The promotion of cultural ties between the Chinese and Igbo facilitated through the Confucius Institute at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka received another boost recently when the Director of the Institute, Prof Job Yu Zhangbao bagged an Igbo chieftaincy title.
Zhangbao was honoured with an Igbo Chieftaincy title of Ezi Oyi I (‘Reliable friend’) of the Igbo. The title was given by an Igbo ethnic socio-cultural group, Oji-Ofor Igbo, Anambra State, during the Oji-Ofor Cultural Festival hosted by the Oji-Ofor Cultural Group in Awka, Anambra State.
With the title Chinese national Zhangbao has been inducted into the Igbo chieftaincy institution. According to Dr Emmanuel Ojukwu, Director, Information and Public Relations, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Zhangbao has set three records with his chieftaincy title.
Firstly, it is now on record that he is the first Chinese academic and cultural ambassador to become a chief in Nigeria. In fact, the four Chinese residents in the country who have also received a chieftaincy title are entrepreneurs, not academics. With this title, he now straddles two cultures – African and Asian.
Secondly, he has gone down in history as the first Chinese to become a traditional title holder (chief) in southern Nigeria. Those four Chinese chiefs received their title in the North.
Thirdly, Zhangbao has worked in Nigeria for less than two years, whereas the four Chinese Nigerian chieftaincy titleholders have been resident in the country for ten years and more, an honour he is overwhelmed by.
The Students Union Government (SUG) President, Joseph Okafor, said the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute has rendered outstanding services to the university and Igbo people in general.
Okafor lauded ProfZhangbao’s excellent human relations and how the Chinese Institute has fostered cultural and knowledge synergy between both countries and their citizens. He said the CI opened hitherto closed doors not only to UNIZIK but also to Nigeria as a country.