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The decade is the 1950s. Against a shuttered adobe-brick building, eight eminent personalities of Aro society pose for a group portrait. With eyes peering steadily into the distance, they appear calm and expectant. Indian madras wrappers, known locally as ‘george’, along with ukara cloth, are fashioned gracefully around their hips, as was the style amongst the Igbo of this region. They exude elegance.
HRM Eze Kanu Oji (front row, second from the left) was among the longest-reigning monarchs in#worldhistory. Ascending the throne of Eze Aro as a teenager in 1914 and presiding for 73 years until his death in 1987, he served as an anchoring force for his people, amidst the sweeping currents of colonization, independence, and civil war.
L-R: Maazi Okereke Ojiugwo (back row, far left), Eze Kanu Oji (front row, second from the left), Eze Otusi (front row, second from the right), Eze Kanu Okereke (front row, far right). The names of the other figures are unknown.
