Amid raging debate over the controversial bill before the Senate, seeking to permanently elevate the Ooni of Ife and Sultan of Sokoto as the exclusive Co-Chairmen of the Traditional Rulers Council, a socio-political analyst, Nwoba Chika Nwoba has declared that no kingdom exists in Enugu, Imo and Abia States.
NATIONAL POST reports that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had expressed stiff opposition to the bill which has already passed the second reading.
Our correspondent also reports that several communities in Igbo land parades kingdoms, a situation Nwoba has described as an aberration.
The social media influencer and politician said traditional rulers in the Southeast should know that there are just three kingdoms in the Southeast Igbo.
Nwoba, a former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ebonyi State, said the three kingdoms included only Onitsha, Arochukwu and Nri.
According to him, no kingdom exists in Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States
In a post on his Facebook page, he wrote: “They're also the only first-class kingdoms known to the Federal Government of Nigeria from the Southeast.
“An autonomous community cannot be a kingdom for crying out loud. Kingdom isn't a community. It is a people. Onitsha has two LGAs, but one traditional ruler called Obi. The kingship in Onitsha, Nri & Arochukwu is hereditary. It resides in given families.
“I don't understand it when people call their communities kingdoms. There's no such a thing as Ekpelu Kingdom for instance. It doesn't exist. There are no kingdoms in Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States.
You know a kingdom by its rich history, diverse cultural wings and expanse territory.”