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Nnofo Royal lineage


The ruling house of Otolo which is as well that of the entire Nnewi is in Nnofo family in Otolo. In the other three quarters, his influence is felt but very slightly – a situation which has arisen from the fact that the chiefs in these quarters are virtually autonomous. Royal descent plays an important role in many Igbo societies; authority and property tend to be lineally derived. Among tribes which recognize a single ruler, the hereditary blood line of the rulers (who early European travelers described as kings, queens, princes, etc., using the terminology of European monarchy) is akin to a dynasty.

The Nnofo royal lineage consists of the reigning monarch of the Nnewi Kingdom in Anambra State, Nigeria, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III, his consorts, legitimate descendants, near relatives and male-line descendants of his twelve great-grandfathers King Otolo who is a son of Digbo, one of the sons of Nnewi. Chief Otolo, the first son of Digbo, who became the sixth chief of Nnewi and naturally, the first chief of Otolo people, reigned from 1631–1639. Chief Otolo had many sons – Enem the first son followed by Nnofo, Eziogwugwu alias Eziegbelu, Diaba whose descendants are generally known Umuzu and Nnangana alias Nganaga. Upon the death of Otolo, the seventh chief of Nnewi was chief Enem. He had three sons – Ogbe, Dogonu and Dunu Sie. Chief Enem amicably handed over rule to Nnofo who thus became the eight chief of Nnewi.

Nnofo (and not Umu Enem who are the descendant of the first son of Otolo) then became the ruling family of Otolo. The position Nnofos, the owners of Ndi-Ichie akwa, occupy in Otolo is definitely not as of right but of accident, just as the engulfment of Uru, for example, with Umu Dim was a matter of chance. Nnofo was to have been succeeded on his death by Eze Nwana had the latter not been earlier expelled by the former, his father, as a result of a serious offence he committed. When Nnofo therefore died, Udude succeeded him as the ninth chief, and had many sons as follows: Eze Agha, Ukadibia, Dala who, like Nluonu, committed an ewe offence, Eze Nnebo, Eze Aghagwo, Eze kali, Eze Dunu. The descendants of these seven sons are known today as Udude Ama Nasaa.

When Udude died, his first son, Eze Agha, became the tenth chief. The eleventh chief after Eze Agha was his first son Eze Agha jnr who, like Okpala, was not an able ruler. He therefore gave up his rule and Eze Nnwa, his brother, became the twelfth chief of Nnewi. One of the wives of Eze Nnwa was uduji the mother of Eze Oguine. She was married from Ezi Abubo in Abubo. Eze Oguine took his father’s place when he died and became the thirteenth chief of Nnewi. He like his father married many wives. Eze Oguine’s sons were, first Eze Chukwu the son of a woman called Onyebuchi, Eze Enwe the son of a woman called Nwakannwa, Ukatu the son of Akuabunwa, Ilechukwu and many others.


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