Desecration Of Igbo Culture In Imo Is Alarming- Ilomuanya
Obiย of Obinugwu in Orlu LGAย of Imo State and Chairmanย of South East Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM, Eze (Dr.) Cletus Ilomuanya, has stronglyย condemned what he termedย โthe continuous desecration of Igbo Culture, customs and values by the Imo State governmentโ. Contending that the rate of desecration is alarming,ย he insisted that traditional rulers in the Igbo land ย and Ohaneze Ndigbo should completely condemn โthe unrelentless abomination and debasement of Igbo culture with impunity in Imo State to save our culture from going into extinction or being ridiculedโ.
Eze Ilomuanyaย was reacting to the recent conferment of another Chieftaincy title on the Liberian President, Mrs. Ellen Sieriff Johnson by the Imo State Government.ย According to the monarchโ, it is an aberration in Igbo culture to confer chieftaincy title at about 11pm at night.ย It is never done.ย Only initiations into clandestine or cult groups are done at that time of the nightโ.
He regretted that in recent times, Imo State has constantly made a mockery of Igbo culture and traditional institution, pointing out that unless those knowledgeable on Igbo culture and the consequences of their desecration speak out, such an ugly trend might continue. โA few weeks back,ย it was Jacob Zumaย and today, itโs the Librarian woman.ย Who even chose the bogus titles being conferred on them?ย What have they done to deserve the titles when Igbos and Nigerians are dying everyday in South African and Liberia? He queried.
Eze Ilomuanya argued that the visit of these Presidents to Imo Stateย only creates theย impression that Nigeria is now runningย a confederal system of governmentย with Imo as an independentย State within the confederation.ย โAsย far as I am concerned, these visits are for personal gainsย and haveย no socio-cultural or economic benefit or relevanceย of Imo people.ย Instead, our culture has become aย foot-matย for foreignersย to match on and trivialize.ย Imo has obviously become an independent component state within Nigeria.ย The whole thing is exasperating,โ the monarch lamented.
The Obinugwu monarch, who is also Chancellor of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, called on Ohanaeze Ndigbo, traditional rulers and well meaning Igbo leaders, to intervene in this matter to avoid portraying Igbo culture asย being worthless, noting that Igbos are respectedย all over the world. โCulture is a symbol of our identity. If it is debased, desecrated and extinction, then we have also lost ourย identity as a people and therefore irrelevant ย too, heย warned.
