King Onyeama n’Eke: The Great Monarch of Agbaja

King Onyeama n’Eke, the illustrious ruler of Agbaja, was one of the most powerful and influential monarchs in northern Igboland—indeed, perhaps the greatest Igbo king in living memory. From his majestic palace in Eke, he ruled over a vast domain that stretched across Oji River, Udi, and Ezeagu, extending to the present-day capital of Igboland, Enugu, and reaching even the Nkanu and Ogui communities.

Born in the 1870s, Onyeama was recognized as the paramount ruler of his people in 1928, a position he held with dignity and authority until his death in 1933. His reign symbolized strength, unity, and the growing interactions between traditional leadership and British colonial influence.

In 1924, King Onyeama attended the British Empire Exhibition in London, where he paid a royal visit to Buckingham Palace. During this visit, he received a remarkable gift—a 1921 Rudge motorcycle—from King George V of England, himself an enthusiastic cyclist and admirer of Rudge machines.

The prized motorcycle, though no longer in use after the late 1920s, remained a treasured family heirloom. It was carefully preserved in dry storage at the family’s residence in Lagos for decades. In August 2013, the Rudge was finally shipped back to England, a tangible relic of a historic encounter between African royalty and the British crown.