There was a time when anyone wearing a red cap in Igbo Land was sure to be a titled chief in his community. And such a person was usually an elder who understood the meaning of the red cap he wore and the attendant expectations of anyone who belonged to the hallowed institution. But it is no more the same in present day Igbo Land and sadly so.
Today, anyone can go to the market, buy and put on a red cap, regardless of whether they are chiefs or whether they know the expectations that come with such. The trend now is to wear a red cap and white dress (up and down). The next thing is to get a staff and a traditional hand fan and all will be correct as they say.
No one asks questions, and, worse still, no one can do so as they lack the moral right for that. Thus, the chieftaincy institution in Igbo Land, once hallowed and respected, has today been thrown to the dogs. It is perhaps only among the Igbo that one can find this happening.
It started with the influence of money in bestowing chieftaincy titles on undeserving fellows in many Igbo Communities. Once anyone has money, the next thing will be to aspire to be a chief. Under this, you have the Nze and Ozos also. While checks as to the person’s background and experience are not carried out, it came to the situation where communities now beg people to become chiefs because of the size of their pockets. And many of such nouveau riche are too young to even understand what the cap, the dress and the staff that are given to them stand for. It is thus, safe to posit that chieftaincy titles in Igbo Land are now for the highest bidders and that is very bad.
Today, such people have become members of the royal cabinets of their communities and one wonders the kind of advice they will be giving to the monarchs.
Is it any wonder then that in many communities, things are in disarray as those who should ordinarily be the bastions of our traditional and cultural values are neither worth the seats they occupy nor have an inkling of what to do in certain situations.
We are appalled by this development in Igbo Land and we therefore, suggest the following to the various state governments in the South East Zone, so that they can direct their Traditional Rulers Councils on how to operate on this matter:
There should be an age limit for the conferment of chieftaincy titles; proper checks on such persons’ backgrounds should be carried out before they can be given chieftaincy titles; such persons must have served their communities in certain capacities in order for them to understand the roles expected of them and what their titles stand for; those to be given chieftaincy titles must be seen to have empowered their communities in various forms.
Doing the above is very important, if we are to return sanity to the chieftaincy institution which has been bastardized. A situation where criminals, swindlers and the like, are made chiefs in their communities will have very serious adverse effects on the well-being of society.
The mockery being made on the chieftaincy institution should be stopped. Everything should not be toyed with.
