A NIGERIAN man has been appointed "king" of the Igbo diaspora in Ireland. One of his main roles will be to settle domestic violence disputes instead of having to involve gardaí.

Matthew Emeka Ezeani, a Dublin-based solicitor, has been inaugurated as Ireland's first "eze" - king of the Igbos - by the leaders of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, known as the Ohanaeze association.

In recent years, the association has appointed "kings" within its wide diaspora to promote its culture, language and traditions. There are around 20,000 Igbos in the country, the second largest grouping of Nigerians in Ireland.

Ezeani's official title is "his royal highness eze Matthew Emeka Ezeani, eze Igbo of Ireland".

Twelve Igbo "chiefs" have also been appointed in Ireland and sit on the Igbo Traditional Council, which Ezeani presides over.

"I do not receive any remuneration for my role. I am the cultural and traditional head of the Igbos in Ireland. It is my role to keep Igbo culture alive. To keep the spirit of brotherhood alive and improve links with our host country," he told the Sunday Tribune. "Promoting the language is very important. We do not want our children to grow up and have a crisis of identity. In five to 10 years, there will be 40,000 Igbo people in Ireland. We are teaching our children that they are Irish and Nigerian. Integration is very important and we also want to live by our own culture here."

At the Igbo Traditional Council, Ezeani said he presided over many complaints of domestic violence.

"We strongly believe that the man is the head of the family and his wife complements that role. The explanation men sometimes give to us about why they beat up their wife is because she is not fulfilling her traditional role as wife."

He added that domestic violence was condemned by the council. "The man has an obligation to treat his wife with respect. He must do everything to provide care and support for her. What we would encourage and try to do is resolve the dispute in traditional fashion. If that fails, we encourage people to go to the law."

While Ezeani can give a ruling, this is not legally binding. "I enjoy the goodwill of the people. We do not use force. We have by-laws and rules as a cultural association... It is not acceptable to break the laws of the host country."

The appointment of a "king" of the Igbo diaspora in Ireland is not without controversy. A visiting Igbo king, Cletus Ikechukwu Ilomuanya, chairman of the Southeast Council of Traditional Rulers, recently described the introduction of Igbo kings in the diaspora as "monstrous".

He said at an Igbo Union event in Dublin: "This presupposes the setting up of parallel traditional institutions outside Igboland by some selfish and power-seeking Igbos." Ezeani said his critic was "entitled to his opinion" but accepted the Ohanaeze association's decree to appoint him king.

Ezeani, who has one wife, said Igbo culture does not oppose polygamy. "Igbos are mainly Christian. We are not extremist in our views... There would be some with more than one wife living in Ireland. I do not see anything wrong with it. I have dealt with a lot of broken marriages because of affairs here. I would not encourage someone to do it here [have more than one wife] because it is against the law."

He added that he is strongly opposed to female genital mutilation, still common in parts of Nigeria. "As an association, we condemn the practise, we do not support it."