By Gabriel Amalu
If there was a king, qualified to combine modern executive and traditional authority, the king of my community who will be buried this weekend, qualified. So I dedicate my offering today, to his memory.
On February 26, the Ogwofia community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, will roll out Ushe and Ikpa, for the last offala of her illustrious traditional ruler, HRH Igwe Thomas Anieheobu Inyiama, who joined his ancestors on December 20, 2020, at the ripe age of 82. As posited by Professor Richard Okafor, et al, elsewhere, expectantly on that day, Ushe will “burst into praise poetry, saluting the king, praising his genealogy and family tree, and daring (his spirit) to surpass the heroes and ancestors in deeds of valour” while the Ikpa ensemble will praise his bravery.
HRH Tom Inyiama, a devout Catholic, was a dainty royalty, even before he climbed the exalted throne as Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ogwofia on December 28, 2003. Before he became king, he was fondly called Uncle Tom. Handsome, tall, elegant, fair skinned with a cherubic face, you cannot miss Uncle Tom in any gathering. Before any audience, he was the archetype public speaker as “the revealing expression of a human personality.”
Whether in his native Ogwofia dialect or in English Language, which he bagged BA (Hons), from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1963, Uncle Tom was a marvel, as a rapporteur and a story teller. Rich in native wisdom and polemics, he would regale his audience with historical redounds and anecdotes. When he became a king, regal effervescence entwined with a natural luminescence.
Uncle Tom went to university at the dawn of Nigeria’s independence, and became prominent early in his life. When it was rare to meet senior civil servants, in Nigeria, Uncle Tom had latched several senior administrative positions. He started off as Assistant Secretary, Federal Ministry of Commerce, from 1964-1965; then Assistant Secretary, Federal Scholarship Board, 1965-1966.
Just before the Nigerian civil war, Uncle Tom became Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Survey, Enugu, from 1966-1971, and later Assistant Secretary, Public Service Commission, Enugu, in 1972. Uncle Tom rose to the prestigious position of Divisional Officer, Igbo-Eze, from 1973-1976. Later, he served as Senior Assistant Secretary at Ogbaru, from 1977-1978 and at Onitsha Local Government, first as Principal Assistant Secretary from 1979-1980 and later Under Secretary from 1980-1981.
In 1980, when the government of Chief Jim Nwobodo, established the Anambra State Television, Uncle Tom was head-hunted to serve as the Administrative Manager and later Director of Administration. Back to national service, in 1997, Uncle Tom was appointed the Electoral Commissioner of Sokoto State. A distinguished English language scholar, Uncle Tom was a part-time teacher of English and Literature in the University of Lagos, from 1965-1966; and a part-time teacher of English at his Alma-mater, UNN, for the Extra Mural Programme from 1973-1976. He was the Coordinator of English and Technical Writing at Anambra State University of Technology, from 1987-2010.
Uncle Tom also served his beloved Ogwofia community, as the chairman of the Ogwofia Development Union (ODU), and under his watch, a water project commissioned by the state military governor in 1986 and a school laboratory in the community secondary school, were built.
When Ogwofia autonomous community was restored, by the civilian government of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, the community needed a king. Among the gladiators for the exalted throne, Uncle Tom shone like a meteor. Humble, humane and gentle, Uncle Tom was among the few who fulfilled the requirement set down by the young Turks in charge. With his cache of achievements, Uncle Tom, also a novelist, with an LLB (London), emerged victorious as Igwe elect of Ogwofi-Owa Ancient Kingdom.
After a failed attempt by some hawks to upturn a transparent selection process, the community rallied to install their Igwe. In a colourful ceremony at the Ogwofia Owa civic centre, Nwankwo, Uncle Tom transformed to HRH Igwe Thomas Anieheobu Inyiama, Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ogwofia Ancient Kingdom. And this writer had the honour of swearing him to the oath of office.
Indeed, Ogwofia is an ancient kingdom. The man Ogwofia was the fourth son of Owa, who lived centuries ago. According to Professor Okafor, et al, in their book: The History of Amofia Ogwofia Owa, Ogwofia had five sons, namely Umuofunu, Agbani, Egede, Amofia and Nchenawa. However after some valiant men earned Ogwofia honour in a battle, they were granted the privilege to occupy the conquered territory, and the new village, Okpuyo, assumed the position of the first son of Ogwofia.
It is this proud people of many firsts, which HRH Igwe Tom Inyiama had the honour and privilege to rule for 17 years. At my usual Christmas visits to his Majesty (until COVID-19 with impudence shut the doors of conviviality) Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1, would remind me about the exploits of Ogwofia and my family. He would remind me that he is standing on the shoulders of great men like my father, late Chief Michael Amalu, a man of many firsts himself, who was Ogwofia’s sole candidate for Igwe, in the 1970s, while the town formed a part of the greater Imezi Owa.
Also my famed Uncle, late Chief (Ozo) Joseph Amalu, who was a traditional ruler of the community, a customary court judge, and an enigma. Ozo Joseph with a few distinguished sons of Ogwofia, in the 1940s under District Officer Chadwick, heralded the famous Day Break in Udi, a drama shot on celluloid, depicting the exploits of a mobilized local community, championing infrastructural development. His majesty would remind me that Ogwofia had the first Cooperative Consumer’s Shop in the whole of Nigeria, built in 1944, among several other achievements.
While Igwe Ogwugwu Ebenebe reigned, the community made tremendous progress, with a new town hall, cooperative shop, electricity and water projects, tarred road, edifying church and several other developments. Indeed, despite the huge controversies, the emerging Enugu Free Trade Zone, partly on Ogwofia land, for which some are angst against the king, may become the key transformative landmark.
HRH will be missed by his family, friends, people of Ogwofia, Ezeagu Local Government and Enugu state. My sympathy goes to His Majesty’s closest pal, Professor Richard C. Okafor and his wife Dr Mrs Cey Okafor, who with His Majesty and Nono Josephine (the late Queen), shared scintillating friendship and pet names. My sympathy also goes to Igwe’s surviving wife, Nono Florence, the Princes, Anayo and Obinna, and their siblings, the Onowu and members of Igwe’s cabinet and indeed the people of Ogwofia.
Goodnight Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ogwofia Ancient Kingdom.
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