AMUKWU PEACE RETURNS AT LEAST

AMUKWA
PEACE RETURNS AT LAST

Many factors might have informed and influenced the founding fathers of Arochukwu, particularly Amukwa, when they migrated from Ujari to the present location known as and called Amukwa village.
The ngeneokwe rivulet/stream flows through the land from Amuvi and Atani; and beyond this particular land, the ngeneokwe flows through Ugbo, Amankwu, Amaoba, Ibom and Amasu village lands into the larger Enyong (Eniong) River.
The popular factor for consideration in settling at the present location: soon after the Ibibio was military imperatives and considerations informed the founding fathers to ward off the Ibibio against whom they had long years of war.
Sharing boundaries with Ugbo, Atani Mmaku Okpoto in Iwerri Community, Amukwa is predominantly a village of peasant farmers-peace loving, practitioners of my brothers’ keeper, firm believers in their customs and traditions.
Amukwa village boasts of important personalities past and present. Among the dead: Late Eze Ogo Chief Bassey Nwosu Chima, Eze Ogo Amukwa, VII-a controversial one-man-riot squad who could single-handedly take on any opposition; and former customary court judge of the early 1960’s.
Others include Mazi Oji Nwosu Chima-ever humorous, his entire face freely showcasing no-holds-bar contours and configurations of an accomplished comedian; affable and early generation member of the Catholic Church here in Arochukwu Village, Arochukwu. Mazi Geoffrey Nwosu Chima, his brother, was also of the Catholic faith; a World WarII veteran. Elder Obinani Orie, a former teacher, police officer and a former Eze Ogo who died in the year 2008.
Among the living: the newly enthroned Eze Ogo Amukwa the XII, Mazi Nwosu Bassey Nwosu; a retired Chief Superintendent of Customs and Excise Service. Then Mazi Paul Oji Nwosu Chima, a former Eze Ogo Amukwa, and former spokesman in the reign of Late Chief Kanu Oji, Eze Aro VII, OBE. Port-Harcourt-based engineer in an oil firm, Mazi Ezekiel Nwagugo Oji Nwosu Chima; and Mazi Ikechi Okoro Aku-ebinuihe, another engineer with an oil firm in Port-Harcourt who is also the President-General, Amukwa Improvement Union, World Wide. Mazi Pastor Michael B Nwosu is another notable of Amukwa who has contributed immensely to the growth of the village. He is presently one of the top managers with Coca Cola Plc, Lagos.
Amukwa, though is seen as one of the less populated villages in Arochukwu, its teeming populations of indigenes spread among numerous communities in both Abia and Imo States. The indigenes have vast farm lands; and draws reasonable revenues from land and agricultural resources. Farmers from other Aro and non-Aro villages pay annually for use of the farmland. Even the cattle Fulani use their farmland for grazing.
Amukwa women are no less hard working, socially and culturally conscious, active, assertive, proud and admirable.
Most Amukwa villagers, though professing foreign religions easily and readily recourse to Aro traditional religion, particularly anchored on ancestor medium of worship of Great God (Chi Ukwu)
The status quo has remained until recently.
The bane of institutions, ancient and
Modern, caught up with Amukwa. Central to this has been succession dispute. “Itu eye”, that Aro penchant for historical narratives interpretations and analysis, saw practical expression in a riot of litigations, orthodox and unorthodox. Man hours, material resources, high cost of legal fee, goodwill, relationships, good neighourliness, co-existence and co-operation, community development-all were expended and sacrificed at the alter of partisan politics, atomistic factionalism, mundane and bestial solutions to otherwise traditional constitutional issues. A literary critic of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, despite violence, war and blood-shed in monumental proportions, insist “In Julius Caesar every body means well”. For the tumultuous noises we always hear in market places are nothing other than “nyem nkem nyem nkem-----------give me my own, give me my own self-interest.
Yes, for Amukwu it got to a point when the factions, the parties, were allegedly on the edge of pulling, guns against each other. For much of the time, the various factions were in regular court attendance at various courts within and outside Arochukwu.
The most painful is the involvement of close relatives, in some cases siblings, uncles, aunties, etc in different factions at cross purposes, at each other throat. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Death and similar tragedies in one of the factions easily and readily becomes sources of celebration, for the other faction; and vice versa. Development stood still. Progress turned out to be motion without movement.
But as often the case, no army can stop an idea whose time has come. Possibly of settlement was still much open. Even when death struck one of the principal defendants of the opposing party, hopes of automatic solution were dashed. The human spirit could be tough and unpredictable. But the widow of opportunity for solution lay itself open to cool breeze and fresh air of rethinking when His Royal Majesty, the Eze Aro Viii, in January 2011 called for the record of court proceedings after the death of the principal defendant. After reading through the decision of the court he asked Amukwa people to present their Eze Ogo to his cabinet; and that the Eze Ogo dispute in Amukwa should be regarded as ended.
Upon this, the Eze Ibom Isii assembled his cabinet to resole all other cases that came up as a result of Eze Ogo dispute in Amukwa. The rest is now history.
But the test of the pudding is in the eating. The solid proof of the return of peace to Amukwa was shown during Ikeji Aro Okeigbo festival 2010.
This previous year at the of the crisis Amukwa featured two factional troupes. One of the factions with majority members postured to represent the village to claim the usual “Omu” garland of participation. Another faction, a minority represented by a mere handful troupe made entry into the Amaikpe arena. A classic example of washing dirty linens in the public, awkward, embarrassing and avoidable bad publicity.
Amukwa is a classic example of Professor Ali Mazrui’s book, Violence and Thought in Africa. Of how long existing traditional structures and institutions, no matter how seemingly primordial and clumsy succeed in healing festering wounds of crises where imported systems fail.
Or what else could be more glaring and evident than Amukwa’s outing and overall performance for Ikeji Aro-Okeigbo 2011 festival.
Dressed in traditional uniform best, bedecked with several traditional ornaments at vital sections of the body, an entire Amukwa villagers trouped from their village through Ugbo and Amankwu villages into the Amaikpe arena. Leading the troupe, men and women, melodious, symphony of traditional songs, rich with rhyme and rhythm, was the queen, the lead dancer, the glamorous cynosure of all spectators. She carried the “Isii” Ojojo-outsmarting, out displaying, outshining any other performer. Measured fleet footed, artistic swerves of graceful, body movement footwork and overall artistry, seemingly rendered in the garden of Eden.
Traditional music and dance at their best. Ikeji celebration lived up to expectation for once in many years. And before long an endless sea of spectators was attracted to the Amukwa stand while in preliminary, setting-the’ scene theatrics. And during the main display at the Amaikpe arena proper, fascinated spectators, dazzled their appetites, their curiosity, their tastes and their Oliver Twist’s gluttony for more and more threatrical extravaganza. No wonder Amukwa won the second prize among the nineteen or so villages that featured.
Who, several months back, could have thought that sworn, bitter enemies, would have come out together, trained together, trouped out together, displayed together, and won together?
Overall, it was possible because the jury that made peace possible were committed, even-handed, selfless, impartial, just and fair; did not compromise, were not influenced, did not obstruct the course of justice. They did not take bribe, “awuuf” or “ngaari”. Or forgot themselves, carried away by the delicacy and deliciousness of “ngu efuru”. They did not speak tongue in the cheek. They did not. They upheld it. The Amukwa experience has shown that there is still a place for traditional justice system here in Arochukwu, Nigeria and elsewhere. For it is comparatively cheap, simple and uncomplicated-a straight forward procedure, and of comparatively very short duration.
These advantages over foreign crisis management systems were handy and applied successfully to Amukwa’s seemingly unfashionable method that effectively restored peace and unity which eluded them for about a decade. No surprise that their banner for their 2011 Ikeji Aro-Okeigbo
Festival contained Amukwa’s motto:

AMUKWA
UNITED VILLAGE
AROCHUKWU (HOME OF PEACE)
As the saying goes, To God be glory, Long Live Eze Ogo! Long Live Amukwa People. Long Live Effective Leadership! Long Live Effective Followership. Long Live Peace, Progress and prosperity.

Ohiaerinwa Ogbonnaya Okoro