Bar. Ihediwa Chimee of Otulu Amumara Autonomous Community, Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA of IMO State, a University of Nigeria Nsukka don and a legal practitioner, was formally installed as Ezeji Mbaise alongside his elder brother, Mazi Ngozi Ihediwa, his son Noah Ihediwa, and his cousins Hon. Chiwuikem Ihediwa, Nzechinyere Ihediwa and Chukwunyere Ihediwa, on 30th December 2025.
This installation was in recognition of their great accomplishments as farmers whose yam bans were filled to the brim with all the traditional yams required to be in ones ban as a Yam farmer in Mbaise before investiture is triggered. The quantity of yams in their bans astonished the Ezeji Council of Ezinihitte Mbaise and prompted the immediate approval after inspection by the leadership on 28 December 2025, for the installation to hold on the 30th day of December 2025.
This accomplishment reflects the long-standing tradition of hard work in the Ihediwa Uda family, and a testament to the commitment by his progenies to maintain what their forbears left for them.
The Ezeji institution in Mbaise is an ancient one, dating back hundreds of years before 1900 and superior to other titles that came with the coming of colonial rule. It is a mark of hard work, greatness, capacity, ability, capability and uprightness. Yam as a secured crop among the Igbo, is the king of all crops and takes pre- eminence over all other crops in the farm. Therefore, those who cultivate yam and who have been inducted into the Ezeji institution, are special people who at all times must preserve the sacredness of that crop and life surrounding it.
The installation serves as a wake up call to all Mbaise sons to return back to the land and make yam great again in our culture, tradition and everyday life. It is a call for every Mbaise son,to recognise the importance of reclaiming our fast-eroding cultural heritage and an injunction to make yam count in everything we do as a people. The special yams that are fast disappearing as a result of soil failure and fertilizer use, must be reinvented again.
These yams are rare and sacred that many of them are not found in other parts of Igboland. Bar. Chimee Ihediwa appreciated ndi Ezeji Mbaise, the traditional rulers that attended, especially Eze Sir Iheanacho Mbalewe of Uvuru Ancient kingdom in Mbaise, Ndi Mmanwu group, Ndi Egwu Ji cultural music, members of the academia, special guests from outside Mbaise who reside in the USA, especially Mr. George Obiyor and family, friends and well-wishers for gracing the occasion and giving colour to it. The installation is a call to hard work and dedication to the revival of Mbaise cultural heritage, Barr. Chime Ihediwa stated.
Barr. Chimee Ihediwa, is a lecturer, lawyer, historian and a reputable farmer.
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