The Grey Traditional Spirituality Of Ibusa, Menace Of Fake Herbalists And The Audacious Intervention Of His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) Louis C. Nwoboshi
By Dr. Nwankwo Tony Okoboshi Nwaezeigwe
My recent discussion with the Obuzor of Ibusa who equally doubles as my father and uncle, His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) Louis C. Nwoboshi over the dare need to rejuvenate the dwindling traditional integrity of our town served as a pointer to the need for collective actions under his leadership to cleanse Ibusa of all subsisting social, economic, spiritual, religious and political ambiguities bedeviling the great town. His altruistic carriage in trying to redefine the course of Ibusa history within the moral orbit of traditional governance is not just a factor that puts him effectively of that saddle of traditional role, but serves as a customary dynamo for every patriotic citizen of Ibusa.
It might sound odd, impossible or considered outright falsehood that as Odogwu of Ibusa, I have not only been following the daily routine developments in Ibusa while in my present exile in Philippines, I have been coordinating effectively with relevant personalities in the town on serious issues that demanded my attention, as well as acting on the instructions of the ancestors and traditional guiding deities of the town with whom I occasionally interact through dreams trance.
I hold occasional discussions on topical issues concerning any engaging problem in Ibusa with my senior brother the Uwolo of Ibusa, Chief Amaechi Nwaenie, my brother Evangelist Emmanuel Chime and many other responsible patriotic sons of Ibusa who occasional call my attention to any negative development in the town.
In November 2023 Our Mother-Deity Oboshi appeared to me and complained bitterly about the gross desecration of her river and that it was for that reason she caused flooding to prevent such act. She instructed me to take immediate action. Since I was and still not in Ibusa but in faraway Philippines, I immediately consulted my cousin from Umuozoma Village, Ogbeowele Quarters Elder Augustine Okine Odogwu to assist in carrying out the function.
I provided the necessary fund, instructed him to seek the permission of the then Diokpa of Ogbeowele Quarters Onowu Hon. Paul Mordi with the necessary items which included cash, drinks and Kola-nuts, and mobilize Ogbeowele boys to go and clean up the main Olulu-Oboshi at Uzo-Ozili. He subsequently carried out the assignment on my behalf as instructed. Our Mother-Deity Oboshi was happy for the moment.
In October 2024, Oboshi appeared to me with the same complaint and owing to some financial difficulties at the time, I could not initiate the project at the time. I consequently called my most respected elder brother, Agunaechemba of Ibusa, Senator Peter Onyeluka Nwoboshi and conveyed the message to him, requesting his assistance. Unfortunately, for reason of his elevated social and political status he did not deem such request necessary for his attention. Since then I have been contemplating on how best to approach the menace.
So hearing that the Obuzor of Ibusa His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) Louis C. Nwoboshi had initiated the process of not only cleaning up the desecrated Olulu of Our Mother-Deity Oboshi but the other desecrated rivers in Ibusa, I felt not only fulfilled but convinced that a new dawn in the preservation of our customary identity has emerged. It was a decision defined by the age-long tradition of spontaneity in action among the people.
The Obuzor’s further action in scrutinizing the activities of spiritual scammers who go by the fictitious name of Ezenwayi is not only highly commendable but puts him on greater height in the annals of Ibusa history. A grandson of Ohene-Oboshi and scion of Ikwele royal family, his characteristic martial approach in confronting this befuddling gangrenous spiritual scam in Ibusa clearly cuts him out as a perfect example of the instinctive customary war-like leadership of Ibusa of old.
Unfortunately, this action was supposed to be the fundamental responsibility of the Diokpa of Ibusa, but having been infested by traditional political scammers, embarrassingly surrounded by a fake Odogwu called Mr. Charles Okonkwo, fake Uwolo called Mr. Agiliga Umunna and fake Omu called Miss Josephine Nwannabuogwu, all of whom patronize these spiritual scammers, it became impossible for him and those around him to consider such acts of desecration as inimical to the sanctity of our time-honored customary value system.
Indeed it is right to state that Ibusa has never had it so bad under the current Diokpka-Ibusa Onowu Paul Ijeh throughout her history in the role performances of Diokpa of Ibusa. Ironically, Diokpa Paul Ijeh was a long-time active member of Izu-Ani Ibusa up to the point the mantle was passed on to him and thus many people expected him to effectively operate within the customary and traditional orbits of his office. Unfortunately the ruinous invasion of Barrister Fred Ajudua with his sycophantic political minions into the arena of the Diokpa created the subsisting whirlwind of degenerate political atmosphere around the throne of Diokpa Ibusa.
No town which allows the foundation of her ancestral identity and revered customs and tradition to be destroyed in any manner by both internal and external forces of perverted traditional values can properly maintain her traditional integrity among the comity of towns around her. Ibusa like her Enuani counterparts is founded on efficacious traditional principles tried and tested over the centuries of her existence and to which the people are dedicatedly glued to with unrivalled pride.
While reasonable changes and transformations have overtaken some aspects of these customary values and tradition by the forces of Christianity and modernity, the fundamental aspects which profoundly define the people’s exclusive identity remain guarded jealously. These are the aspects every hand should be on board to protect; and it is in this respect that His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) Louis Chelunor Nwoboshi should most profoundly be commended following his recent rescue-initiative.
The strength and pride of Benin Kingdom today are anchored on the uninterrupted promotion and veneration of her time-honored customary values and tradition. Our neighboring kinsmen Asaba saw both modernity and Christianity long before Ibusa, but her instinctive attachment to her time-honored customs and tradition cannot be tampered with by their age-long adherence to the Christian faith and earlier exposure to modernity. Asaba is the Capital of Delta State; yet the status has not in any form negatively impacted on her customary and traditional value systems.
There are certain acts of desecration of Ibusa customs and tradition gaining grounds in Ibusa today with impunity without effective sanctions being applied against the culprits and which cannot be tolerated a second in Asaba. In Asaba no one except if permitted by tradition is allowed to put on the traditional title red cap, and in this case it is the exclusive title preserve of Eze (Nze) title holders. It does not matter if one is conferred with a chieftaincy title by another town with the red cap as one of the insignia of the title; the customary rule is that the wearing of such cap ends with the conferment ceremony.
That is Asaba, Ibusa, Okpanam and Okwe traditions. This was the case with Ibusa until recently when the vile dominance of the licentious noveau riche created by Barrister Fred Ajudua generated a rebellious scene of imperious desecration of the revered traditional value system of Ibusa. Every Dick and Harry puts on the red cap with impunity without customarily fulfilling the necessary title obligations that permit the adorning of the cap. And this reckless abuse persists for only one reason: the effective absence of the customary mechanisms of sanction against such breach in customs following the breakdown of the customary powers and authority of the Diokpa institution from the Umunna to the Izu-Ani Igbuzo as a result of Barrister Fred Ajudua’s debased assaults against Ibusa customs and tradition.
Ibusa has a fictitious Odogwu, a fictitious Uwolo, and a fictitious Omu, all created by Fred Ajudua in advancement of his invidious ambition to become the next Obuzor of Ibusa. Unfortunately, death does not often come by right of age, thus contesting one’s father’s inheritance while he’s still living is not only sacrilegious in Ibusa custom and tradition but a heinous mortal sin before God. Ironically, none of these fictitious fundamentally traditional titles passed through the required rigorous rites.
Most ridiculous is an Omu of Ibusa who still undergoes her menstrual circle against Ibusa customs and tradition, but has a living biological mother. A man cannot take Alor or Eze title in his father’s life-time. This is the case of the Omu who must not only be a woman within the age circle of menopause but must have concluded all the burial rites of her parents, including Ikpu-Nnu, which the Omu is customarily in-charge of in Ibusa. Under Ibusa customs and tradition, one cannot participate in burial rights (Ikpu-Eshi and Ikpu-Nnu) of another woman if he or she has not performed such rites for her mother. So how can a woman whose mother is alive even contemplate presiding over the same ceremony and above all assume the status and role of a mother to her biological mother? This is a clear sacrilege against Ibusa customs and tradition; thanks to Fred Ajudua.
In Asaba, Onishe Deity remains not only an efficacious instrument of social control among the people, with a dignified institutionalized Chief Priest, its tabooed food item Agbono cannot be openly sold in any market in the city nor eaten by any true son or daughter of Asaba. No stranger ever goes near the Olulu (Shrine) of Onishe without permission.
But the case of Ibusa was a different story until the recent timely intervention by His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) Louis C. Nwoboshi. Olulu Oboshi and several other deified rivers and streams were recklessly abused and desecrated by strangers and their native accomplices. There have also been cases of non-natives assisted by some Ibusa sons secretly fishing in the sacred Oboshi River whose fishes are taboo to the town.
Asaba is currently the Delta State Capital City; but whenever the Egwugwu (Masquerade) emerges from his cocoon of the spirit world, no woman comes close to him or approaches within an identifiable distance of his operation, the status and foreignness of such a woman notwithstanding. Non-initiated men of Asaba origin calculate the limits of their nearness to the Egwugwu. So in this instance there is no question of somebody being a foreigner or Asaba being a cosmopolitan city.
Fortunately, unlike the Igbo of Southeast, the Church in both Edo and Delta State is subservient to the people’s customs and tradition. There is a clear delineation of authority between Christianity and the people’s customs and traditions. For instance, the Church of any denomination does not possess the imperious right to interfere with the traditional burial rites, rituals of title-taking or the destruction of any deity and associated ritual objects. All burial rites in Edo and Delta States are fundamentally traditional in rites, with Christian burial rites in form of funeral Church Service being only an added honor to the deceased and not competitive to the traditional rites.
Few years ago, Saint Augustine’s Catholic Church Ibusa was closed for three months following a revolt by the people against the presiding Parish Priest, an Augustinian Priest from Imo State who attempted to ridicule Ibusa customs and tradition in the course of his sermons. It took a courageous woman Mrs. Ajufo from Umuehea Quarters, then the President of Catholic Women’s Organization (CWO) to not just call the Priest to order but physically stopped his desecrating sermon half-way during the Sunday Mass.
The chaos created by her action which resulted to a slap from the Priest and a counter-slap from her resulted to the abrupt end of the Mass. Ibusa resolved that the Priest must leave the town or there would be no Mass in the town. When the presiding Catholic Bishop of Issele-Uku Diocese Rt. Reverend Emmanuel Nwafor Otteh who was from Awkuzu, Anambra State attempted to flex his episcopal muscles against the people, he was boldly informed that he does not own the town and that the town has produced a Catholic Bishop long before him in the person of Rt. Reverend Lucas Oluchukwu Nwaezeapu who was ordained Priest in 1958 and consecrated the Bishop of Warri Catholic Diocese in 1964.
Consequently, both parties arrived at an acceptable deal after three months of massive loss of revenue by the Diocese following the closure of the Church. The deal required the embattled Priest to be reinstated briefly with an apology from him to the people, after which he would be transferred back to Owerri. It was in response to the crisis that the Diocese decided to break-up the Parish into three Parishes—the parent Saint Augustine, Saint Monica and Saint Thomas.
So Ibusa is a town where traditional customs and tradition are well respected and protected with functional sanctions. Traditionally, Ibusa is not a home of native Doctors but her strong attachment to traditional spirituality holds sway in many dimensions. This is because being a town almost surrendered by rivers that connect subsequently to the River Niger the town abhors heinous and destructive medicines which are considered taboos to the domineering river Deities in the town led by the Mother-Deity of the town Oboshi Nwanyi Alamgbologodo.
Oboshi Deity, whose fishes are totem to freeborn Ibusa sons and daughters according to Ibusa tradition, is reputed to possess the power to nullify any harmful medicine that is carried across her river. She is also believed to cure barrenness among women. Many families and individuals in Ibusa are associated directly in one way or the other with Oboshi, including the present writer who was named “Okoboshi” before birth. Most of these families who are directly associated with her are also forbidden to eat Ugu (Pumpkin leaves).This greatly explains why Oboshi is not just a popular identity name in Ibusa but serves in a sense as a national name for Ibusa. It is a name which no foreigner associated with Ibusa is entitled to bear.
During the Nigerian civil war when the advancing Federal troops were carrying out the mass killing of the Igbo from Benin on the instruction of General Murtala Mohammed, the Elders of the town quickly sought the protection of Oboshi. As the Federal troops entered Ogwashi-Ukwu killing everybody they could set their eyes on, the Elders of Ibusa led by the Diokpa and traditional ruler then Obi Mordi of Ogbeowele Quarters in coordination with the Omu of Ibusa, Ogbueshi Nwoboshi, trooped to the bank of Oboshi River separated only from the advancing murderous troops by the broken bridge blown up few days before by retreating Biafran troops.
With Primary School pupils led by the veteran Primary School Headmaster Mr. Okogwu of Umuodafe waving tiny Nigerian flag, the advancing Federal troops were boldly confronted by the elders who clearly saw the broken bridge separating them from their civilian adversaries. However, instead of shooting the elders as they did in Ogwashi-Ukwu, the troops brought out some drinks and calmly requested from the Elders the alternative road to Asaba. Thereafter they were redirected to the Ogwashi-Uku-Issele-Azagba-Okpanam-Asaba road. This act saved Ibusa from the initial killings perpetrated against the Western Igbo by the advancing troops.
Traditionally, not every Ibusa son or daughter is entitled to carry out any form of religious rituals in any river without the consent of the priests involved. There are specific families concerned with the propitiation of Oboshi, Iyioji, Atakpo and other specific deities associated with the traditional spirituality of Ibusa. You don’t just step into Oboshi River to offer sacrifices of any kind without the guidance of those customarily concerned. In addition, there are defined ritual processes which must be followed. It is therefore sacrilegious in the first instance for a stranger to just walk down the river and begins to perform rituals of any kind.
When in the course of my rites of passage to the conferment of Odogwu tile I was required to initiate into the traditional priesthood (Ohene Society) of Oboshi and Iyi-Oji, my uncle consulted a traditional Afa diviner in the case of Oboshi to determine which family would undertake my initiation. The lot eventually fell on two families—the Ohene Ikedi Ezechi family of Umuogwo Village, Umuekea Quarters and, Obi Okolichi Ugwom family of Okaliamike na Ezebo Village of Ogbeowele Quarters.
The second round of divination fell on Obi Okolichi Ugwom family. Being that there were two direct living sons of Obi Okolichi Ugwom at the time, the third and final round of divination fell of Chief Anikamgbolu Okolichi, a veteran Captain of Biafran Army. He was the person who subsequently carried out my initiation rites between Ndeli and Odinabo periods of the night (11:00 pm and 2:00 am at Olulu Oboshi.
It is instructive to conclude at this stage by stating that there is no other acceptable means of defining a people’s exclusive identity except by their characteristic ancestral cultural identity defined by their exclusive institutionalized political, spiritual and social aspects of their customs and tradition. These are the exclusive identity definitions that mark Ibusa people out from their neighboring kinsmen from Asaba, Okwe, Oko, Ogwashi-Uku and Okpanam. It is therefore incumbent on the people of Ibusa to stand firm with the Obuzor His Royal Majesty Obi (Prof) L. C. Nwoboshi in his current resolved to bring order and sanity to the town’s traditional spiritual setting against the menace of spiritual scammers that go by the fictitious names of Ezenwanyi and native doctors.
His Highness Dr. Nwankwo Tony Okoboshi Nwaezeigwe, PhD, DD, Odogwu of Ibusa and President, International Coalition against Christian Genocide in Nigeria (ICAC-GEN). Nwaezeigwe.genocideafrica@gmail.com February 22, 2025
