Eezemalujwuo The Throne Beside The Throne for Chief Ezemalukwuo Nwoye Egbuonu(1933 - 1974) Poem by *Tony Cemaluk Egbuonu

They did not call him king.
They called him EzeMaluKwuo.
And that was heavier than any crown.

Eze MaluKwuo — when the King speaks,
let us weigh it first, then I will answer.

That was the law he lived.
Not in palace, but in market.
Not with scepter, but with truth.

Chief EzeMalukwuo Nwoye Egbuonu.
Merchant of Onitsha, when Lafia closed.
Patriarch of home.
Conscience of the kindred, the town, everywhere.

He stood against disrespect.
He stood against injustice.
He stood against gang-ups,
against avarice, against victimization,
against usurpation.

And when power came with sweet lies,
he would fold his arms and say:
'Mba. This is not how it should be.
This is not how we do it here.'

But when justice spoke,
even in a whisper,
he would stand and say:
'Eziokwu. This is the way.'

In his stall he taught us proverbs,
calm voice, steady hands:
'Nnaa putaba na ogu adighi ebe aga anu ya'
Calm down. That fight is not where you will fight it.
Pick your battle. Keep your name.

He was a good man.
So good that strangers on the road
would stop his son and correct him,
just by seeing his father's face on me.
'A good name, like a gold fish, has no hiding place.'

He was unafraid of even lion,
yet soft enough to give gap to woman folk,
to shelter the weak,
to check the strong.

When he answered the final call,
the compound refused to close.
At six, I walked in,
put on his full regalia,
and did Igbafe Ngwulu.
I took the compound.
I took the name.
I took the weight.

Today I know what EzeMaluKwuo means.
It means comfort for the oppressed.
It means fear for the corrupt.
It means a king is only king
when truth sits beside the throne.

And my father,
my dear dad,
was the one who pulled the chair for truth,
every single day.

EzeMaluKwuo.
The king who says 'Speak True.'
He lived.
He fought.
He refused.
He agreed.
And the world is better because he did.

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Author Note:
Ezemalu-kwuo: 'When the king speaks, if it is honesty, respect, justice and truth, I will agree. If not, I will refuse.' This was my father's covenant with his community.