The thesis that Nnewi is made up of four quarters is mathematically wrong — By Moneke Godson

A quarter is a mathematical term used to denote one part of a whole number when divided into four equal parts. Therefore, to the extent that the parts of the whole are not equal to each other, it is wrong to refer to any of them as a quarter. Irrespective of government recognition, it is a truism that Nnewi is made up of four towns ( call them communities if you like). It is difficult for those who are not mathematically inclined to understand that there a huge difference between a QUARTER AND A QUARTET. But this simple symbolic logic is difficult for people to comprehend for inexplicable reasons. The Mathematics is an exact science reduced to variables and constants. While a quartet is made up of four independent whole numbers, a quarter is a part when a whole number is divided into four equal parts. It is a misnomer to refer to a quartet as a quarter when it is not. I wrote a book, titled NNEWI (AgbaN’ano) in which I detailed how the four communities led by their respective FOUNDERS came together to enter into a COVENANT and sign a TREATY OF NON-AGGRESSION AND MUTUAL DEFENSE. Every Nnewi person over the age of fifty(50) years must have heard the word AGBAN’ANO TREATY at least once in his lifetime. That treaty is the basis of the Nnewi which exists today. It is a grave injustice to the memory of our forefathers who saw the strength in signing the treaty for anyone to treat it shabbily. Nnewi has four traditional rulers underscoring the fact of the reality that it is made up of four independent communities. Modern lexicons and demographic epithets now define these communities as TOWNS which are made up of villages. Traditionally, each of the constituent towns is governed by a TRADITIONAL RULER who guards his area of jurisdiction jealously. At the moment, the Obi Otolo is the Igwe Nnewi because he is the only one of the four recognized by the Anambra state government. The other Obis namely, the Obi Uruagu, the Obi Umudim and the Obi Nnewi Ichi are not yet similarly recognized. The Obi Otolo is also the ISI-Obi of Obiuno village, the Obi Uruagu is also the ISI-Obi of Ndiojukwu village, the Obi Umudim is also the ISI-Obi of Inyaba-Mbana village and the Obi Nnewi Ichi is also the ISI-Obi of Okpuno village underscoring the fact that each of the communities is a COMPLETE TOWN in itself.

The traditional Nnewi share ratio(formula) is 9,7,5 and 4 representing the number of ISI-Obis in the Otolo town, Uruagu town, Umudim town and NnewiIchi town respectively plus one each. This means that the Otolo town has 8no ISI-Obis, Uruagu town has 6no ISI-Obis, Umudim town has 4no ISI-Obis and NnewiIchi town has 3no ISI-Obis. The head ISI-Obi in each town is given an additional share and this is why the share of each town is increased by one. This further confirms the fact each is an independent town. Meetings of each town are held at their respective Obi’s palace and nowhere else. When in 1956, the Eastern Region government decided that only one traditional ruler should represent Nnewi in the Eastern Nigeria House of Chiefs, an agreement was made by the traditional rulers in the four towns to present the traditional ruler of the Otolo town to fill the Nnewi Slot. It was a written agreement signed by the four traditional rulers and duly witnessed. This could only happen because the four towns were independent of each other otherwise the Obi Otolo would have simply presented himself to government without consulting the other Obis. It was further agreed therein that whatever benefits accruing to the Obi Otolo as a result would be shared by the four traditional rulers using the traditional Nnewi Share ratio of 9,7,5,4 representing the four towns that make up Nnewi. WHAT ELSE DID YOU REQUIRE TO CONFIRM THEIR RESPECTIVE INDEPENDENCE? The agreement identified Obi Otolo as Obi Nnewi, Obi Uruagu as 2nd Obi Nnewi, Obi Umudim as 3rd Obi Nnewi and Obi NnewiIchi as 4th Obi Nnewi to underscore the independent statuses of the four traditional rulers and their respective four towns. While the late Chief Josiah Orizu, the father of the present Igwe Nnewi kept faith with both the letter and spirit of the agreement, his son who succeeded him reneged on it after obeying it for some years. The question which should agitate the minds of all right thinking children of Nnewi(AgbaN’ano) is WHAT HAPPENED? The answer to this question would reveal the root cause of the crisis in Nnewi. It is my considered opinion that if the 1956 agreement has been honored and not ignored by the Obi Otolo, the crisis would not have reared its ugly head. It is important to stress that there is nowhere it is written that any of the four towns is superior to the rest not to talk of being SUPREME. Those who always harp on the so-called EXISTING PEACE in Nnewi are being DISHONEST because there cannot be peace when only one person is appropriating what belongs to four persons. What you call peace is actually a GRAVEYARD PEACE!!!!

The position of the Igwe Nnewi is for life and it is not written anywhere that only one particular town out of the four towns must produce the Igwe Nnewi. Like everything done in Nnewi, the leadership of traditional institution based on government recognition is rotational. There is no agreement excepting this TRADITIONAL TITLE from the rotation principle once the position becomes vacant by effluxion of time which in this case is DEATH. It is not as if the IGWE NNEWI is different from the Obi Otolo thereby giving it a unique and separate identity. The fact that the current IGWE Nnewi is also the Obi Otolo town meant that the title was never intended to be HEREDITARY. THIS IS SIMPLE DEDUCTIVE REASONING!!! The only thing separating the Obi Otolo from the other three Obis is the IGWE title which arose from the government recognition of Obi Otolo ostensibly based on the 1956 agreement . The AFIAOLU FESTIVAL IS CELEBRATED IN NNEWI FOR FOUR DAYS WITH EACH DAY EARMARKED FOR EACH CONSTITUENT TOWN. In the interest of genuine peace in NNEWI, I suggest that a joint opening ceremony be held after which the towns should retire to their respective Obi’s palace to celebrate their individual AFIAOLU festival on the days chosen by them. The leadership of every association involving elective positions is rotated among the four towns that make up Nnewi once it is an Nnewi affair. Where is it written and agreed that only one town would produce the IGWE NNEWI while the others play second fiddle with no ambitions? Some people have applauded what they call the uniqueness of the Nnewi practice where one out of the four Obis in Nnewi exclusively enjoys all the trappings of the TRADITIONAL ESTATE while the others idly look on. They are quick to educate everybody on how novel such a practice which only exists in Nnewi out of the whole country should be worthy of emulation by all . How do you emulate a practice which allows one person to convert what traditionally belongs to four persons into his PRIVATE ESTATE while the other part-owners are left high and dry to watch on helplessly?. I feel like crying when I hear people confess such BULLSHIT. Commonsense should tell you that such a practice is contrary to natural Justice, equity and good conscience. There is nothing unique about such a practice, it is simply called OPPRESSION. That such a practice which is only good for the fables still exists in Nnewi is shameful to say the least. If Nnewi is the only place in Nigeria where such a practice obtains , then Nnewi people who condone and perpetuate it are to blame.

EVIL PERSISTS WHEN GOOD PEOPLE KEEP QUIET!!! The rest of the country who think otherwise of such a bizarre practice cannot all be wrong. We should not be doing the wrong thing and tell boldfaced lies that it is the right thing to do. This is the height of INCORRIGIBILITY, DISHONESTY AND INTELLECTUAL FRAUD. Now that we have understood that Nnewi is not made up of four quarters, it is important to interrogate how the concept of QUARTER got inserted into the Nnewi lexicon in the first place? I was not there at the onset but can hazard that those who did it did so either out of mischief or innocuous ignorance. I say so because the interpreters of those days were not as generously educated as we have today. Besides, their INTEGRITY QUOTIENT was low. By playing with just the letters “T” and “R” the meaning changed and this has put us in this QUAGMIRE for years. Well , it is better late than never!!!. We must admit that the words QUARTET and QUARTER mean different things altogether. While one refers to four whole numbers, the other refers to an equal fourth fraction of a whole number. You can not call a part a quarter when it is not equal to each of the other three parts. In the case of Nnewi, no constituent town is equal to the other in all material particular like LAND MASS, POPULATION, NUMBER OF VILLAGES, HISTORY AND EVEN TRADITIONAL PRACTICES. To be a quarter of a whole, you must share similar attributes with each of the other three parts of the object.

Finally, let me sound it to the Uruagu town that we would not have been engaged in this argument if they had taken up their SLOT WHEN THE FORMER OBI OTOLO, CHIEF JOSIAH ORIZU DIED IN 1962. The then Obi Uruagu succumbed to pressures from his brother Obis to allow the late Josiah Orizu’s son to continue as the IGWE Nnewi as a mark of compassion for his father who died not long after the 1956 agreement. Now, because of that singular act, they are claiming the title as their birthright because the almighty God has favored IGWE KON ORIZU III to stay long on the throne. Such must not be allowed again because there is no morality in business. It is important to remind all that if the Uruagu town fails to take up their slot when the throne becomes vacant again, Umudim town will take the next vacant slot. The only way to avoid this scenario is to collectively obtain government recognition for the four Obis, SIMPLICITA. It is important to remind us that the first person to achieve greatness in any society may not necessarily be great forever. The first family to make wealth in Nnewi is not the richest family today. Change is the only thing constant in lifeFor example, Great Britain was at the zenith of its power, the strongest country on earth and even colonized the United States of America (which today has the biggest economy and the greatest military in the world) but today Britain is not even a super power in the power calculus of the world. The US used to have the largest navy in the world but today, it is China. Up till about 15 years ago, Japan was the second biggest economy in the world but today, that title belongs to China. There used to be only two super powers in the world but today they are three. China was before contented with being just one of the twenty biggest economies in the world but today it is the second biggest economy with the highest growth rate among the top five economies. The story goes on and on implying that Obi Otolo may not be the greatest IGWE Nnewi to grace the earth. Otolo is not guaranteed to remain the leader in Nnewi because it is the first member of the quartet. It is common knowledge that China used to be the most populous country in the world but today that title belongs to INDIA. The biggest economy in the world today does not have the highest per capita GDP, today that title belongs to LUXEMBOURG , a small European country with a population of under 700,000 people. Why then are we fixated on Obi Otolo remaining the IGWE Nnewi till thy kingdom come. Nigeria is not a MONARCHY BUT A REPUBLIC AND DEMOCRACY. This should be in our psyche and guide our thoughts and actions.

Godson O. Moneke, a polymath, holds advanced degrees and diplomas in quantity surveying, economics, business administration, sociology, procurement, operations management, property law among other certifications. He is the author of the bestseller, NNEWI (AgbaN’ano). He wrote from Abuja.

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