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Exclusive Interview with His Royal Highness Eze Dr. G.A.E.O. Agbanyim (JP) of Amike, on the occasion of his visit to New York State and the coronation ceremony he held there.
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AE: Good evening His Royal Highness, Eze Dr. G.A.E.O. Agbanyim (JP) of Amike, please consider it that we have observed all royal protocols.
Eze: Good evening.
Eze: We want to start by thanking you for granting us this interview despite your tight schedule, and we know it has been a very busy day for you.
Eze: Yes, it has been a long day but I am fine. I have been doing this for a very long time so I am equal to the task.
AE: Your highness let us start by introducing ourselves. I am Oliver Mbamara,
and my colleague is Citor Felix Nnorom. We are here on behalf of
www.AfricanEvents.com.
Eze: Yes, I have heard of that website and the unique thing you are doing for Africans here. In fact the gentleman who informed me that you are here had very high recommendations of you.
AE: Thank you your highness. We are doing what we can.
Eze: Well, keep it up. It has good ratings.
AE: Thank you your highness. The first thing we want to ask your highness is about the phrase “Igbo enwe(gi) eze,” meaning that Ibo people have no monarch or sovereign ruler. Historical studies have shown that the Ibo political system was always without a sovereign ruler. But you are an “Eze,” is that not a monarchy so to say, could you throw some light on that.
Eze: Well, Ibos do have Ezes or traditional rulers but they do not have respect for such traditional rulers as other African tribes do. If I were a Yoruba or Hausa traditional ruler, perhaps so much noise would have been made about my visit that even the Governor may have come to see me, but that is not the case with the Ibos.
If there is no Eze, nobody will be named Eze.
AE: Well, you are here today to confer chieftaincy titles on some individuals of the Ibo community here in the United States of America. From our records, that seems to be the first time such a conferment ceremony has been performed live in the USA.
Eze: Yes, this is unique but we have to do it, times are changing, and now leaders can travel around the world. The President of the United States is on an African tour as we speak, it is similarly proper that I should travel around to visit my subjects around the world and if any of them merits a chieftaincy title, he or she will be conferred with the title regardless of the fact that they reside in a foreign land. Merit is the key.
AE: It is interesting that you mentioned the word “merit,” my next question is in that line. Many Africans have shown concern about the proliferation of the institution of chieftaincy conferment. Many think that most of those being conferred with chieftaincy titles these days do not actually merit them.
Eze: Not where I am concerned. All those on my list today, clearly merited the honor due to their contribution to their various communities. This is not about them taking care of me, to earn the honor, rather it is about them caring for their fellow community members both here and at home. If you noticed, today’s conferment has documentary backing.
I am recognized by the Federal Government of Nigeria and these papers were prepared back home in
Nigeria. Everything is on paper and on merit.
AE: Since you are on a visit of your subjects, have you noticed any concerns?
Eze: Yes indeed. The problem of divorce seems rampant and something has to be done to check it. In fact I was in California before I came to New York. I told the Ibo community in California to get involved with a plan to set up a sort of divorce intermediary committee or body. Its duty will be to entertain complaints from Ibo or African couples who have problems in their marriage and try to settle them amicably before the couples run off to dissolve their marriages.
AE: That is indeed a unique idea. I must say that the divorce rate of Africans in America is rather getting too alarming, and many single individuals would not want to rush into marriage just to rush out of it.
Eze: Exactly my point. Couples have to resuscitate our culture of seeking settlement rather than resorting to divorce or ending the marriage whenever a problem arises. I have heard so many ugly stories that are very worrying. We have to encourage those who are doing well in marriage. That is why I conferred the Mrs. Justina Anusionwu with the title of “Okwere na di” meaning the one who believes in marriage.
AE: We wish your highness the best in this endeavor. If it succeeds, it would likely come to the relief of many African couples. Having said that, I have to ask from my understanding as a lawyer, if his highness is taking into advisement, the opinions and suggestions of attorneys in the bid to set up this committee and in defining its objectives so that it does run into a collision with marriage laws of the land as well as laws that prohibit the exclusion of law from being enforced by the courts?
Eze: Yes, certainly, that will all be taken into consideration. Obviously, there are differences between marriages under African traditional systems and foreign legal systems like the American legal system. We will certainly take all that into consideration.
AE: We will not keep you any longer, your highness. On behalf of the African community here in the United States, we must thank you for showing interest with such a nagging concern of the African community here. From our records, this is also the first time that any visiting traditional ruler has sought to get involved with such concerns of the African community here. Your highness, more grease to your elbow.
Eze: Thank you very much. I am very glad that we had this interview. Good a thing your publication is online worldwide. I will check it up when I get back to Nigeria. With
www.AfricanEvents.com, you seem to be breaking all boundaries that formerly kept people away from knowing the details of African events all around the world especially in the United States of America.
AE: That is the idea your highness. Once we publish the event online, anyone can access it and know what happened by just the click of the mouse from any computer anywhere in the world.
Eze: It is a great idea, please keep it up.
AE: Thank you your highness. Please enjoy the rest of your evening.
Eze: You too.
AE: We will. Good evening.
INTERVIEW BY: Oliver
Mbamara, Esq. and Felix Nnorom, July 12, 2003 |
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