Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, the eleventh monarch of the Ikelionwu dynasty which has ruled Ndikelionwu town in Orumba North local government area of Anambra state for 300 years is rumoured to be facing succession crisis. In this exclusive interview with O’star Eze, Professor Ike sheds lights on the Ikelionwu dynasty, the boundary dispute with neighbouring communities, other issues affecting the traditional institution in Igboland as well as Nigerian literature, among other issues.
You recently marked your 88th birthday. How do feel reaching this milestone in age?
I am very thankful to God. It is the kind of thing I never dreamt about because 70 is the biblical age and that is what most people get to. Even 70 are very rare so I never imagined that I will be 80. So, I thank God for being alive. I am thankful to God for it.
What do you consider the greatest accomplishment you have made in life so far?
Well, I think it is my conferment with the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM). I see it as my greatest achievement because it is Nigeria’s highest national prize for intellectual and academic attainment. It really sums up what I have tried to do in my life and I value that very highly.
You are a celebrated literary icon. What is your view on the poor reading culture among Nigerian youths?
Well, I am very unhappy and I have tried with no much success with the federal ministry of education. There was a woman minister of education that I wrote a letter to. People kept talking about Chinua Achebe, Elechi Amadi and I am feeling unhappy that we are not seeing new ones. Of course, there is Chimamanda Adichie, but many of these people like Ken Saro-wiwa, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Gabriel Okara, there was one thing common to all of them – they went to a Government College, a government college of those days where the highlights of secondary career and where intellectual pursuit was encouraged. So, I wrote inquiring why we could not try to replicate the same approach of those days; the days we could compare our writers here with other writers in other parts of the world. When I was in the US in 1987 at the University of Iowa for an international writers’ programme, I was taken to their primary school for a creative writing workshop. It was most impressive because I interacted with them, I related with them and I watched as these children criticised one another. But one of the children asked me one question which I will never forget. He asked me, “When do you choose the title of a novel you are writing. It showed that the child had some experience in writing. Because it does not always follow the same pattern.
There was a novel I call ‘Conspiracy of Silence’. I was going to call it ‘Who is my father’. It was based on “fatherlessness” in Igbo society where we have children who do not know who their fathers are. In fact, many are not allowed to acknowledge their biological fathers and I decided to write a novel on it so as to let the public know the danger it poses to these children who are brought into the society. So, I finished the book, gave it to the publisher. And then, just when the book was about to be published, something happened and I changed it.
The same thing happened with my novel, “Sunset at dawn.” When I wrote that novel, I called it, “The Yellow Sun.” Interestingly, Chimamanda Adichie wrote a book which she titled, “Half of a yellow sun.” So, I called the novel, “a Yellow Sun” and Collins in England agreed to publish it. They had produced a hard cover for it and then something happened and I decided to change the title to “Sunset at dawn.” I thought that represented better what the novel was talking about. Interestingly Collins accepted it. And that title influenced all my writing.
So, in developed societies, they have creative writing clubs in primary schools and secondary schools and they have writers’ villages where people converge at weekends. We do not have such things in Nigeria. Back in my school days, the government colleges had staff and facilities that encouraged students to write. We had our magazine where we contributed. There was this teacher who taught us English Language and Religious Studies. He was an Australian and the impact he made on us was so much. He was a playwright, a poet and he was getting us to join him in writing his plays. So, each one of us would come to class with our own versions of how each scene of the plays would be. So, I thought we could do something like that in Nigeria where we would have creative writing clubs. The minister responded favourably to my request. Then she left the ministry and that was the end of it. Those who came after her were not keen to materialise the idea.
I have written to the ministry of education in Anambra state here severally on the matter with no reply. We are trying to achieve this with the Book Foundation here in Anambra. We want to see if we can start creative writing clubs in schools so that every child who goes through basic education would have been assisted to write well. I am worried that our people do not read, given all these things we use presently – the GSM and the internet. These things are creating additional problems. In Southeast Asia and Northern America, public readings are popular. Even in motor parks, people assemble and they share book critiques. But here in Nigeria, there are no such things. But I am still hoping that Anambra state will listen to this idea of mine.
Earlier you mentioned Government Colleges and some icons who were co-students with you there. Can you relay your experience with the likes of Ken Saro-wiwa, Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo?
Saro Wiwa did not meet me at Government College, Umuahia. He was a much younger person. However, even though during the civil war, we fought on different sides, it did not affect the Umuahia bond we shared. Chinua Achebe was ahead of me in Government College, but we became very close. He went into University College, Ibadan before me. In University College then, we had the University Herald magazine, funded by the university but they allowed the students to run it. You did not just join the magazine. You were invited. Chinua Achebe was a member and he knew my creative inclination and so I was invited to join the editorial team. Our friendship went on further. His wife happened to be classmates with my wife in Queens College, another great school.
Christopher Okigbo was my classmate. He was a very interesting chap. We kept together and I saw him shortly before he died. Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Arthur Nwankwo, some other people and I started a publishing company which would have helped the reading culture. We set up Citadel Press at Enugu, Chinua Achebe was heading it. Chris was the secretary. Chris had worked at Cambridge University Press before then. And when I came back, I joined them. The first war plane came to Enugu and dropped the first bomb at Citadel Press premises. When I heard about that, I had to go back to Enugu to see what happened. Fortunately, Chris was there. He was the general manager then and had been at the war front. Chris had no military training but he was a chap whose brain always had all sorts of ideas. He showed me a wrist watch he recovered from an enemy and he told me how he led his boys with dane guns and machetes won a battle. However, it is unfortunate that Chris died during the war. Sometimes I wonder if Chris was alive today, what would he have been. He would have been a huge world figure. I learnt that his daughter is trying to do something to perpetuate his memory.
A little away from this, Igwe; many communities in Anambra State are facing traditional leadership crisis arising from controversial selection of monarchs. What do you think is responsible for this?
First of all, there are many people who are looking for fame; to be known; to be figures that people interview like you are interviewing me now. Traditional rulership is one of the ways they can achieve this. I tell people at times that I had made my career before I became a traditional ruler, this is without trying to sound immodest.
And, of course, in many communities, the Igwe thing is not an established thing and anybody qualifies. I am different from that. I am Ikelionwu the eleventh. Which means that there were several others before me. This is because my ancestors came from Arochukwu and the first Ikelionwu came and settled and became the ruler. This town has been ruled by his direct offspring and I am the eleventh in that line. When the British came, our men were appointed warrant chiefs and then the Nigerian government came and, at a stage, an agreement was reached with the Eastern Nigerian government that, for Ndikelionwu, when a ruling Eze dies, the Umueze Ikelionwu, the wider family will nominate a successor and present to the town union and the town union will say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. And if they say ‘no’, they go back and present another person. So, something has been worked out but there are some people who want to change it, so that it is no longer this family. But you find out that this is the man who established the town by conquering neighbouring communities.
And there was a book late Professor Kenneth Dike, the historian, wrote with Professor Felicia Ekejiuba. It is called “Aro of the South-eastern Nigeria”. Ikelionwu features there. They called his time the time of expansion through warfare. A British journalist wrote about it in 1925 describing Ndikelionwu as ‘8 kilometres by 3 miles’ and naming many of the communities which later broke out and became independent communities. So, it is unfortunate that, in many other communities, there is no clearly defined rulership like ours and this causes friction.
Are you satisfied with the mere ceremonial roles that traditional rulers play in grassroots development in Igboland?
It is said that fund raising is championed by the town union and not the traditional ruler and problems crop up as a result. At my coronation, I made a proposal that there should be a town government law. We have federal government, state government, local government and we have town government and this would really be a chance to encourage development at that level. Because that is really where most of the activities are in Igboland. In Igboland, it is the towns that build churches, schools.
So, the towns existed before government. There is a new thing that is cropping up where there is a law governing the town union and then another law governing the traditional institution in the same town. It is better that we have one law that will bring the two groups together. And when they are together, there should be money paid to these communities from the federal government. Asika tried to do something about it in the east when he was the administrator.
Governor Peter Obi was trying to do something and some money was given to the communities. But the present state government has attended to it in a much bigger way with the N20 million community development project. And that really shows that he recognises the need for government to bring money to the towns. What now remains is really to tie up what government should exist in the towns but it is better to do it in an orderly manner.
There is so much conflict in most communities between the Igwe and the town union president. In fact, some hardly interact with each other. The Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council is drafting a law to resolve many matters. Because there is the question of who is the chief security officer of the town. But recently, Obiano has come out clear that the traditional ruler is the chairman of the town union security council and the president general is the secretary.
Recently, there was a seminar for members of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council where some issues bedevilling the traditional institution were discussed. Can you share with us some of the issues that were discussed there?
At the seminar, the theme was ” Igbo nwere eze (Igbos have kings)” We established that Eze or Igwe is not alien to all Igbo because this town, for instance, has been in existence for over 300 years. There are some other communities which are much older like the Nri people who descended from Israel, Onitsha and so many others. So, we invited scholars to present papers to show that kingship idea had been there, at least in a number of communities. So, this was done to check the problems in some communities. You find that even the 20 million naira community development initiative is still beset with problems. Recall that the initiative is such that the community chooses the project and, as well, chooses the contractors that carry out the project. What you find is that the traditional ruler excludes anyone outside the executive of the town union. So, you find the traditional ruler and the president general being the bidders for the contract. Obiano set up measures to see that the projects are supervised. But these are things that will be resolved over time. So, the seminar discussed the kingship position and what can be done to improve the kingship position.
What would you say is the secret of your longevity and peaceful reign?
I would not say I have had a long reign, there is Igwe Orizu of Nnewi who has reigned for over 40 years as well as Igwe of Mbaukwu who has reigned for decades too. I have reigned for only ten years. Here I have my problems but the problems I had tended to unify the town because they are caused by non-Aro neighbours. We are from Arochukwu. There is a place called Ndi–ike in Arochukwu. Ujalli, Ndiowu and so on are from Arochukwu. So, we have vast link. Before my predecessor died, people made several attempts to dismantle this town because we conquered people around and had huge land space. So, our neighbours were envious of the land space by this town. A panel was set up and six of our non-Aro neighbours ganged up and produced a report that gave rise to the 1991 White Paper which essentially sought to dismantle Ndikelionwu. They gave some portion of our land to Ogbu and others to Omogho, Amaokpala and the rest.
And this was what I inherited. This White Paper was never implemented. And there have been many regimes since 1991. The boundary committee kept sending me notice to give them a date when they would come and establish the boundaries but I told them to give me a hearing so I could produce that book I told you about by Professor Dike as well as some other evidence I had from archives. In more recent years, one of our neighbours wrote to the government alleging that all the land in Ndikelionwu belonged to them.
So, since I assumed the throne, my battle has been with them. And the way I fought it helped to keep our people together. That enabled me to stay even though that meant that resources meant to be used to develop the town were used to fight the battle. Peter Obi would never be forgotten because he saw the facts and said that he was not going to be bound by the so-called White Paper. But the new government came and the issue was raised again. So, we have been in court since then.
There are speculations that the Ikelionwu dynasty is being threatened by succession crisis due to absence of the crown prince. How would you react to this?
The speculators do not know how things run in the traditional monarchy of Ndikelionwu. Actually, I told my son that he is not a crown prince. Because the crown prince means that when I die he becomes the king. My father was not the king of Ndikelionwu. We have a constitution within Umueze Ikelionwu on succession. We did not want one arm of the family to be excluded. Ikelionwu had seven sons. We had a constitution that made sure that the stool moved from one son to the other. I happened to come from the fifth son, Ijoma. Ijoma has had more than his fair share of Ezes. Maybe it was because Ijoma was the son who insisted that his sons would adopt western education.
Clement Ike who preceded me was of Ijoma and several others before him. When Clement Ike died, they were talking about having a regent. I was against it. A similar thing had happened sometime in the past and we did not have a traditional ruler for over 30 years and we lost a lot of development. The primary school that was here was broken up and taken to Ekwulobia. We took western religion to Ekwulobia and then to Ufuma. So, within those years of regency, we lost so much. So, I was against it.
The government had established in the 1980s that when a ruling king dies, the family should sit together and come up with names of persons who should replace the dead king. So, when I told the Umueze family about this during a meeting I summoned, they asked me to give them some time alone to confer among themselves. And when they called me back, they told me that they had decided that I am now the new king. I refused it telling them that was not why I called them together. So, the issue dragged for over one year. I was in my 70s and I already had ideas of how to spend the rest of my years. So, within that period they had to evolve a constitution on how to appoint new kings; that it would go from one of the families of the seven sons to the other; from the first son down to the last and then it starts all over again. And this would start after I die.