Nze na Ozo

[6] Anthropologists [7] have seen cases of women with Ichi scarification, although only men are amongst the Ozo, a title which accords the individual extreme prestige, power, and influence in the community.

[9] Being that Igbo’s are gerontologic in outlook,[10] the basic pre-condition for such an assessment was to ascertain whether the father of a candidate was still alive.

This rule however does not apply to Onitsha Igbo’s who can take Ozo title while a candidates father is alive.

In other Igbo communities, especially those in the Awka-Nri axis, some exceptions are made where the candidate completes the initiation rites into Ozo, but is referred to as ‘Nze-agbala’ until the father dies.

This has however changed with most Igbo communities being led by a senior Ozo holder referred to as Igwe or Eze.