THE MAKING OF AN OBI
Every nuclear family has a head
who is also the father of the home. This head of the family is referred to as
the Obi. The Obiship is transferred from a father to the first son of the
family. The first and the surviving most senior son of the dead Obi
automatically succeeds his father as the Obi and this continues ad infinitum.
This system is known as Primogeniture is described as the right of succession
belonging to the firstborn child, by which the whole real estate of an
intestate passed to the eldest son.
CHANGE OF OBI LINEAGE
The first change of Obi lineage
recorded in Nnewi happened in nuclear
family of a man called Nnewi whereby Obiship was moved to Digbo the second
son instead of Okpala also known as
Umunearam. Subsequently there were cases where the second son of Otolo named
Nnofor assumed the Obiship instead of his elder brother called Enem. Even in
Nnofor's family it moved to Ezeonoolu also known as Udude instead of the first
son, Umuezeani. The same happened in many families in Uruagu, Umudim and
Nnewichi quarters of Nnewi town. A lot of factors were responsible for these
occurrence.
THE FOLLOWING WERE/ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS OF OBISHIP BY THE FIRST SON
1. A father who is an Obi can
appoint any of his sons he feels can protect his stool as the head of his
family. This he must do in the presence of Isi Obis (the obis of the
constituent families) otherwise it would be nullified upon his death.
2. The person who provided the
money used to cater for the funeral ceremonies of the father could lay claim to
the Obiship. He can only succeed if supported by the Isi Obis. There is a case
within Umuenem when an Obi who couldn’t provide money required to buy gunpowder
lost his position to a more capable person.
3. There are cases of voluntary
relinquishment of the seat as Enem did to his younger brother Nnofor.
4. An ambitious brother could
wage a war against his elder brother and claim the seat.
5. The elder brother could
quietly acquiesce and allow his brother take over to avoid an early death.
6. Sterling exploits as a warrior
would naturally leave elder brothers allow their junior stronger brother take up the
leadership position for assured protection.
MEANING OF OKPUNO
The very house or location where
the ancestor/progenitor of a family or a community or a town lived is called
Okpuno. For instance, Okpuno Otolo was the place Otolo Digbo, the son of Nnewi
lived and died. It is not accidental but natural that all the Okpunos of Otolo,
Uruagu, Umudim and Nnewichi, the four villages that make up Nnewi are close to
each other.
THE REASONS WHY AN OBI MAY LIVE
OUTSIDE OKPUNO
An Obi may move to another
location to site a home for the following reasons:
1. He may decide to migrate to a
more fortified location as a fortress in the time of war.
2. It could also be to move to an
unblemished land. An ancestor might have committed a lot of atrocities that
would require expensive cleansing rituals or "ikpu alu" and the new
Obi would want to start on a clean spiritual slate.
3. Sometimes, the Obi would want
to remain in the house he built by himself and was living in before his aged
father died.
4. He could leave his father's
compound for his youngest brother or the children of his elder brother who died
before their father.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ỌFỌ AND OBI
You can take away the Obiship
from the Diokpala (i.e the first son) but not his father's ọfọ. Ọfọ is a symbol
of authority akin to the Mace of the National Assembly or the Hammer and Gravel
of a judge. It is made from a stem of a tree named "ọfọ". The eldest
son inherits his father's ọfọ. The holder of ọfọ hits it on the ground as would
a judge to bring a finality to a matter in a properly constituted meeting. Though
disinherited from Obiship not by his father but for not being around when his
father died hence unable to perform the first son’s function in the burial of
his father, the eldest descendant of Umunearam, the first son of Nnewi,
regarded as "Okpala Nnewi" is the custodian of Ọfọ Nnewi and is
called upon to hit ọfọ Nnewi on the
ground to signify a finality to a matter discussed and agreed as the Senate President would. Ọfọ Otolo
Digbo is still with Ndiogbe Umuenem.
It is noteworthy that any first
son disinterested by his father holds not any of the Ọfọs of Obi or ọfọ
Diokpala. Also note that only the oldest man in the family "carries"
or keeps the custodianship of the Ọfọ. The custodian of the Ọfọ needs not be an Obi. An Obi can also carry
the Ọfọ if he is also the oldest man
living in his lineage. The Obu Ọfọ or
the Ọfọ custodian must be a pure breed
without a scandal. No descendant of a slave or adopted son is allowed to carry
an Ọfọ. If a unqualified or a tainted person carries the Ọfọ in error, not only will the person die
mysteriously, a calamity might be visited upon the family involved requiring
some form of appeasement of the gods. Some Umunna have now deemed the wooden Ọfọ of their forefathers as idolatry and have
replaced it with Bible. The oldest man in some families now carries a Bible in
place of Ọfọ . It is that bad!
LEVELS OF OBISHIP IN NNEWI
In Nnewi, a nuclear family is
consists of a man, his wife or wives and children. Each nuclear family is a
member of an extended family. Extended families form an Umunna. Umunna is the unit of
administration in Nnewi. Each head of an umunna is regarded as Isi Obi, that is
the first amongst obis of the extended consanguine families or a family having
the same descent. An Umunna needs not be consanguineous. It may be an
agglomeration of families of both master's families and those of his slaves, a
phenomenon imposed on us by the abolishment of slavery worldwide. Not all
slaves returned to their homelands upon the abolition of Slavery as many were
assumed into their former masters' families. Only few families like
Umuezenwegbu Ezeoguine of Otolo in Nnewi can be said to be purely
consanguineous. All the constituent family members are blood relations.
All the Isi Obis in Otolo defer
to the Obi of Otolo just as all the Isi Obis in Uruagu report to Obi of Uruagu;
this is the same in Umudim and Nnewichi. The Obi Otolo is the first amongst his
counterparts in Uruagu, Umudim and Nnewi. For many decades and since the turn
of the last two centuries till date, the Obi of Nnewi has been in Otolo. Whoever
is the Obi of Otolo automatically becomes Igwe Nnewi. The stool is with Igwe
K.O.N Orizu III who succeeded his father. We have had three generations of
Orizus on this throne. Orizus are descendants of Ezeoguine Nnofor, the son of
Otolo Digbo.
MEANING OF IGWE
The word Igwe means "the
sky". It is a metaphorical description of a man above his fellow men as
the sky is above the earth. Igwe is the Primus inter pares, the first amongst equals.
All the the Isi Obis are somewhat Igwes to the obis below and from his
consanguineous extended families.
DECISION MAKING IN NNEWI
Every man living in his own house
is an Obi. He makes his own rules which must be obeyed by his children and
wives. A man's rules must be in compliance with those of the extended
families'. Also the rules of the extended families are subject to that agreed
my Umunna. Those of the Umana are subject to those enunciated by the Isi Obi. The
agreed rules sanctioned by all the Isi Obis with the Igwe presiding become the
tradition and laws of Nnewi. The Igwe in CONSULTATION with the Obis of Uruagu,
Umudim and Nnewichi decide on Nnewi-wide matters. He does not lord it over his
fellow Obis. Very critical meetings that required neutrality or where
contentious issues needed to be discussed were
held at Agbọalọ Nnewi. This is a point that borders all the four
villages of Nnewi. In a meeting of extreme importance, Obi Otolo and Igwe Nnewi
presides. Okpala Nnewi from Umunearam comes with Ọfọ Nnewi.
Before now, enroute to important
Nnewi meeting, the Igwe would usually be escorted by an Okpala Otolo from
Umuenem who would cross the Ofọ̀ Otolo beyond the Otolo boundary marked by an
Ukpaka Oliutala tree. This was because holder of Obi position or Igwe in this
case is not a descendant of the first son of Otolo. An Enem son had to perform
that role because the custodianship of an Ọfọ is an inalienable right of first
son and his descendants.
The bragging rights of Umunearam
in Nnewi gathering and Umuenem in Otolo gatherings are well understood. Even
though they have lost the Obiship of Nnewi and Otolo forever, they still earn
some respects given the positions their progenitors once held. This is the way
Nnewi had been until certain modifications were forced on it by War, Greed and
Modernity.
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