Trouble looms as Ngige’s kinsmen fault reinstatement of Anambra monarch
Kinsmen of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, have decried the reinstatement of the monarch of Alor community, Igwe Anthony Okonkwo, by the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano.
They insisted that Okonkwo was no longer the monarch of Alor as the community had elected a new ruler in Igwe Ebelechukwu Chukwumesili.
Okonkwo and 11 other traditional rulers in the state were suspended for one year by the governor recently for visiting the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in Abuja without authorisation by the state government.
Last week, the state government reinstated Okonkwo and four others.
But on Sunday, the President-General, Alor People’s Assembly, Chief Uzoma Igbonwa, said in a statement that Okonkwo was an imposition on the community
He said, “Most of us are already aware that the Anambra State Government has lifted the suspension it placed months ago on some traditional rulers, including the self-styled and purported traditional ruler of Alor, Mac-Anthony Chinedu Okonkwo.
“This is the wisdom of the Governor of Anambra State and therefore the decision of the government of the state. As law-abiding citizens, we assure the government of our respect and loyalty.
“However, what the Alor Peoples’ Assembly cannot certainly assure or stop is the passive resistance of the people of Alor to this six-year old imposition re-enacted by the extant restoration of certificate to Mac-Anthony Chinedu Okonkwo as a traditional ruler.
“The reason is that every ruler needs the acquiescence of the subjects to be. Unfortunately, Mac-Anthony Chinedu Okonkwo has none and therefore cannot be.
“We dare say that by the reason and decision of the overwhelming majority of Alor people, he is not our traditional ruler! Certificate makes no Igwe, just as the hood makes no monk. Only the will of the people, clearly expressed in the sovereign power, does.”
Meanwhile, the reinstated monarch has appealed to the people of the community to remain calm. Punch
