By Stephen Lawani
The author
It is absolutely a privilege to serve as the chairperson of this event. It is not obedience to protocol for me to say so but a statement borne by history.
The history is this. No other Och’Idoma of Idoma has enjoyed Agabaidu Ajene Ukpabi’s longevity in that office since the institution was established. Many of us today grew up with him as the image of the Och’Idoma. Idoma children born after 1960 never heard of any other Och’Idoma other than Ajene Ukpabi until they were in their 30s. There is therefore a way in which longevity in office made him into a symbolic phenomenon.
But, more than longevity is the generational statement he personifies. I will not be overdrawing anything to say that no one in the old Idoma Province received the kind of endorsement Ajene Ukpabi received on his person and for the office of Och’Idoma from his predecessor. I am referring to the fact that his predecessor, Chief Ogiri Oko, considered him worthy of marrying two of his daughters. To be so considered by the powerful father of two sisters is not something that happens every day.
I would argue that this endorsement was only possible because of how Ajene Ukpabi cultivated and sustained a remarkable relationship with his predecessor in office and father-in-law, Agabaidu Ogiri Oko when he, Agabaidu Ukpabi, was serving as Head of the Native Authority dispensary at Adoka Center. There is something remarkably brilliant for the Head of an important Native Authority institution such as a Dispensary Center at that time to understand the importance of maintaining a functional relationship with the most important actor in the area. Surely, the most important actor in the community could not be any other person than the District Head of Adoka at the time, Chief Ogiri Oko. Not only that the Head of the NA dispensary related well with the District Head but that the relationship blossomed to the level where the District Head approved of the Head of the dispensary marrying two of his daughters.
No one I have spoken to before today denied the late Ajene Ukpabi the attribute of a humble, honest and most accessible public officer. What that means is that he had all the masterstrokes about power. By that, I do not mean power as control through the use of force or coercive instruments of office. Rather I am referring to power through inclusiveness and consensus building. It is with that control through consensus that he could have held the entire Idoma land together without any major conflict throughout a long tenure. No matter what we say about the late Agabaidu Ajene Ukpabi, this is one achievement we cannot deny him.
In one instance where there was a protracted boundary dispute in one part of Idomaland, he took off time to trace the colonial beacons from the hill at Ipatakpa right to Edumoga District Headquarters. Only a humble, honest and accessible monarch will take so much trouble for a transparent solution to a bitter feud.
We will find that both the official and unofficial records about the late monarch show that he was not someone who suffered from any temptation to rock the boat. He preferred order and stability. This did not mean that he was a weak monarch. He could not have been a weak monarch because the position of Och’Idoma was a position of mighty influence. For instance, the District Officer (DO) of the Idoma Native Authority was never appointed without the endorsement of the Och’Idoma. Yet, the DO is today the chairmen of all nine local government councils in Idomaland put together. It is a measure of the influence of the Och’Idoma that he was consulted on the appointment of this officer. And Ajene Ukpabi was never known to have mismanaged this influence.
Taking these stellar qualities into consideration, I venture to fully support and urge all Idoma sons and daughters to support a Foundation named after our late distinguished monarch. From the few illustrations things I have said about him and the many similar things that others will say, doing so is a worthy cause.
If it is a worthy cause, then it is for all of us. It means this is a project no one should bring any sectionalism, religious differences, Idoma north or Idoma south, east or west into. It would be good if everyone leaves behind any divisive ideas of Upper or Lower Idoma; any gender differences, any class differences and any divisions in approaching the implementation of this Foundation. For this Ajene Ukpabi Foundation, it is only ONE Idomaland.
I thank you for your patience!
Lawani, the Ochagwu of Idomaland and a leading politician, delivered the above speech at the Inauguration of Agabaidu Ajene Ukpabi Foundation, December 27th, 2025 at the OchÍdoma’s Palace, Otukpo
