Dirt on White Spectrum is a historical story of the Myths, the Travails and the Legacies of Eze (King of) Nri in Anambra State of Nigeria, West Africa. Eze Nri is undeniably the Custodian of Igbo culture and tradtion and the oldest kingship in Nigeria dated vefore 900AD. Its legacies which include founding pacifism in governance, respect for the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person dating well before UN 1948 UDHR, as far back as 900 AD. Apart from regulating the Igbo calendar of the 4 market days, izu (4-day week), onwa (months,13 in all) and Aro (the year), it introduced and regulated title-taking ozo and eze (kingships) in most of Igbo land and beyond; stretching beyond the Igala country northwards and Benin westward; and very likely up to Ife in Yorubaland. The colonial powers, the missionaries and slave trade and later misinformed politicians did their best to undercut Eze Nri infuence; but its 12 solid lagacies to the Igbo , Nigeria and the world stand it out as irrepressible constant star of over 1,000 years which no amount challenges has been able to extinguish.The reader only needs to open its pages and it would take a profound effort to stop peering into its disclosures of over 1, 000 years of sustained Igbo high profile civilisation dating ahead of all others in Nigeria and beyond.
Eze Nri: The Living Dead King In Igboland By Okenze Bernard Uzoma
Nri kingdom is the greatest Kingdom in Igboland and also the seat of power in Igboland. It is claimed to be the origin land of Igbos before several migrations. The Nri Kingdom is a kingdom within the Igbo Area of Nigeria and can be compared with the ancient kingdoms of Mecca and Rome. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of igboland, ruled and administered by a Priest-King called Eze Nri. There are five things which you should know about Eze Nri, they are;
1). Eze Nri Is A Spirit: Before assuming the throne of Nri Kingdom, the Eze Nri candidate must die symbolically. When the candidate dies, he will be buried in a shallow grave for three days; his body will be buried, but his head will be left outside the grave. During that period, he will undergo a transformation; pass through a stage, from human being to spirit, after which he will wake up and his body would be adorned with white chalk (Nzu) and he will shine like a Star. Eze Nri: The Living Dead King In Igboland
2). Eze Nri Is Not Hereditary: The throne of Nri kingdom is not hereditary like other throne where son takes over after father’s death. The throne is rotational among the major sections of the royal village called “Agukwu Nri”
3). Eze Nri Is A Living Dead: During the period of the conferment rituals while Eze Nri is still in the grave, his family will mourn him while the entire village will be on festive mood, eating and dancing every day. After that traditional mourning, he would wake up again, take a new body and become a spirit in form of human. After taking a new body, the Eze-Nri candidate would go to a confluence river like Ezu River, which is in Agulueri. At that confluence, they employ divers who go down deep into the river to scoop clay, which would be used to mould a pot.
7 Important Things to Know About Eze Nri
Nri is the ancestral home of all Igbos. It is an ancient Igbo city-state in Anambra State. The Kingdom of Nri was a center of learning, religion, and commerce in pre-colonial times. Historians have compared the significance of Nri, at its peak, to the religious cities of Rome or Mecca.
It was the seat of a powerful and imperial state that influenced much of the territories inhabited by the Igbo of Awka and Onitsha to the east; the Efik, the Ibibio, and the Ijaw to the South; Nsukka and southern Igala to the north; and Asaba, and the Anioma to the west.
The rulers of Nri did not use military conquest, but used religious authority and control of commercial routes as tactics in the spread of their city-state. Politically, Nri is known to be the most ancient origins of the Eze kingship in Igbo societies.
So, we present to you 7 important things to know about Eze Nri as follows:
Eze Nri, is believed to be a spirit, and therefore in his spirit state does not need to worship deities or idols.
Before his coronation as king, each Eze-Nri is celebrated alive as a living dead to succeed a departed king. In that time, all the funeral rites that ought to have been accorded him whenever he dies would be accorded him as part of his coronation.
As soon as a man is identified as the chosen replacement to the departed king of Nri by the gods of Igboland, he will be subjected to this ritual of severance with mere mortals as part of his coronation ceremony.
During ritual of severance with mere mortals, the new Eze-Nri will be automatically estranged from his immediate family.
His wife is made by order of the chief priest to commence mourning while he is still alive.
In the same vein, his own children will now have limited access to him since he is now a ‘living dead’.
Soon after he is enthroned, the new Eze-Nri is made to start up a new life by marrying a new wife, who will in turn give birth to the heir-apparent.
