![]() ![]() “Today, all traditional rulers in Nigeria get their recognition from the state governors.” “The Eze Aro lost his sovereign power after that military invasion,” Onwumere explained. The novel’s protagonist Kanu is none other than Mazi Kanu Okoro, the last sovereign Eze Aro, who was reigning at the time of the British invasion of Arochukwu in 1901/02. Years after, the publication of the novel became a fait accompli. Hence, Onwumere began to toy with the idea of adapting the script into a novel. Funding issues and limited time joined forces to frustrate its realisation into a film. We also know men, who have the capacity to transform themselves into leopards.”īack to the movie script. “I have heard many stories and, in some instances, seen the evidence of the presence of the animal around. Leopards, he disclosed, are revered as totem animals among the Aro people, because they are believed to protect the kingdom from invaders. Also, his insider’s position afforded him the privilege of a first-hand observation of the mystical powers of the traditional “Abah” group, which regale the people with magical performances at the Ikeji Aro festival or during the burial of its members. Onwumere, who preens himself on being “an insider”, affirmed that he was well placed to write about the significance of the “Awada Aro” (Aro Covenant Place), the kingdom’s history, cultural values and family ties linking the Arochukwu homeland to its over 350 diaspora communities. “I reasoned that for such a legendary kingdom that has been in existence for over 1100 years, the Arochukwu Kingdom continues to elicit awe and interest because of its unique culture and civilisation,” he recalled. These reflections soon resulted in a bulky epic movie script and, not long afterwards, he found himself visiting possible locations with his proposed film director, Adim Williams. This was at a time he was engrossed in a course at the National Institute for Cultural Orientation – often referred to in local cultural circles by its acronym NICO. His reflections specifically swirled around the kingdom’s last iconic monarch and its cultural peculiarities. Hence, before writing the novel, Kanu: The Last Eze Aro King, Ernie Onwumere, a CEO of a Lagos-based brand communication company, recalled being obsessed about the institution of monarchy in his native Arochukwu Kingdom. ![]() ![]() Besides choosing their narrators, they even compel their way to some form of verbal expression or the other. As “an insider”, Ernie Onwumere revisits the story of the last Arochukwu king before the British invasion first as an epic movie script and subsequently as a prose. ![]()
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