At a royal funeral ceremony in Kumasi for the Queen Mother (Asantehemaa), a self-proclaimed Igbo king of Nigeria, Eze Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu, attempted to greet the Ashanti king, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. His gesture was interrupted by the king’s linguist before their hands could touch.
The incident has drawn strong reactions. Some consider it a breach of etiquette, others a statement about respect, tradition, and the space accorded to each person within the sphere of Ghanaian chieftaincy. The Igbo king had arrived in grand style and with an entourage for the event, but when it came to showing respect to the monarch, protocol intervened.
This moment is symbolic for several reasons:
- It highlights who is recognized within Ghana’s traditional institutions and what legitimacy means in royal settings.
- It raises questions about foreign titles and cultural claims: to what extent can someone from another country claim royalty or kingship in a different traditional system?
- It exposes the tensions between modern identity/representation (ceremony, pageantry, social media) and long-standing cultural norms and protocols.
The Igbo King has previously generated controversy over claims that he planned to establish an “Igbo Kingdom” in Ghana, which he denies, claiming that his role is purely cultural and seeks to unite the Igbo people in Ghana. But gestures such as attempting to greet the Ashanti Monarch raise questions: is this simply respect and solidarity, or something more political taking place beneath a ceremonial guise?
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