Ebube-Agu: Spiritual Leader proffers solution to the challenges facing Ndigbo

By Theo Rays, Onitsha

Urges govs, Ohaneze to organise befitting burial for Biafra fallen heroes

Wants immediate ban placed on deposition of dead bodies in morgue in Igboland

Says Ndigbo have to configure into the religious/cultural values inherited from ancestors.

The decision of the Southeast States Governors to float a security outfit to be known and called Ebube-Agu with a view to address rising security challenges in the Southeast geopolitical zone has sparked new argument among some sections of Ndigbo, with some backing the development and others rejecting it on the ground that it is rather too late to introduce another security outfit hence there is already existing Eastern Security Network (ESN) from Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) with the same aim and objectives of securing Igboland.

As the argument continues to endure, the spiritual leader of the Igbo Nation – Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka (Ogilisi Igbo), has lent his voice to proffer solution to the myriad of challenges facing the Igbo nation. Chief Ezeonwuka, apparently speaking in spiritual tone said that there are three things that Ndigbo have to do immediately in response to the security challenges facing them falling which they will continue to face those challenges.

According to him, the first thing Ndigbo have to do is for the Governors and Ohaneze under Professor George Obiozor to organise a ceremony to accord the Biafra fallen heroes who lost their lives during Biafra vs Nigeria civil war a befitting burial rites. He said that according those who died consequent upon war a befitting burial is a tradition in practice all over the world including in Europe and United States, insisting that Ndigbo have to organise a burial ceremony for the fallen heroes and build an epitaph for them in capital cities of the five States of Igboland.

He explained that the reason for the burial ceremony and the epitaph is to appease the souls of the fallen heroes as according to him “the souls of dead bodies who did not receive burial rites are capable of causing trouble for the living and I want to say that the present security challenges we have as Ndigbo is not unconnected with the souls of the fallen heroes who are yet to receive burial rites from us”

He continued “When armed robbers and kidnapers were freely terrorising Anambra State I told Governor Willie Obiano to organise a burial ceremony for the Biafra fallen heroes because their spirit is behind the menace of armed robbery and kidnapping in the State and fortunately, the Governor gave me a listening ear and held a funeral for the fallen heroes at the Dr. Ekwueme Square and Anambra heaved a sigh of relief as the issue of armed robbery and kidnapping reduced drastically in the State”

The Ogilisi Igbo however argued that what Obiano did in Anambra State is not enough to represent the full burial ceremony that the fallen heroes deserve from Ndigbo because the names of the fallen heroes from Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States were not included and some communities in Anambra couldn’t bring names, so there is need for a bigger burial ceremony for the fallen heroes hence the call for the Governors and Ohaneze to team up and organize a more detailed burial ceremony for them.

The Proprietor of Rojenny Games Village Oba also said that Ndigbo have to stop depositing dead bodies in mortuaries as a measure to curb the menace of challenges facing them because the souls of those bodies lying in cold rooms are sources of problems to the living. While demanding that all dead bodies currently languishing in mortuaries across Igboland be removedd immediately, he called on State government to work hand in hand with traditional rulers and town unions to use the State House of Assembly to promulgate laws banning deposition of dead bodies in mortuary because it is another source of problem for Ndigbo.

“Nature and even God Almighty demand that when someone dies the next thing is to commit the body to six feet. The idea of keeping dead bodies in refrigerator is not acceptable to nature and God who created the soul and the body. So it is proper and safer that the body has to be buried to join the soul when the body dies. Our anscestors didn’t teach us about keeping dead bodies in mortuary and we have to trace back and identify with their system to avoid being harmed. Dr Dozie Ikedife (Ikenga Nnewi) a sage by all standards told his children to avoid keeping his body in cold room because he knew the implementations so why can’t we learn from a sage like Ikedife” he asked.

Chief Ezeonwuka insisted that Ndigbo have to retrace their steps to key into the cultural values they inherited from the anscestors to be able rise up to the occasion to give effective response to the current challenges facing them.

He observed with dismay that Ndigbo have lost the anacestral values of offor n’ ogu, (justice and fairness) nso ani, (laws of the land) eziokwu bu ndu, (truth is life) nsopuru okenye, (respect for the elders) egwu Chukwu (fear of God and native deities, gods and goddesses) and idike olu (hardworking) and that is why they are in current ugly situation they find themselves.