The new Eze Aro the 9th of ArochukwuKingdom, Eze Dr. Eberechukwu Eni Kanu Oji, who recently celebrated his coronation, has outlined his plans to transform Arochukwu Kingdom into an industrialized hub, featuring industries, medical facilities, and a blue economy to boost the local economy. He envisions Arochukwu Kingdom as a university town, believing that this transformation will elevate the overall standard of living and positively impact the well-being of its people.
In this exclusive interview, he also discussed the court injunction obtained by his cousin, Prince Godwin Kanu Idei, which intended to restrain him from parading himself as the Eze Aro. He also revealed the plans being made to achieve lasting peace in the Arochukwu Kingdom.
Can you tell us the position of Arochukwu in Igboland and how you plan to strengthen it?
My name is Engr Dr Eberechukwu Eni Kanu Oji. The Eze Aro of Arochukwu Kingdom. You are welcome to the Ikeji Aro 2024. This is my first time hosting the festival since the ascension to the throne of our forefathers. Arochukwu Kingdom is an ancient Kingdom. In Igbo land, it’s a revered place. Before the Europeans got here, the Aros provided the Igbos with a lot of leadership, guidance, and religious direction to the ancient fathers through the Ibini Ukpabi (ivuchukwu) And even beyond the Igbos like the other tribes around here. The Aros also provided a system of military protection to the ancient people in this part. The Aros were able to mobilise the Akpaa, Ohafia, and Abbang warriors to any place around here in crisis or dispute to restore law and order. In history, we were told that that influence extended to present-day Benue, Kogi State, and the Eastern region. Aros also provided a means of commerce and international trade because of the Aro diaspora communities, which are over 300 identifiable abodes of the Aros scattered all over Nigeria. With the network of diaspora communities, Aros were able to trade with our local communities closely to those settlements and our traders were able to trade through that settlement to Arochukwu and from there to Calabar. They began trading with the Portuguese when they came, and then the Europeans came. Aros also provided leadership in education because we had a means of communication, and we also had mathematics. Rightly put, we were the custodians of high-level education for most Igbo people. They came here like Princes of communities came here and were educated and afterward returned to their communities to become leaders in their rights. The Aros played a significant role in pre-colonial traditional settlements. Aros are more known for the role they played in the slave trade, but it should be noted that trades were happening in Aro before the slave trade. Before the slave trade, cocoa, palm oil, and material resources were traded and of course, certain persons were involved in the slave trade so when it was abolished, the Aros went back to their trade. So, as far as we are concerned, the Aros, before the colonial masters arrived, provided leadership to the Igbos and provided means of international trade and commerce. There are still remnants of the historic artifacts scattered all around the town. The Ivuchukwu is there. What we are doing is to encourage those kinds of leadership returns, and that’s why it’s tagged Arochukwu Renaissance.
What is the historical and traditional significance of the role? How does this tradition ensure a synergy between Aro and other communities in terms of fostering businesses, tourism, and beneficial interaction?
As part of the Aro Renaissance, if before the coming of the Europeans, the Aros had a system to live with our brothers and sisters scattered all over the Eastern region that helped everybody to grow then the Aros should be able to play that role again. With an Eze Aro who is widely traveled and very knowledgeable, that level of diplomacy will be returned. Aros says,’Ako bu Ije.’ This means if you have wisdom, you will be able to travel. You will not run into trouble, and people won’t see you as a threat because you add value to anywhere you go.
In terms of tourism promotion and economic development, the Aros were providing a leading light to the Igbos on how things could and should be done. In the Aro Renaissance, we are poised to return to that role of leading light to the Igbos. Arochukwu is trending right now and sparking a whole lot of attention with so many people wanting to know what is going on in Arochukwu. With the attention we are currently receiving, it will be important that we build a collaborative spirit with all Igbos, particularly our neighbors, who marked our ancient times, which will be our experience going forward.
Let’s talk about the monuments within Arochukwu that make it stand out.
In 1901, the British fought a war with Aros, and it subsided when the British blew up the Oracle and captured some of the oracle. The Ivuchukwu is the physical location of the Ibiniukpabi oracle (long Juju of Arochukwu). The oracle was the religious center of the community. The notoriety it gained was that the British burnt it. That Ivuchukwu is still there. By Monday, we are announcing the formation of the Arochukwu Tourism Development Committee and part of their task is to turn that place into a proper tourism site that will have global attention and be able to manage the traffic that will happen there. So that’s a notable monument. It’s a cave system, a very complex cave system that shows the ancient engineering prowess of the Arochukwu people. With the cave system, you can go in and find yourself in Onu. Some of those cave systems may not have been maintained so we are looking at how to maintain the case but that shows the level of engineering prowess of our forefathers to build that complex cave system both natural and man-made structures. And then we have the interesting waterfall, especially during the dry season as people come from all over the world to experience it. It has both spiritual and entertainment value. Then, we have the 72 steps located close to that waterfall. It’s a good exercise. We have the Ulo Nta Okoroji, which is an ancient museum. It is known as the artifact center. With the formation of that committee, we are going to curate and revive it. When you visit there, you are going to see the commerce and the money which the ancient people were using for trade and commerce. There are also traditional artifacts with inscriptions on the walls. You will also see colonial buildings where Mary Slessor, educationist Alvan Ikoku, lived. There are also Omenuko Tower, Iyi eke, and colonial administrative buildings. This is to tell you that Aro was the center of government before the coming of colonial masters. It is a place where you will see the development of the town and how it used to be before the advent of colonial masters.
What are your future plans for Arochukwu?
We have short-term, medium, and long-term plans. There’s a vision plan that I’ve put together, which we will make available to you. People underestimate what it takes you to ensure peace in the Kingdom, but it takes a lot of work from traditional rulership to ensure peace. On Monday, we are constituting the Arochukwu boundary committee. Their task is to work with our neighbours on all sides so that we can have peace. There have been all kinds of boundary disputes that have led to the loss of lives sometimes. It is important to me that we work in a traditional way to solve disputes. Our problem is that we rely on courts to solve our problems. We have a covenant with all our neighbors of where the boundaries are. When we allow people who have no historical knowledge about us to regulate our matters, then things get out of hand. Thankfully, we have an Eze Aro who understands this traditional approach to engage our neighbors. It might be difficult, but ensuring peace with our neighbors is my goal.
In security, it’s our job as traditional rulers to make sure that people feel safe when they come to Arochukwu Kingdom. We are working on what we call the Light Up Aro to install about 3000 solar lights all over the kingdom while equipped with CCTV. We have an air control center, so this means anything done by any person will be monitored and tracked. We are also training men of war, the local vigilante group, and others to make sure the people are safe. But if the emergency is too big for them to handle, then the government agency can step in. So security is important.
Beyond that, we will be able to come into our medium-term plans, which include managing our water resources in the community. Some of our local rivers are silted, so we need dredging, which can be done with the support of the government. Road infrastructure to ensure that internal roads are done with proper drainage management and erosion control. The government has been doing fantastic work as far as road infrastructure is concerned. This has to be done in one to two years to ensure that the infrastructure in the town is top-notch.
The longer-term plan is that we want the place to be a university town. The South Eastern University is going to be located in Arochukwu, thankfully, with the support of our governor. There’s serious work to ensure that ASCETA, the college of education, is upgraded to a university. I want to encourage our sons who have the financial capacity to set up private universities in the town. That will make Arochukwu a cradle of education so far as Igbo land is concerned.
Another is the promotion of medical tourism. We have many strong-edged professionals in the medical field who are from Arochukwu and known globally. We are speaking to these sons that they should establish top-notch medical facilities here so that instead of people traveling to India and other places, they will come to Arochukwu to get proper medical care. We also said we are going to establish industrial clusters. I come from an oil and gas background, and that’s what we will do. Establish structures that will enable industrialists and investors to come in, possibly designate those industrial clusters as free trade zones, and develop inland ports and networks because the Cross River is very close to where we are so we can start from that. We are promoting that to be a blue economy industrial park where you have aquaculture, oil and gas, manufacturing, Cybersecurity, in fact, all the things that will take our town from ancient times to modern leading times, we will promote and develop in this industrial park. We have a vision document that explains all these to you.
Can you walk us through the Eze Aro’s Palace?
When you go to the Palace, you will see the old Eze Aro’s Palace where my grandfather superintended the kingdom from. In front of his statue, you will see his old Chevrolet car and then where he was buried. That’s that era. The newer buildings were built by my uncle during the time of my grandfather, he presided from there, that’s the previous Eze Aro and thats where we presided from. But the plan is that we will build a proper modern-day palace, and in a short time, we will announce what those plans are with the committee put in place to build a modern-day palace. A walk through the Palace will show a prehistoric, modern, and futuristic Palace to come.
Your Eminence, prior to this time, you donated street lights to some villages, and you have announced a Light Up Arochukwu. Will those communities receive another solar street light?
Let me explain from an engineering perspective that there’s a minimum illumination you need to light up a place. Before I became Eze Aro, I donated 480 lights across the kingdom, but that means you see light in some places and not in others. But to light up the entire town, we need 3100 solar lights, so what we are looking for right now is the balance, and that’s 2520. As they say, when you want to do something, you do it properly. We have done something but now we want to do it properly and that’s what this project is all about.
On Monday, after the launch, we will be pounding the road to help our sons and daughters help to put some in their compound. That may be all they need to do. Our wealthier sons and daughters are encouraged to put a light in their entire streets. That’s something they can do. Some people can take on much bigger projects. We will also reach out to other government agencies to support them to ensure that the entire town is well-lit.
There’s a court injuction restraining you from parading as the Eze Aro. How do you think you can brace your brother whom you keep referring to as your brother towards achieving peace.
I’ve stated numerous times that my vision is to achieve peace. My cousin did go to court to obtain an injunction. The legal framework in Nigeria is that you can appeal a judgment, but this is an Injunction, and when appealed, it’s in abeyance. So, as far as we are concerned, we leave that to the court, but we have a peace process, though it requires time and consultations, and that’s all ongoing. I do not doubt that peace will be restored. I tell people that there’s no crisis in Arochukwu. You are here. If there’s a crisis, you won’t be here. Some people blow things out of proportion. You were here during the coronation, and there was no crisis. This is just a normal human interaction. I can assure you that there’s no crisis.
Final take on this interview.
I want to thank the press for continuing to get the message out. I want to encourage our journalists to focus on the positives. This is the best time for our Kingdom. From January to now, the government has launched the rebuilding of the Okobo road that was wasted for generations. The Arochukwu Ohafia have also been flagged off for reconstruction, and that’s a Federal Road. We have never had it so good. Our son is the governor, and God has put me in place as the Eze Aro. This is the time to promote positive stories from the kingdom. We have a legacy to preserve, a restoration of pride to the Igbo nation. This is one of the leading traditions of the Igbo people. There are a lot more good stories to tell about the Kingdom. I’m the Publicity Secretary of the Southern Nigeria Traditional Council, so the stool is highly revered in the current Nigerian State, and it’s a pride for the Igbo nation. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on me. I’ve told the stories of our Igbo businessmen in Lagos who called me for a meeting immediately after I was crowned and told me the Eze Aro is not for the Arochukwu people but for all Igbo people. That’s how it has been in the past, and they want it to be going forward. I’ve wholeheartedly embraced it. So before we get too sentimental, we should realise that the Eze Aro is for all Igbos and by extension all black people who are looking for traditional stools that are for our people that they can be proud of, support and promote the interest of the people. Thank you for your time, and enjoy the rest of your stay.
