Ezendigbo of Ibadan land and Oyo state His Royal Highness (HRH) Eze Matthias Jawachi Achinike, Ezendigbo 11 has vowed to unite Ndigbo in Ibadan land and Oyo state as a whole.
Speaking at his maiden Iri-ji ceremony (yam eating) typical of Igbo to celebrate a very successful harvest year, Ezendigbo who was installed on April 23, 2026 at the Ohanaeze headquarters at Ososami, Ibadan stated he was not enthused by factions obtained among the Igbo resident in Ibadan and Oyo state in general.
He posited that the situation was caused the penchant of some disgruntled Igbo people to dissent due to reasons often related to greed or selfishness instead of the common goal of the ethnic group.
His Royal Highness Achinike stated that he would not be daunted by this factor noting that he would purse the agenda relentlessly as his predecessor late Eze Dr Alex Chukwudum Anozie who until his demise on September 23, 2023 championed the unity and oneness of Ndigbo in Oyo state through his activities and utterances.
Speaking about the yam eating proper, Eze Achinike said the occasion was one which Ndigbo used to thank God for a successful harvest after the fruitful planting season noting the ceremony was an age long culture inherited from the forebears of Ndigbo.
While cutting the roasted yam along with some royal fathers such as the Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Ambassador Aliu Balogun and the Okobaro of the seventeen kingdoms of Urhobo land in Oyo state, Chief Samuel Anigboro, he prayed for peace and progress just as he made supplication for sound body and mind now and the next year to the almighty God.
He urged all Igbos to chart the part of unity and oneness whenever they are nothing that Igbo people are renowned for the enterprise and industriousness instead of encouraging dissent and disunity.
The highlight of the occasion was the traditional cutting of the roasted yam and its subsequent cutting into pieces for it to be shared to everyone for eating with it’s traditional soup made of palm oil and ugba and onions.
The event also attracted Igbo leaders from outside Ibadan who came to witness the historic maiden yam eating by the new Ezendigbo of Ibadan land and Oyo state.
