THE MAKING OF AN OZO...

  This very subject is so dear to me for so many reasons and for the mainly fact that too many people have been asking me so many questions about the Ozo, its meaning and worth to me as a young person, and also because ...a lot of people conflict the Ozo title taking with Nze title and the rest, I think I do own all, some piece of explanations about this trend called Ozo title taking, at least for a better historical reference.
Here, I will say first that the feeling of honour and prestige are the major principal features of an ozo. It makes a man to feel great and honoured among his very people like a master in the act of assurance insurance. Being a master, you cannot complain nor lack, with the same sense of responsibility, and direct action as a master, you can redress and guarantee your future by insuring them with great backups like a man of power and influence through a led down automatic dividend options, which is only available in stock buying.
The deep meanings of ozo, can only be well understood if we do trace it from its starting point from our Igbo historical evolution, where all started.
First in the olden days, there was no insurance scheme or banking system in the Igbo land to save their surplus wealth for children to inherit from their neither parents, nor economic insurance for wealthy elderly people as well. It was the dire need for these schemes that inspired the first king of nri clan, the Eze NRI Ifikwanim (eze nri 1) around 1008 to institute ozo title taking in the nri town to serve the above purposes. Ozo was then graded into various classes, ranging from the lowest to the highest classes. Each of the classes was distinguished by a different name depending on the dialect of the particular community or clan. A male citizen can take the ozo title of his choice in his community depending on his wealth of financial capability.
Like the buying of company shares in modern times, the more shares a person buys, the more dividends he gains at the end of the year. So also the higher the grade or rank of the ozo title, also the higher the wealth a person has to invest, and the higher the benefit he will get from it until death. Some rich men acquire Ozo title as an insurance scheme for their young male children. Some even acquire the title In advance for their yet to be born male children, this is known as Ozo ntogbo or Ozo nchido. The major benefit is that the prestige conferred on the Ozo titleholders made it to become very attractive and admirable to both the ancient and modern Igbo men join with the white dressing regalia display by ozos during their outing activities. In addition, for this simply fact that the elite class are all involved in the Ozo society, it has gained very great influence in many Igbo communities and town until date.
While the Nze title started from Aguleri where the first Igbo king rule with Ndi-Nze as cabinet chiefs before Ozo thing was finally introduced, Nze is mainly a responsibility and honour awarded to a person by a community to represent and serve the community as a member of the Eze-in–council, its membership are determined by morals and character assessment , while Ozo title is a prestigious traditional title taken by choice by a man who can afford the expenses .so Ozo society or club has nothing to do with how the king runs the community with Ndi-Nze or with any deity , yet an Nze can as well choose to become am Ozo as a matter of choice where he can then be address as onye Nze na Ozo as well.
Am here saying that Ozo society as an institution has its own ideology, guiding principle and laws, which are quite different from other title taking in the Igbo land, therefore to merge this very institution with others is to cause the clashing of ideas, which always lead to conflict in reasoning and logic.
There are no point in combining Ndi-Nze with Ndi-Ozo as if they are all one institution ,they are two different things ,the Nze must be chosen and given the mandate by his community based on merit while one becomes an Ozo titleholder by self-choice based on his financial capacity to invest or acquire Ozo shares as the case may be.
Yet some of us has join this very club of Ndi-Ozo at a very young age, with so many great visions on how we can reform and modernized it, make it a sole property of the town union as well as making it a source of revenue for the general community where the town union can earn some certain percentage as a premium from the ozo proceeds that will be used for the community development. Please friends this time to join the Ozo society so that we all can reform it for better, it has nothing to do with idolatry or any deity, it mainly a social class organisation that deserve preservations, modernity and innovations.