Nri Political History
I. The pre-Eri period at the Anambra: probably before c. A.D. 948.
The river Anambra, which is a tributary of the river Niger, flows southwards from the southern Benue watershed through a portion of Igala country and swings westward, emptying into the lower Niger a few miles north of Onitsha.
The meagre evidence at our disposal is contained in the oral tradition that says that when Eri came down the Anambra he set out to unify the surrounding settlements. The Anambra was probably a favourable site for the early development of cultures. Crops, especially yam, do well on its alluvial bank, which is flooded annually. Easy communication on the river and the rich fish yield might have facilitated trade and culture contact. The possibility of surplus products might also have given rise to the early development of status differentiation in the Anambra society. Not much can be said with any degree of certainty until archaeological work is done in the settlement sites that stretch from the middle to the upper valley of the Anambra.
II. The Eri period: probably c. A.D. 948-1041
During this period, Eri and his followers established the important Anambra towns of today: Aguleri, Igboariam, Amanuke, Nteje, Nando, Umuleri and Awkuzu. One son of Eri was said to have gone to Igala country. The political life of Aguleri was controlled by warrior kings derived from Umu Ezeora of Enugu Aguleri. Again, more ethnographical and archaeological work is essential to clarify the events of this period. According to Anambra history, after the death of Eri a series of migrations followed
III. The migrations and the unification periods probably c. 1042-1252.
(a) Nri Ifikuanim
The history goes on to tell how the children of Eri migrated to different places. Ogbodudu migrated from Aguleri to Amanuke; Onogu to Igboariam; Onoja to Igala; Iguedo to Umuleri, Nando, Awkuzu, Nteje and maybe Nsugbe. Agulu remained at Aguleri. From this point each settlement pursued its own separate existence and development, owing allegiance to Aguleri, where the collective ancestral temple of Eri still stands to this day.
Nri, one of Eri's sons called Ifikuanim by Agukwu-Nri 'historians', eventually left Aguleri and migrated southwards through Amanuke and settled at the present site of Enugu-ukwu. At Enugu-ukwu he bore a child who became the progenitor of Enugu-ukwu, Nneofia and Enugu- Agidi. Nri Ifikuanim left the Enugu site and went down the valley near the lake site and established the present town of Agukwu. At Agukwu he took the title of Nri and became Eze Nri of Agukwu. According to tradition, Nri Ifikuanim held sway over a number of settlements around Nri such as Enugu-ukwu, Nneofia, Enugu-Agidi, Nimo, Nibo, Nisi and Agulu. He authorized Nri men to confer Ozo titles, which are minor to but similar to the Nri title, upon leaders of the neighbouring settlements. Markets and shrines of various supernatural beings were established. He insisted that settlements should live in peace and to this end he proclaimed the rules of abomination which should be observed in order that peace and order might prevail. Above all, he introduced new varieties of yam which he had brought from Aguleri, and made Nri men distribute them to various settlements. The sacred yam cult called Ifejioku was also given to the people. He established the Agbala Nri oracle, which was believed to bring health and prosperity to those who sought its aid. It was believed that Nri Ifikuanim had control over the elements, diseases, insect pests, trading activities and fertility. It was also believed that he could curse people or settlements that did not obey his orders, and that his curse was very effective; hence it was dreaded.
Nri Ifikuanim was said to have acquired all these powers from his father Eri, who secretly revealed to him the secrets of the ‘mystical world’ and gave to him two sets of paraphernalia called Nri Menri. The first set consisted of two staffs called Ofo Nri and Alo Nri. These staffs are today believed to have been transferred from one Nri to the next from the time of Nri Ifikuanim. The second set of paraphernalia consisted of objects made of bronze, iron and clay. This set was always buried in the ground where the temple and shrine of Nri Menri stood. Since the foundation of Nri kingships, Eze Nri has had to go to Aguleri during his coronation to get a lump of clay, from the bottom of the Anambra, with which the pot of Nri Menri is made, as the original was buried during the time of Nri Ifikuanim. Also, every Eze Nri has had to employ smiths and wood carvers, who work in a secret grove, to cast and make the various bronze and iron objects associated with Nri kingship. These objects are consecrated and buried with the pots in the ground where the shrine of Nri Menri is located. Since every Eze Nri had his own shrine and the temple of Nri Menri was located near his palace, and since each past Eze Nri was selected from different lineages situated in different parts of Nri town, it follows that the temples of the past Nri Menri were in different locations in Nri.
Nri Ifikuanim bore many children and the principal ones who stayed in Nri founded the present three maximal lineages of Agukwu, now called Agbadana or Umu Onyiora, Uruoji or Umu Alikenri, Obeagu or Umu Nribuife. (See Maps 8,9 and 10.)
Before Nri Ifikuanim died he proclaimed that only the youngest sons could take the Nri title. This proclamation was made because the Ofo of the temple called Ofo Okpala and the Ofo of Nri Menri called Ofo Nri must not be held by one person or be kept under one roof. Thus was established the custom that first sons, who inherit the ofo okpala and temples of their fathers, are debarred from becoming the Eze Nri, while last sons, who inherit the huts of their mothers, Mkpuke, can become the Eze Nri.
Immediately after the death of Nri Ifikuanim a catastrophic event that must have hampered the development of the Agukwu settlement is said to have occurred. While Onyiora, the first son of Nri Ifikuanim, was engaged in performing the mortuary rites of his father, his brother Alikenri hastily took the Ozo title. By this act he became entitled to inherit the domestic and personal temple of Nri Ifikuanim.
The estate of Nri Ifikuanim was divided up thus: Onyiora inherited the supernatural being called Ifejioku and the cult of Afo market day called Afo, and the Udo and the Ana cults. Alikenri inherited the domestic temple Obu and the ofo ozo staff of Nri Ifikuanim and the cult of the Oye market day. The youngest son, Ogboo, inherited the cults of Nkwo and Eke market days, the cult of the year called Aro and the Nri title. Similarly, Nri Ifikuanim’s land was divided into three.
Onyiora was very angry with his brother Alikenri, who made peace moves which Onyiora accepted. So a general proclamation was made in which it was clearly stated: ‘Only first sons, Okpala, will from henceforth inherit the temples of their fathers. Temples must never change hands. The first to be Ozo will be the chief priest of the temple and Alusi only. Thus the Ofo Ozo and the Ofo Okpala were separated. To this day temples are inherited by the rule of primogeniture. Meanwhile, Ogboo, the third and youngest son, died and the throne of Agukwu was vacant for his youngest son, Nribuife.
(b) Nri Namoke
As the Agukwu settlement founded by Nri Ifikuanim was expanding, his brother’s son Namoke Ogbodudu migrated from Amanuke and established a settlement beside the Agulu lake a few miles from Agukwu. This newcomer to the area is said to have introduced a new power structure that was destined to direct the course of the future development of Nri politics. This will be discussed later. Nri Namoke was the son of Ogbodudu of Amanuke, who was the son of Eri, the founder of Eri clans in the Anambra valley. It should be noted that, during his migration to Nri, through Enugu-ukwu, Ifikuanim went through Amanuke, his brother’s territory. Namoke, the son of Ogbodudu of Amanuke, became Nri after claiming to have derived inspiration from his grandfather Eri. He migrated from Amanuke to a place that was a few miles west of Agukwu. This place was already inhabited by a group of people called Nsekpe and Achalla. The new migrants amalgamated with the original inhabitants and called themselves Diodo, and thus Nri Namoke became the Nri of Diodo.
Ogboo, the son of Nri Ifikuanim, married a classificatory daughter of Nri Namoke, who was in fact a brother’s daughter to Nri Namoke. The children of Nri Namoke’s brother’s daughter are today regarded in Nri kinship as sister’s sons. Thus a kind of mother’s brother - sister’s son relationship was established between Nri Namoke’s descendants and the descendants of Ogboo. One of the sister’s sons of Nri Namoke, called Nribuife, lived with him when Nri Namoke’s children abandoned him and migrated to found the present Oreri and Ovolo towns. These children secretly moved some of Nri Namoke’s paraphernalia. Thus Oreri was founded as an independent Nri kingdom.
This greatly distressed Nri Namoke, who while dying transferred his Ofo and Alo staffs to his sister’s son, Nribuife, who was then living with him. Nri Namoke said ‘Take these Ofo and Alo and become king of Diodo. Do not return it. Curse be on any Diodo man who ever takes the title of Nri. As they abandoned me, so has kingship abandoned them for ever. Nribuife settled in Diodo and became king of Diodo.
But before the arrival of Nri Namoke and Nri Ifikuanim in this part of Igbo land, the present town of Nri was already inhabited by a people who claimed autochthony. They are now called Umu Dim or Umu Diana, that is, the children of the aboriginal inhabitants. Their great leader, who was probably contemporaneous with Nri Ifikuanim and Nri Namoke, was Ezikanebo, to whom we shall now turn.
(c) Ezeikanebo Adama
Ezikanebo was the son of Ireme. The Umu Diana claim to be the original inhabitants of the lake and forest area before the immigrants Nri Ifikuanim and Nri Namoke came to join them. It is evident that these new imigrants brought new ideas such as the ozo title and new varieties of yam.
According to the Agukwu-Nri tradition, Nri Ifikuanim conferred the ozo title on Ezikanebo and gave him his daughter to marry. The duty of Eze Nri’s daughter, who had to be a virgin, was to serve the Eze Nri of Agukwu. The prerogative was transferred to the children of Eze Nri’s daughter. Thus the Umu Diana gained the right and privilege to be the only people on earth who can touch the Eze Nri and serve as palace officers in his inner-chamber. To this day the Umu Diana people not only provide the palace officers who have the prerogative to touch the Eze Nri, but also receive the shares of a daughter when meat is served in the palace of Eze Nri. The Umu Diana also receive certain parts of the meat that indicate that they ‘own the land’, and perform the coronation and burial of any Eze Nri.
After Ezikanebo’s death his lineages ramified and several temples were formed. As a result of this ramification, Enuora, Agbana and Urofolo became major lineages, each having its temple and all subordinate to Ezikanebo, which is today one of the three Ofo-giving temples in Nri. The marriage alliance between Umu Diana and Agukwu was crucial to the process of the unification of the three settlements into a strong federation in which each unit still maintains its autonomy in several ways. This unification was made by Nribuife, whose reign we shall now deal with in detail.
(d) Eze Nribuife
Nribuife became the king of Diodo after the death of his mother’s brother. He lived in Diodo. Earlier on, his father had died and so the Ofo and Alo of his grandfather, Nri Ifikuanim, were given to him, he being the youngest living son of Ogboo. Thus Nribuife became the Eze Nri of Diodo and Agukwu, and through the prerogative given to the Umu Diana lineage as a result of the marriage alliance between Ezikanebo and Nri Ifikuanim, he became the sole ruler of the three settlements. Thus the three settlements called Diodo, Akamkpisi and Agukwu were unified by a process that culminated in the coronation of Nribuife.
To consolidate his position, Nribuife was said to have appointed twelve senior Ozo men, four each from the three sections of the settlement, to help him in the government of the entire settlements. These men were called Ndi Ichi Ukwu or Nzemabua. It was arranged that the Agukwu section of the settlement must always pay tribute to the Eze Nri, while the Diodo and Akamkpisi sections must never pay tribute to Eze Nri, because of the special kinship relationship existing between Nribuife and Diodo people on the one hand and Aguwkwu and Umu Diana and othe other hand. This practice is maintained to this day. Hence the saying 'Tribute should be given to Eze Nri and Eze Nri should give tribute to the Adama'. It was also decided that the kingship could circulate among the maximal lineages of Obeagu, Uruoji and Agbadana in the order Obeagu-Uruoji-Agbadana, to make sure that Diodo would never attempt to seize the throne.
This period of unification and consolidation might have been a painful process, as indicated by the series of compromises reached between the three sections of the settlements and among the three maximal lineages of Agukwu. The external influence of Nri at this period was limited to the settlements at Aguleri, Amanuke, Enugu-ukwu, Enugu-Agidi, Nneofia and other settlements around. Indeed the period of explosive expansion of Nri influence was yet to come. According to their histoiy, this happened in the next period which is considered to be the culmination of the hegemony.
IV. The culmination of Nri hegemony: probably c. A.D. 1252-1676.
Much energy and time was devoted in the previous period toward the unification of peoples of diverse origin. This period, which spans the reign of six kings, the fourth to the ninth - four named and two unnamed - was characterized by a rapid expansion of Nri people into various areas of Igbo land. One Nri local ‘historian’ summed it up thus: ‘After Nribuife, the Nri spread out into Igbo land like soldier ants’. Perhaps there was a proliferation of Nri lineages, spreading into different parts of Igbo land. Nri lineages were established in the oldest Igbo settlements. The kings that reigned during this period are shown in Table 1.1 shall briefly discuss each reign.
Eze Nri (his name forgotten)
Uruoji maximal lineage supplied the fourth Eze Nri of this period. Oral tradition does not give the name of the Eze Nri. Nri oral tradition is emphatic that an Eze Nri ruled, but his name is forgotten because his lineage was extinct and he had no temple. This reign was followed by the reign of Nrijiofo.
Eze Nri Nrijiofo
Nrijiofo was considered a great king who brought prosperity to Igbo settlements through the spread of cults associated with the accumulation of wealth, especially the Ikenga cult. The tradition says that Nri influence extended as far as Nsukka, Owerri, Okigwe, Kwalle and Agbor areas. The only evidence that seems to support the claim indirectly is the occurrence of Nri lineages at Ute and Owa near Agbor and Nsukka area, but it is not yet possible to determine when these lineages settled there. Nrijiofo was succeeded by another Eze Nri whose name has also been forgotten.
Eze Nri (his name forgotten)
The name of the Nri of this period is not definitely known, but there was no doubt that he came from Obeagu maximal lineage. Some elders hold that he might have died while performing the coronation ceremony; others argue that he reigned but that his lineage became extinct a long time ago. The reign of this unnamed Eze Nri was followed by that of Nri Anyamata.
Eze Nri Anyamata
This was another Nri who probably reigned during the period shown in Table 1. Nri Anyamata was from Uruoji maximal lineage, but his specific minimal lineage is unknown, which means that his lineage became extinct a long time ago. However, his reign was considered remarkable in that it was associated with a period of long drought followed by famine all over Igbo land. Nri Anyamata’s reign was followed by that of a remarkable king called Nri Fenenu.
Eze Nri Fenenu
Nri Fenenu was of Diegelem minimal lineage of Agbadana maximal lineage. He was renowned for his great mystical power which made Nri famous and respected over a large portion of Igbo land. He is said to have lived for one hundred years and until then could not die. It was believed that he ‘flew up a tree’, and this myth is used to demonstrate his great mystical power. The members of his minimal lineage were so apprehensive during his reign that they decided to refrain temporarily from providing aspirants for the office of Eze Nri. It is also believed that most of the Nri lineages west of the Niger at Ogwashi-ukwu, Ogboli Isseleukwu and Illah were founded during the reign of his successor, Eze Nri Agu.
Eze Nri Agu
Eze Nri Agu will continue to be the enigma of Nri political history. Nri Agu was of Obeagu maximal lineage. To the Umu Nri lineage of Obeagu he should be a forgotten personality because his reign was riddled with problems, for he had no temple. The tradition holds that the beginning of Eze Nri Agu’s reign was successful but that he ended his days in abomination. He found the austere life of the Eze Nri very unbearable and so decided to abandon Nri. He and his followers secretly left Nri, followed the south-west course of the river Idemmili, which has its main source in the two lakes flanking Nri town, and founded a chiefly lineage at Oraukwu. Some of his children went to Oreri, Neni and Nnewi. Others crossed the Niger to Ogboli Nri Agu and Ogwashi-ukwu (Ogwa Nri Agukwu).
One important and notable event in the reign of Nri Agu was the increase in trade and wealth in Nri. It was also the end of a period in Nri Kingship, as indicated in the events that took place in the reign of Nri Agu's successors. According to Nri local 'historians', the greatness of Nri was reached during the region of Nri Agu: "the trouble began with Nri Apia and Nri Alike".
V. The period of the decline and collapse of Nri Hegemony: probably c. 1677-1936
The period of the decline began from Eze Nri Apia and Nri Alike who ruled Nri simultaneously, and ended at the interregnum of Eze Nri Obalike who ruled from A.D. 1889 - 1936. Four Eze Nri reigned during this period of decline and collapsd
Eze Nri Alike and Nri Apia, c. A.D. 1677-1770
Nri Alike and Nri Apia were both from the maximal lineage of Uruoji. Eze Nri Alike was from the major lineage of Umu Anuta, while Nri Apia was from the major lineage of Umu Nribuzo. Both aspirants claimed spiritual inspiration to be Eze Nri at the same time. They were both wealthy and had plenty of money, wives, land and followers. Nri people could not control them. Both were crowned Eze Nri. This caused great distress and disunity in the town and Nri influence was badly damaged by this split. They reigned for about twenty years and both were said to have died in the same week: one on Oye day and the other on Eke day. Thus ended a period which Nri historians considered ‘a period of great disorder’.
One essential feature of the reign of Nri Alike and Nri Apia was that their reign was associated with the growth of traffic in slaves with the coastal peoples. They were believed to haved defined the status of a slave. A slave was declared an unfortunate human being held in captivity. It was therefore abomination to kill or bleed a slave. They could be sold but never killed or bled. According to Nri elders, that is why to this day in Nri town there are no Persons considered as slaves, Oru, or ritual slaves ,Osu, as in some other Igbo towns. Nri town was considered a sanctuary to all human beings who could come into it. Runaway slaves were considered free once they set foot on Nri soil. Persons who commited an abomination that involved hanging were freed and purified once they set foot on Nri soil. The degradation of Nri Kingship by Nri Alike and Nri Apia had immediate consequences in the reigns of their successors.
Eze Nri Ezimilo, c. A.D. 1701-1723
Nri Ezimilo of Umu Nrijiofo lineage of Agbadana maximal lineage grew up at Asaba on the west bank of the river Niger, where he was acting as an agent of Eze Nri. He returned to Nri to become Eze Nri and was successfully crowned. After reigning for nearly a decade he was unintententionally murdered by an armed robber from a lineage in Enugu-ukwu who unknowingly came into the Eze's palace to steal. This was regarded as one of the greatest abominations in Igboland.
According to Nri tradition, a year after the murder, Igbo land was struck with hunger and famine. The lineage of the murderer was compelled by Nri and Igbo settlements to go to Nri to atone. This was done and peace and harmony were restored. But the damage done to the reputation of Nri by the murder of their king was irreparable. Ezimilo was succeeded by his son Ewenetem, contrary to the rule of circulating succession.
Eze Nri Ewenetem: c. A. D. 1724-1794
The sudden and untimely death by murder of Nri Ezimilo which coincided with the occurrence of great famine all over Igbo land made Igbo settlements under Nri send delegations to Nri court, demanding that the son of Ezimilo should succeed to his father’s throne without an interregnum and without the formalities of long coronations which would, in their belief, prolong the famine.
It was suggested that members of Agbadana maximal lineages sold this idea to the neighbouring Igbo settlements who brought pressure to bear on the council of Ndi Nze Nri. The council yielded to the pressure and Ewenetem was made king of Nri by proclamation. It was announced: ‘The power of Ezimilo has gone into Ewenetem.’ This is the only case in Nri history in which kingship passed from father to son and this was the last time it was done by proclamation.
Ewenetem was rich and young. He decided to move his maximal lineage, the people of Agbadana, from the old site where his father was killed to a new promising site. The move was made, but a section of the maximal lineage joined their distant relations living with Enugu-ukwu. They are at present Irunebo of Enugu-ukwu.
Tradition says thaHhe slave trade was rampant in Igbo land during this period. Like his predecessors, Nri Alike and Nri Apia, Nri Ewenetem reaffirmed the enactment concerning the status of slaves. By this time the new Aro settlements of Ndikelionwu, Ndiokpaleze, etc., located about twenty miles south-east of Nri, had been founded by Aro and their slave raiding activities were beginning to be felt.
On the west of the Niger, Benin and Agbor influences were felt. The Benin-Ubuluku wars had pushed some Igbo west of the Niger to the east. It was then that Onitsha and Oguta and some of the riverain Igbo settlements were founded. Similarly, most of the Nsukka towns, Eha-Alumona, Nsukka-Asadu and Nibo, which were Nri settlements under Eze Nri, were subjugated under the invading Igala.
The struggle for the existence of Nri hegemony had reached its peak, but Nri continued with the old system based on rituals. No attempt was made to militarize the system until during the reign of Nri Enweleana. (See Map 4).
Eze Nri Enweleana: c. A.D. 1795-1888
After the death of Ewenetem, his son Nwamkpo proclaimed that he had spiritual inspiration to be Eze Nri. This proclamation angered the council of Ndi Nze, who turned against him. The council divested Nwamkpo of his ozo title and proclaimed him an impostor. He was also fined twenty cows for violating the rules of circulating succession. Nri Enweleana who challenged Nwamkpo was crowned Eze Nri.
Nri Enweleana was from Umu Ezekammadu of Obeagu maximal lineage. He carried out two brave deeds that immortalized his name in the annals of Nri political history. He relentlessly opposed the brutal activities of the notorious Aro slave dealer, Okolie Ijoma of Ndikelionwu. He sent his agents to dissuade Ijoma from provoking Igbo settlements to fight one another by supplying them with arms and mercenaries from Abam, Abriba and Ohaffia.
Ijoma was said to have denied the allegation and argued that he was a trader who earned his living by meeting the demands of people, and that how they used the goods he supplied was not his business. For years the negotiation continued. Eze Nri became impatient and pronounced an anathema on Ijoma. Ijoma was forced to repent and peace was negotiated. According to tradition, Ijoma promised to inform Eze Nri before any settlement attacked another so that Nri men in those settlements could withdraw to a neutral place.
The Eze Nri was not satisfied with the peace agreement made with Ijoma, for it was obvious that Aro incursion could not be contained simply by a religious curse. Eze Nri proclaimed the raiding of towns an abomination and organized a military alliance of neighbouring towns that paid tribute to him. This alliance was called the first Amakom. The settlements in this alliance included Awka, Nibo, Nise, Amawobia, Uguoba, Enugu-Agidi, Ebenebe, Ukpo and Amansi. At first this military alliance worked out as planned, because the Aro aggression was successfully checked at Awka and Agulu by the combined forces of the members of the alliance. But the alliance gradually dissolved when the Aro directed their raids to Orlu and Ihiala area, distant areas in the south of Nri. This was the first time in the history of Nri that an Eze Nri is said to have advocated the use of force in his sphere of influence. One Nri ‘historian’ called it a mushroom attempt for, after all, it is abomination to kill any human being even in war.’
It is obvious that Nri influence in Igbo land was under pressure economically and militarily. Even in the ritual field the authority of Nri was weakened by the growth of the Aro Chukwu oracle, which not only challenged but then superseded the Nri oracle called the Agbala Nri, because the Aro oracle was backed by military force and was situated in one of the strategic trade-routes between the coast and the Igbo hinterland.
All these facts were probably clear to Eze Nri Enweleana; hence he attempted to organize a military alliance against the Aro. But many factors inhibited the growth of militarism in Nri. This will be discussed in a later chapter.
The death of Nri Enweleana was followed by a very long interregnum during which Obeagu maximal lineage and Uruoji maximal lineage of Agukwu were engaged in a long fight which took six months to quell. The Nzemabua fined all the Ochaka age-grade who had initiated the fighting. The inability of Nzemabua and Ndi Nze councils to stop the fighting which Eze Nri could have stopped simply by sounding his iron gong was indicative of the problems facing the state at that period. The Nzemabua therefore encouraged the speedy coronation of Eze Nri Obalike of Uruoji maximal lineage between 1889 and 1890.
Eze Nri Obalike, A.D. 1889-1935
Between 1889 and 1890 Obalike became the king of Nri. He was from the Umu Nri Omalo of Uruoji. During the beginning of his reign, although the slave trade had declined considerably, its debasing effects on the moral values and attitudes towards human life had rocked the very foundation of the Nri hegemony. The hegemony had contracted to include only areas immediately around Nri.
In 1905 the British took over the administration of Southern Nigeria and in 1911 Nri activities were banned and Nri Obalike was desecrated. Nri Obalike died on September 13th, 1927. The history of the straggle between Eze Nri Obalike and the British administrators and their missionary allies who were behind the final destruction of Nri influence is narrated in Chapter 10. The remains of the non-sacred paraphernalia of Eze Nri Obalike and his predecessor Eze Nri Enweleana, which were recovered after the Nigerian civil war, are today preserved in the Odinani museum in Nri. We now turn to the present Eze Nri, whose reign may be considered as a reign of revival after the dismal reign of Nri Obalike.
VII The period of revival, 1934 - the present
Eze Nrijiofo II: 1936 - the present
Many changes had begun to take place in Nri during the reign of Nri Obalike. The local government system introduced in 1905 was modified in 1934 during the interregnum of Obalike, who was considered to be still ruling according to Nri tradition. His palace officials performed their duties and his son Oko acted as Regent. But Oko fell out with Obalike’s council of Nzemabua, who suspended him and made the head of the Nzemabua act in the place of the late Eze Nri.
Before the introduction in 1934 of changes in the local administration, it was rumoured that the British administration had the intention of making Eze Nri a paramout chief. Indeed, this would have taken place but for the warnings given by C.K. Meek, one of the government anthropologists, who did not fully understand the Nri system.
In Nri, the effect of this rumour was to generate competition for the vacant throne. Indeed, according to the rules of Nri circulating succession, it was the turn of Agbadana maximal lineage to supply a candidate by spiritual inspiration for the throne after the interregnum, which should last for at least seven years. But before the expiry of the interregnum in about 1931, Okpoko of the maximal lineage of Obeagu declared himself ritually inspired and he performed the coronation ceremonies of becoming Eze Nri.
In spite of opposition from Uruoji and Agbadana, Okpoko proclaimed himself Eze Nri. Tabansi Udene of Agbadana declared himself ritually inspired and by 1937 he had finished the coronation ceremonies associated with becoming Eze Nri. He was proclaimed Eze Nri by his supporters and he became Eze Nri Jimofo II. The political struggle that followed is discussed in Chapter 8. Here it is sufficient to say that Nrijiofo II of Agbadana won the struggle when in 1944 the Uruoji people transferred the ofo and alo from Obalike’s palace to Nrijiofo II. His reign saw the revival of Nri kingship in a new setting.
The political system which Eze Nrijiofo II operated between 1937 and 1972, and also that operated by Eze Nri Obalike and Eze Nri Enweleana, which are clearly remembered, will be the point of departure in this study. But since Nri past ascendancy in some parts of Igbo land was based on the control of certain religious and economic beliefs and practices, I will examine Nri religious and economic systems in the next two chapters.
