{"id":31531,"date":"2026-04-11T14:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31531"},"modified":"2026-04-11T14:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:10:27","slug":"nigerias-ohanaeze-bans-crowning-of-eze-ndigbo-abroad","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nigerias-ohanaeze-bans-crowning-of-eze-ndigbo-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s Ohanaeze bans crowning of \u2018Eze Ndigbo\u2019 abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has announced a ban on the crowning of an \u201cEze Ndigbo\u201d, or King of the Igbo, outside Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The decision was made during the group\u2019s Imeobi and General Assembly meeting in Enugu.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The move follows growing concern over similar titles being conferred in the diaspora, including a recent controversy in South Africa\u2019s (SA) Eastern Cape province, where the selection of an Eze Ndigbo sparked public backlash.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>President of Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo SA, ABC Okokoh, says such titles are not meant to represent traditional kingship outside Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He explains that while Igbo communities abroad often organise cultural events to preserve their heritage, any titles given during these gatherings are symbolic.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOhanaeze does not support anything illegal, we do not crown or install a king outside our homeland,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Okokoh adds that what took place in SA was a ceremonial observance rather than the installation of a recognised traditional ruler.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31533,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31531","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has announced a ban on the crowning of an \u201cEze Ndigbo\u201d","published_date":"2026-04-11 14:10:20","news_description":"Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has announced a ban on the crowning of an \u201cEze Ndigbo\u201d","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31536,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31531\/revisions\/31536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}