By Emeka Amaefula
“NO DIVORCE WITHOUT UPKEEP” — IHO DIMEZE KING HANDS OUT ₦20M FARM GRANTS TO 889 WOMEN
On Friday, 13th March 2026, His Royal Majesty Eze (Dr.) Martin Chieze Amaku Dimeze II of Iho Dimeze Ancient Kingdom in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria, empowered 889 women with agricultural grants worth N20 million during a special programme held at the Iho Dimeze Autonomous Community.
The beneficiaries, mainly female farmers, each received N10,000 to purchase cassava stakes, okra seeds, maize, fluted pumpkin seeds, garden egg seeds and other farm inputs. Female members of the neighbourhood community were also supported with N5,000 each, while male farmers, including neighbourhood residents, received ten yam seedlings apiece to boost local food production.
During the event, the traditional ruler re-issued strong royal proclamations on family ethics and moral conduct within the kingdom — principles he first outlined to the women during the 2025 Aladinma August Meeting. He declared that no man in Iho Dimeze may separate from or divorce his wife without first providing upkeep money for the children, alimony for the wife, and maintenance allowance for her general well-being.
The monarch further ruled that any married man caught in sexual immorality with another married woman will be fined N300,000 and publicly flogged naked. A married woman found sleeping with a man who is not her husband will be publicly disgraced. He, however, encouraged widows who wish to remarry to do so freely, while warning that snatching another woman’s husband remains strictly forbidden in the community.
For the umpteenth time, Eze (Dr.) Martin Chieze Amaku Dimeze II urged all residents — both indigenes and non-indigenes — to cooperate with one another, maintain peace and order, and shun every form of unlawful activity in the domain.
To encourage excellence in agriculture, the king instituted an annual “Best Yam Harvester Award” tagged Eze Ji. The winner will receive N100,000, while the first runner-up takes home N50,000 every year.
Looking ahead, the traditional ruler announced that on Easter Monday, 6th April 2026, the community will celebrate the first anniversary of his presentation of the Staff of Office and Certificate of Recognition by Imo State Governor, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma. He called on all citizens and residents to come out en masse with their various dance troupes to join in the grand celebration.
Eze (Dr.) Martin Chieze Amaku Dimeze II emphasised that the agricultural empowerment programme was never used to discriminate against anyone opposed to his stool. The grants, he revealed, were generously donated by highly placed sons and daughters of Iho Dimeze Autonomous Community as well as titled friends from outside the town.
——–Emeka Amaefula—-+234(0)8111813069–
