worldwide who visited him on Thursday. He stressed the need for peaceful co-existence among the people of Arochukwu Kingdom, whom he described as very resilient, wise and industrious.
He said his administration would continue to do the right thing no matter whose ox is gored, adding that it was for that reason that he insisted that due process must be followed in selecting the Eze Aro.
“Our own government is courageous. We like to do the right thing in spite of whose ox is gored. We insist on doing the right thing and we can courageously work through it to ensure the right thing is done. So, anywhere people are doing the wrong thing, we will not accept it,” said the governor.
Otti enjoined the new Eze Aro to be firm, courageous and to do the right thing at all times and pledged that the government would support him.
“I will encourage you to be firm, courageous, to do the right thing and you can count on the government to support you, once you are doing the right thing,” the governor declared.
“You have age on your side, you have education, you have contact and you have been successful with other things you have been doing. You have a second address. That’s what we require these days.
READ ALSO:
Otti pleased with plan to set up national eye centre in Abia, pledges support
“So with all the network, all the contacts that you have, all the resources you can mobilise, I believe that in no distant future, Aro will be different.
“We have a government that is also on that trajectory of changing everything and making things new. If we have one weak link anywhere, it affects the entire chain. So that’s why we have our eyes open to ensure that every society gives us the best,” Otti counselled.
Earlier in his speech, the Eze Aro thanked Otti for ensuring that his emergence was done in line with the tradition of Aro Kingdom, stating that, for following due process, peace, harmony and prosperity reign in Aro Kingdom.
He assured that Aro people would work together to preserve these ideals.
The new Eze Aro was accompanied on his visit to the governor by his wife, Nneoma (Nneoha); the Eze Ibom Isii and Eze Eze Agwu na Okwara Agwu, the two traditional powers behind the Eze Aro stool; his father, Mazi Joshua Oji; a previous Arianzu (Regent) of Aro Kingdom, Mazi Oji Oji; president-general of Arochukwu, and a host of other elders and sons and daughters of Arochukwu Kingdom.