Title: Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom: Aborigines or Settler?
Author: BC Uroko, PhD
Publisher: Mentor IT World
Reviewer: Paul Iyanya, LLB, PhD
The monograph, Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom: Aborigines or Settler?, gives me much introspection after perusing the contents. Whether it is a fact or fiction is the subject of interrogation. It sounds like a fiction for one fundamental reason—that this magnitude of inhuman treatment can still be in existence in Enugu State, the global headquarters of the Igbo race: the most resilient people in the world?
That is the only reason one would think that the author, BC Uroko, might have rendered an account to teach how bad a society should not be in line with the Aristotelian propagation (didacticism). More so, the author deploys a rhetorical question in the title, making the work discursive.
The incisive book can be reviewed from the perspectives of sociology, literature and archaeology. One would expect playwrights to put the narratives on the stage because the book depicts some classical Greek plays portraying situational ironies.
My review is straightforward: Many decades ago, in Ozalla Community of Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State, lived a solo ranger, Onaga, who birthed Edeaniagu. Edeaniagu literally means the original landowner. Edeaniagu was the twelfth generation of his race, and was already a self-made man when the white men came. He was doing fantastic in business and agriculture, and controlling his kingdom serenely. He had no antagonists. He was indeed the first traditional ruler of Ozalla Community by all standards. That is the setting of the story. (Ishi-Ozalla, which is the micro setting of the book, was carved out of the Ozalla super-structure in 2002 during the creation of autonomous communities by the Enugu State government).
When the white men came, Edeaniagu’s palace was their first point of call in Ozalla, asserting indeed that he was the ruler. In the colonial administration, Edeaniagu was representing the entire Ozalla at the Native Authority at Udi. He came of age and then handed over to his only son, Onwude. Onwude began to represent his father/Ozalla community at the Native Authority.
The story of the Baby Lion
The story of Edeaniagu and Ozalla at large cannot be completed without the mention of the Baby Lion. The Lion symbolises the “waterloo” that visited the subsequent generations of Edeaniagu. Onwude, a prince, was returning from Udi one evening, and encountered a Baby Lion that was unguarded by its mother. Out of youthful exuberances, he brought the Baby Lion home as a pet. His father and traditional ruler of the community, Edeaniagu, a spiritual man, foresaw dangers with the act. He did not want his only son to be devoured by the Mother Lion, and instantly withdrew his son from going to Udi on behalf of Ozalla people because the route to Udi involved passing through the same forest where the Baby Lion was captured.
Flashback: Some natives of the neighbouring Okpatu, Ekwukwutu, Ituku, Akegbe, and Obioma in Udi, among others, in search of greener pastures, had been admitted into Ozalla in the course of time (01). Some of them came initially with violence to annex the peaceful community, but the hosts were equal to the tasks. Some of the migrants were hunters, some were looking for the fruits of the womb, and some were displaced in their ancestral homes, among other personal reasons. These migrants were later allowed to settle and also integrated into Ozalla, akin to the French Policy of Assimilation.
One of such characters or migrants that were admitted was Aninwangwu. Aninwangwu was later to find favour in Edeaniagu, and was made the latter’s aide. Aninwangwu’s son, Chukwuani, is portrayed as the antagonist in this book. Chukwuani, like an ill-fated child, became the locum or place-holder who replaced Onwude (as a result of the Baby Lion) at the NA.
Handing over such position to an alien was met with resistance of the natives. But Edeaniagu explained to his kinsmen that it would be temporary. Quoting Muna, “Edeaniagu gave Aninwangwu ofo, and told him to return it to his (Edeaniagu’s) family when his children grew up. They have grown, but the reverse is the case” (10). Chukwuani assumed the royal throne granted him by Edeaniagu. He became so powerful, with the connivance of external ties, including the backing of colonial masters (03).
Oedipus Complex
Like Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, who killed his father and married his mother, Chukwuani not only hijacked the throne, but also became the architect of peddling falsehood in not telling his subsequent generations the truth about their sojourn to Ozalla, and the fact that indeed Edeaniagu Clan is the bona fide landowners.
Without recourse to human dignity, the natives of Edeaniagu were subjected to inhuman treatment, including ostracising them from the rest of the community on the allegations that they are non-natives (13-22). Ahead of the ostracising, the larger Ishi-Ozalla had disqualified a descendant of Edeaniagu, Don-Sylvester Nweke, from contesting for the traditional ruler’s seat of Ishi-Ozalla. Edeaniagu natives were also removed from any key positions they held in Ishi-Ozalla. The descendants of Chukwuani are more in population, education and in business. They have seen the game as the game of dominance under the cloak of being the landlords.
Media reports in Chapter Seven of the monograph reveal all the injustices against Edeaniagu people by their Ishi-Ozalla ‘brothers’. The resistance by the oppressed people of Edeaniagu to accept such as their fate is the crescendo of the narrative. The battle is still ongoing. According Muna Okoye, Ufam Ozalla, “My ancestors are now reincarnating to tell the truth. My ancestors brought me back to right the wrong. I am the Ufam Ozalla. It wipes out evil” (51).
That has been the situation till date.
Putting the records straight
BC Uroko interrogates some pertinent questions pertaining to the discrimination of Edeaniagu people by the larger Ishi-Ozalla community. He adopts fact-checks to validate and expose the evils of the migrants against the aborigines, including making the natives appear like the migrants. The descendants of Edeaniagu, who now identify themselves as Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom in order not to lose their identities, were put to test in the interrogation. In law, he who alleges must prove. Three descendants of Edeaniagu the sage, Prof Muna Nweke, the Ufam Ozalla; Don-Sylvester Nweke, and Chief Peter Agu, represent the voices of the oppressed.
The Chapter 3 of the book is dedicated to these claims. Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom has the largest expanse of land in Ishi-Ozalla. For instance, they own the hectares of land that house the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital at Ituku Ozalla. Chukwuani’s land is insignificant. “Ironically,” observes the author, Chukwuani’s land “includes those Edeaniagu gave his father, Aninwangwu, as an adopted son in the olden days” (06).
Also, Edeaniagu, originally Umungwu, is the sole custodial of the culture of Ishi-Ozalla. “It is only Umungwu that have access to the community’s deity and its forest. Once in a year, the Umungwu can declare that other villages can fetch firewood from the forest” (07). The entire Ishi-Ozalla also acknowledge that Umungwu is the oldest.
The author also authoritatively traces the routes of Edeaniagu from multiple generations ago: from Nweke, Achukwu, Aniagu, Ngwu, Onaga, Ama, Aneke, Achime, Agbo, Ode to Owo in that order.
Again, the Ufam River embodies the community’s deity. Muna Nweke is the living goddess of Ufam River. Ufam wouldn’t have chosen a non-native to occupy such sacred position.
Then the Akwari Omumu (goddess of fertility). This goddess of fertility is domiciled in Edeaniagu Clan. It was activated in the olden days to enable the procreation of the scarcely populated Ozalla. The book reveals that some of the migrants that were granted abode by Edeaniagu actually came in search of the fruits of the womb. Some of them had infertility problems. Their prayers were answered, and they lived and procreated in Ishi-Ozalla. Ironically, some of them are part of those championing the dehumanisation of the Edeaniagu’s.
The location of Edeaniagu Clan in Ishi-Ozall is also strategic and revealing. It is situated in the middle of the community while the villages claiming to be the landowners are located on the fringes of Edeaniagu.
Above all, the book establishes that those who claim that they are the original landowners of Ishi-Ozalla still maintain closer ties with their ancestral homes in Udi, to mention a few. Is it possible that they are dual citizens or on an annexation mission?
What then is the problem? The book not only establishes the true facts on ground, but further proffers a long lasting solution which will be beneficial to the people of Ishi-Ozalla and also redeem the image of Enugu State, the headquarters of the Igbo race.
Former Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State saw the truth, and worked towards finding solutions to the people-created dichotomy. He had suspended the traditional ruler of Ishi-Ozalla because of the faulty system that produced him. Thereafter, Ugwuanyi set up a committee to investigate the matter. The committee could not complete its assignment when Ugwuanyi’s tenure elapsed.
Gov Peter Mbah, maybe unaware of the nitty-gritty of the case, recalled the suspended traditional ruler who was elected in a kangaroo election. The Mbah approach further widened the oppression on the people of Edeaniagu. They believe the only way out of the lingering quagmire is granting them autonomy to guarantee their homogenous development.
The book portrays the courage of a progenitor of Edeaniagu, Muna Nweke, who is the Ufam Ozalla. She has been leading the campaign against the selfish-orchestrated inhuman treatment being meted to her people by some interests in Ishi-Ozalla. She affirms that she re-incarnated to liberate her people from their age-long shackles caused by distorted facts.
She asserts and stands to be corrected, making a case of character defamation against the publishers of the book dead on arrival. The only solution is therefore to do the right thing by granting the Edeaniagu Clan autonomy as a community and abolishing all forms of discrimination against them.
The option of setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the state to enable the healing of the already-existing wounds is also germane.
To buttress these suggestions, a Federal High Court in Enugu, presided over by Justice M.G. Umar, on May 21st 2025, restrained former minister Frank Nweke jnr, et al, from ostracising the native of Edeaniagu Clan. The Justice also awarded N5m against Nweke and his ilk as general damages (read Chapter 7). THIS IS THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH AGAINST INJUSTICE.
I recommend the book to the sons and daughters of Edeaniagu, Ishi-Ozalla, Ozalla, Enugu State and all global human rights bodies. To Governor Peter Mbah, it is your moment to write your name in gold.
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