Pastor Oji, who is the Eze Aro designate, is a member of the lineage that produces the Eze Arochukwu royal family.
A pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Prince Eberechukwu Oji has emerged as the Eze Aro of the Arochukwu ancient kingdom.
Eze Aro is one of the revered traditional stools in Igbo land because of the significance of the stool to the Aro kingdom and its historical value to the Igbo race.
Pastor Oji, who is the Eze Aro designate, is a member of the lineage that produces the Eze Arochukwu royal family.
He is also a notable businessman in the oil and gas sector of the country.
It was gathered that Pastor Oji emerged as the Eze Aro designate after a thorough screening by the Okennachi kindred and a screening committee found him most suitable for the position which has remained a vacuum after the death of his uncle and immediate past Eze Aro, Mazi Vincent Ogbonnaya Okoro, CFR who died in 2021, after 25 years reign on the throne.
The late Eze Aro before ascending the throne, was trained in the United Kingdom as a Medical Laboratory Scientist and later became the pioneer head of the Department of Laboratory Technology at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and later retired as the Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist at the UNN in 1988 when the call to serve his community came.
It was gathered that since 2021 when the former Eze Aro died, the royal family has been searching for and screening members of the royal family before they later settled for Pastor Oji and his cousin, Mazi Godwin Kanu Idei after a long and rigorous process.
It was gathered that the community which has been without a king has fixed December 26 for the coronation and public presentation of the 50-year-old Eze Aro designate to members of the public.
According to The Nation, Pastor Orji promised to lead the people of Arochukwu with the fear of God and respect for the traditions and customs of the Arochukwu Ancient Kingdom, with the firm promise that he would be a king for all the Arochukwu sons and daughters across the globe.
He added that part of his vision for the Aro ancient kingdom was to initiate plans that would not only promote the traditions and culture of the people but also draw the attention of the global community to the historical and tourist sites in the area.
Asked if his pastoral calling would not clash with the cultural belief of the Aro kingdom, the Eze Aro designate said “We have to separate the religion and culture as there’s no conflict between both. While we preserve our culture, we ought to also separate our culture from idol worship and I will exercise the kingship to all Aro and not to a certain few.
“We have to separate individual faith from our beautiful culture. The number one monarchy is the British and they have reconciled their culture and monarchy to their religion. The last Eze Aro who was my uncle was a Christian, he was an Anglican. So there’s no conflict at all.”
On how he emerged as Eze Aro, he said: “Our cultures are very clear in Kingship selection. It’s not hereditary. We do not present anyone who has a case of mental illness, robbery or has ever been to prison.
“A screening exercise is done until the committee identifies someone worthy of the throne. That’s the culture”.