The Nigerian Government has criticised the controversial coronation and activities of individuals styled as Eze Ndigbo (Igbo traditional rulers) in foreign countries, describing the practice as embarrassing.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, while presenting the position of the government on the controversy at a meeting of Imeobi, the highest decision-making body of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, held in Enugu on Thursday said the situation has become a major embarrassment to the government,
“The situation has become a major embarrassment to the government, Ndigbo, Nigerians, and citizens of host countries where such titles are conferred’, Special Assistant on Communication and New Media to the Minister said in a statement
Penpushing further reports that the Minister addressing the Ohanaeze Imeobi/General Assembly, recalled that a similar incident occurred in Ghana in July 2025 over the Eze Ndigbo issue, adding that she had led a delegation to Accra to ease tensions following protests in which some Ghanaian groups demanded that Nigerians leave the country.
The Minister stressed that cultural expression should not create conflict with host communities, noting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had continued to deploy diplomatic channels to address the situation in South Africa, recalling that aggrieved Ghanaians issued Nigerians with a quit notice, insisting they must leave.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the delegation met with President John Mahama of Ghana, Ministers, Inspector-General of Police, traditional authorities across regions, and representatives of the Nigerian community.
The Minister added that tensions eased following the intervention of President Mahama, who maintained that there was no place for xenophobia in Ghana, explaining that receiving President Bola Tinubu’s special envoy at the Presidential Palace in Accra, the Ghanaian leader reaffirmed his commitment to the Economic Community of West African States protocols, particularly on the free movement of persons and goods within the region.
Mahama equally noted that the circulation of an old video made by a Nigerian resident in Ghana more than 10 years ago contributed to the tension, but said the situation was swiftly managed.
The Minister, however, reiterated that the safety of Nigerians, their businesses, and property in Ghana could have been threatened but for the intervention of President Mahama and urged Ohanaeze Ndigbo to prescribe sanctions for individuals who violate its directive abolishing Igbo traditional rulership titles outside Igboland.
Penpushing further reports that she assured all that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would assist in disseminating the Ohanaeze communiqué on the issue through Nigeria’s missions and high commissions abroad.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator Azuta Mbata, who presented the decision of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, said the group had adopted the position of traditional rulers abolishing the Eze Ndigbo title in the diaspora.
“Anybody who is awarded such a title anywhere outside Igboland does so on his own. It is not recognised by the Igbo people. We will correspond with state governors and embassies worldwide to inform them of the position of Ndigbo’, he said.
“The position of Eze Ndigbo anywhere outside Igboland is hereby declared alien and proscribed. We will determine, in consultation with traditional rulers in Igboland, the appropriate sanctions for anyone who violates this position, and such sanctions will be implemented at the community level’, Mbata added.
It would be recalled that on March 14, 2026, Eziko was crowned as a traditional leader in the Gompo area of East London, a move widely interpreted by South Africans as an unlawful challenge to established traditional leadership structures, a development which led to stabbing one person, while police deployed stun grenades and tear gas to restore order.
The latest similar incident occurred in South Africa’s Eastern Cape following the controversial coronation of a Nigerian Igbo leader, Solomon Ogbonna Eziko, as “Eze Ndigbo na East London” (Igbo King in East London).
Penpushing reports that the development sparked outrage among local residents, traditional leaders, and political groups, leading to unrest, the burning of foreign-owned vehicles, and looting.
The Eastern Cape House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders condemned the coronation as a flagrant violation of customary protocols, while the South African Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs also declared the installation illegal and inconsistent with the country’s constitutional provisions.
Meanwhile, the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, in collaboration with the South-East Council of Traditional Rulers, has abolished the practice of conferring the title of Eze Igbo outside Igboland.
