Igwe Kenneth Onyeneke Orizu III
Encyclopedia
Igwe Kenneth Onyeneke Orizu III is the Traditional supreme ruler in Nnewi
Nnewi
Nnewi is the second largest city in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Nnewi as a metropolitan city encompasses two local government areas, Nnewi North and Nnewi South; Nnewi North is commonly referred to as Nnewi central, and comprises four autonomous quarters: Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and...

 metropolitan city, an Igbo
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...

 city in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. He is the 17th monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 in the Nnofo Royal lineage and the successor to his father Igwe Kenneth Orizu II. In Anambra State
Anambra State
Anambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its name is an anglicized version of the original 'Oma Mbala', the native name of the Anambra River. The Capital and the Seat of Government is Awka. Onitsha and Nnewi are the biggest commercial and industrial cities, respectively. The state's theme is...

, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III is the first class chief as well as the vice Chairman of the Anambra State
Anambra State
Anambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its name is an anglicized version of the original 'Oma Mbala', the native name of the Anambra River. The Capital and the Seat of Government is Awka. Onitsha and Nnewi are the biggest commercial and industrial cities, respectively. The state's theme is...

 House of Chiefs.

Education & Career

Igwe Kenneth was educated at Hope Waddell College, Calabar
Calabar
Calabar is a city in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. The original name for Calabar was Atakpa, from the Jukun language....

. Before his enthronement, Kenneth worked as a Representative of the then Eastern Nigerian Outlook Group of newspapers, in the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. He was also a very successful businessman in Kano
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...

.

Involvement in Health services

The Igwe has been very instrumental in the development of medical and health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 delivery services. His influence contributed to the establishment of Nnewi University teaching hospital which is currently viewed by many as one of the best University Teaching Hospitals in the country.

The Igwe was also very instrumental in the development of the pipe-borne water scheme and also the introduction of rural electrification. At his accession Nnewi
Nnewi
Nnewi is the second largest city in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Nnewi as a metropolitan city encompasses two local government areas, Nnewi North and Nnewi South; Nnewi North is commonly referred to as Nnewi central, and comprises four autonomous quarters: Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and...

 had a very small and miniature one room postal agency. But that has since developed into a full-fledged modern postal business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 system equipped with modern international communication technology.

On the cultural plane, the Igwe was very instrumental in the stoppage and curtailment of the extravagant ostentatious and offensive criminal wastage of resources at traditional marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 and funeral ceremonies. Perhaps most importantly on the commercial scene, His Royal Highness played an instrumental role in the reclamation of the Edo jungle shrine, and the transformation of it into the largest and busiest trade center on the African continent. Remarkably, this was a direct blessing of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil war.
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