•Monarchs, stakeholders react
•Nothing wrong with that —Chairman, Abia Council of Monarchs
•It is a taboo —Prof. Chinedu Agbodike
•I have women in my cabinet —Imo monarch
IN the past in Igbo land, there were traditional and cultural activities that are strictly reserved for men. Women dare not aspire to get involved in such traditional activities. One of such is women being members of the cabinet of traditional rulers. However, the times are changing and a lot is changing with the time. With growing demands for inclusiveness and agitation for rights of women, some communities have begun to change some of the native rules and regulations which prohibit women from doing certain things, including holding certain traditional positions.
For the chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Ndubuisi Nwabeke, there is nothing wrong in making women of proven integrity cabinet members of traditional rulers. According to him, the royal cabinet can benefit from the experience of titled women.
His words: “Communities are made up of both men and women. Igbo tradition does not condemn conferring chieftaincy titles on women of proven integrity. Many women today are well educated and have recorded great achievements in all fields of human endeavour. So, if chieftaincy titles are also extended to women, it implies that they are also qualified to be admitted into the traditional ruler’s cabinet. Therefore, it will be good if some titled women are admitted into the cabinet council of traditional rulers, denying qualified women of such opportunity of being members of the traditional ruler’s cabinet amounts to gender discrimination.
”I advise that some titled women of proven integrity be included in the traditional ruler’s council. There is nothing wrong with such an appointment because it is not against Igbo tradition. The traditional ruler’s council is where decisions are taken for the good governance of the community.
“In these modern times, much has been said about discrimination against women in our societies. It is, therefore, pertinent to include our women in the scheme of things to encourage them. We have great women of valor in communities and their experience can be very valuable to the society.”
Renowned monarch, the paramount ruler of Abiriba Kingdom, Eze Kalu, Enachioken Abiriba, agreed with Nwabeke that nothing is wrong in making credible women cabinet members in traditional institutions.
According to the Enachioken, issues affecting women cannot be thoroughly treated if women are not part of the decision-making process. He disclosed that women already have a role in his cabinet under the supervision of Eze Ndi inyom (King of women).
“There is nothing wrong with appointing women as cabinet members of Eze-in-Council because women constitute a sizable number in our society. There is no way you can discuss women in their absence. It is like shaving someone’s head in his absence,” Eze Kalu Ogbu said.
Explaining further, the monarch said: “We have what we call Eze Ndi Inyom in my cabinet which is an authority of its own. Whenever there is an issue that requires the women to give inputs, we send a message to them.
“There is what we call Itueye which is a yearly event, a day the Enachioken Abiriba makes proclamations or rules that guide the coming year. So, during this period, for those decisions to be arrived at, the women are also invited. They fully take part in the ikaiye until the process is completed. So, their views are incorporated.
So, if women request for inclusion in the cabinet, I don’t see why we won’t have one or two women included.”
Women shouldn’t be cabinet members—Prof. Ndimele
However, a woman, Professor Roseline Ndimele, does not see much need for women to be included in traditional rulers’ cabinets. Ndimele, a former education commissioner in Abia State and wife to a monarch, however, said it is left for the traditional ruler to consider if it is appropriate for women to be made members of his cabinet.
“It depends on the Eze, how enlightened and modern he is,” she said.
The Professor of Linguistics said women already hold powerful position in the women wing of their local communities and should not bother about inclusion in the Eze’s cabinet
“In some communities like ours, the women are not members of cabinet but they are invited most times when there are important issues to be discussed, especially the ones that affect women and the community. But in other cases like land matters, they are not involved. This is tradition; culture is dynamic. This argument is a new idea, and with time, many cabinets will involve women. But what exactly would women benefit from it? In every community, you have the women’s wing which is very powerful,” Ndimele noted.
Prof. Chinedu Agbodike says it is a taboo for women to serve as cabinet members of traditional rulers. He warned that such an idea should not come up at all.
Leave Women out of it —Widow of Imo monarch
For Ugoeze Tina Iwuala, widow of the deceased traditional ruler of Umueze Atta autonomous community, Ikeduru Local Council Area of Imo State: “A woman cannot and should not serve in the council of royal fathers, for so many reasons.”
Her words: “It is not proper to have a woman serve in Eze’s cabinet. Cabinet members are heads of kindred, which a woman can never be. Cabinet members are holders of ofor, the Igbo traditional symbol of authority. No woman can hold this authority.
“Members of the Eze’s cabinet, apart from other functions, make and interpret laws that govern the community. They know the rules and regulations, but women don’t. Women don’t know the deities and how to appease them. There are a lot more reasons why women should not be allowed to serve as members of the traditional council of any community. Anybody canvassing the idea should please drop it. This has nothing to do with women liberation or male chauvinism,” Ugoeze Iwuala said.
I don’t support women being in Eze’s cabinet —Imo monarch
In his own contribution, the traditional ruler of Ihitte Okwe, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, Eze Barnabas Obirieze said: “I don’t support the inclusion of women in the traditional council of royal fathers. I am saying this, not because I am a traditional ruler or out of selfishness or male chauvinism. We should not allow this over-civilization and over churchism to come into our traditional institutions. There are certain aspects of our culture reserved for men as well those for women.”
We have two sets of women in Igwe’s cabinet — Enugu monarch
The traditional ruler of Ibagwa-Nike autonomous community in Enugu East Local Government Area, Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu explained that in his community, there are two sets of women that are cabinet members in the traditional ruling institution. He also explained that the male counterparts don’t discriminate against the women. However, the male and female cabinet chiefs meet separately for their deliberations.
“We have two categories of women in the cabinet of my community; one is what you can call Royal women, they are just like we have the Assembly of Chiefs, it is the same way we have the Assembly of Lolos.
Automatically, when a woman is crowned with a chieftaincy title, she is inducted into the cabinet because that is the essence of crowning such a person. We have no less than seven of such women who were crowned,” Igwe Emma Ugwu said.
However, the traditional ruler of Ogrute community in Igbo-Eze North LGA, Enugu State, Igwe Wilfred Ekere said making women cabinet members is cultural aberration in Igbo land.
According to Igwe Ekere, Igbo tradition does not permit women to be part of Igwe’s cabinet, saying that there are some decisions on tradition that do require the presence of women in the palace.
“If the husband wears cabinet regalia with a red cap, his wife also wears it as a cabinet member, who is now the husband ? This is a new style and it looks like they are forcing traditional rulers to involve women as cabinet members. I have never seen a situation where men and women are members of the royal cabinet; it is not a political meeting.”
I have women in my cabinet —Imo monarch
The traditional ruler of Obetiti Autonomous Community, Nguru, Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Eze Reginald Amadi said he has women in his cabinet. Eze Amadi explained that whoever has been conferred with chieftaincy title automatically becomes a member of the cabinet, pointing out that he has conferred chieftaincy titles on some women found worthy of such titles.
He said: “I have women in my cabinet. There are women I have conferred with chieftaincy titles. They are all members of my cabinet. There is nothing wrong in having women in the cabinet. They have their wonderful contributions to make.”
For the traditional ruler of Iggah Ancient Kingdom in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Herbert Ukuta, some customs and traditions restrict traditional rulers from including women in their cabinets, even as he admitted there responsible women who are change agents.
Citing their tradition, the monarch said that there are some rituals which occur within the Igwe’s cabinet which women are forbidden from being part of.
“Women are valuable to the development of every society, but there are certain traditions and customs that hinder them from being made cabinet members. There are certain rituals that go on within the Igwe’s cabinet which do not involve women. Women cannot be included in some rituals which go on within some communities,” the monarch explained.
The traditional ruler of Ihiagwa Autonomous Community in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, Eze Lucky Ajoku, said there are avenues for women to participate in decision-making in the community but they are not members of the cabinet.
“In our community, we make provision for women’s arbitration in matters. In most cases when matters become so difficult, we involve daughters of the community married within the community or outside. They have their group. But you are talking of women becoming members of the cabinet, I am not sure of that. We have not gotten to the level of involving women in the cabinet. It is not as if anything is wrong with that; in my community, we have some women who have the capacity.”
The Regent of Oba community in Idemili South Council Area of Anambra State, Prince Noel Ezenwa said that as a matter of tradition and culture of Ndigbo, women are entitled to be part and parcel of cabinet members of any traditional ruler.
He noted that it is very necessary that women should be part of the royal cabinet in every Igbo community because they are better fitted to handle some certain cases concerning women affairs, such as sexual abuse and gender-based violence. (Vanguard)
