The Igbo Speaking Community, Lagos State, has finally resolved who is the Chairman of Council of Ndieze following the declaration that Ezendigbo, Ikeja LGA, Eze James Agbowodike Nwalozie, remains the authentic elected Chairman of Council of Ndieze in the State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that this was confirmed by the BOT Chairman of the Igbo Speaking Community, Dr Jonathan Nnaji, who disclosed that Eze Agbowodike remains the elected Chairman of the group until another election is conducted.
Dr. Nnaji also revealed that some of those parading themselves as Ezendigbo in the State are not recognized by the Igbo Speaking Community, which has the standard guidelines for crowning Ezes in diaspora.
The declaration has equally resolved that Eze Nwalozie is the authentic Ezendigbo of Ikeja LGA as declared by the BOT Chairman, Dr Nnaji, which has sealed the false claims by Eze Uche Dimgba over the Ezeship in Ikeja LGA.
Speaking on the matter at his palace in Ikeja, Eze Agbowodike revealed that apart from Eze Hyacinth Ohazuruike and Eze Christian Nwachukwu, who are Ezendigbo, Lagos State, he is the 2nd oldest Ezendigbo while Ezendigbo of Amuwo Odofin LG, Eze Anthony Elui, is the oldest in LGA level in the State.
He explained that he was crowned Ezendigbo of Ikeja LGA 24 years ago and later elected as the Chairman of Council of Ndieze, Lagos State, during the election conducted by Dr Jonathan Nnaji, Chief Sunday Udeh and others as members of the electoral committee.
He explained that he was crowned Ezendigbo on 12th August, 2000, before he was later elected as the Chairman of Council of Ndieze in Lagos State; he contested with one Barr. Nwoche and won.
He also mentioned some of the executives that were elected with him to include Eze Leonard Okafor as Vice, who was later replaced by Eze Ephraim, who is the Ezendigbo of Aboru, Eze John Nwosu as General Secretary, Eze Charles Abasilim as Treasurer and others.
He explained that he has been silent over time on false claims by some people parading themselves as Ezendigbo or Council of Ndieze because he was ashamed of what had been happening in Lagos State over Ezeship.
Eze Agbowodike revealed that some people parading themselves as Ezendigbo are not Ezes because they have not been recognized by the Council of Ndieze led by him and the Igbo Speaking Community, noting that Ndigbo know their real Ezes in Lagos State.
He gave an instance on what happened in Ikeja LGA, where he was crowned Ezendigbo after late Chief Austin Ilodibe (Ekenedili Chukwu Motors ) was asked to become Ezendigbo in Ikeja and he rejected it.
He stated that he was recommended by late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s brother and he reluctantly accepted after he was given the chieftaincy title of Asiwaju Ndigbo for what he had done for Ndigbo in Lagos State especially in the Ikeja axis.
He explained that he was crowned Ezendigbo in 2000 by the people in Ikeja and Igbo Speaking Community, Lagos State, which was well attended by prominent Igbo leaders and other ethnic groups.
Eze Nwalozie stated that eight years later, precisely in 2008, Uche Dimgba claimed that he was crowned Ezendigbo, Ikeja LG by Eze Hyacinth Ohazuruike and gave excuse that he traveled abroad.
He wondered how Eze Hyacinth Ohazuruike, who was Ezendigbo, Lagos State, will crown Dimgba Ezendigbo whereas he paid him homage at his coronation. And besides, Eze cannot crowned Eze because it is against the customs and tradition of Ndigbo.
He explained that when Dimgba and Ohazuruike were summoned by the then Police AIG at Zone 2 Onikan, Lagos, Dimgba denied and told the Police that he was given chieftaincy title by Eze Ohazuruike, who also confirmed that he did not crown him Ezendigbo in Ikeja LGA.
Eze Nwalozie gave insight into what led Chief Sunday Udeh, who was not elected as President of Igbo Speaking Community to form a parallel Igbo Speaking Community with another Council of Ndieze, where Eze Chika Nwokedi emerged as their Chairman.
He explained that trouble started during the election of the Igbo Speaking Community among the three candidates, late Patrick Mba, Sunday Udeh and Sunday Eze, which prompted the BOT to intervene.
He explained that the BOT took decision and recognized Sunday Eze as the President. He supported the decision of the BOT and congratulated Eze but Sunday Udeh went away with his group and formed his own Igbo Speaking Community and unfortunately some of his members (Ndieze) joined him to cause confusion in the State.
He explained that despite the fact that some of his members joined Chief Sunday Udeh, the Council of Ndieze is still intact and they have their constitution, their financial status and the next step is to conduct election for another executive to emerge.
He stated that some of them have realized their mistakes and know that they cannot hide the truth forever and are coming to him make peace. And he had made it clear that they can only achieve peace if they come together as united Ndieze in Lagos State.