Revered American anthropologist and author of “The King in Every Man: Evolutionary Trends in Onitsha Ibo Society and Culture”, Prof. Richard (Dick) Henderson, has arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Tucson, Arizona, USA.

He will be in Onitsha 64 years after, as a special guest of His Majesty, Nnaemeka Achebe, Agbogidi, Obi of Onitsha, for this year’s Ofala Festival, to be held between October 16 and 17. His son, Michael Henderson, accompanied him, according to a statement from the Ofala Strategic Marketing & Communications Team.

Prof Henderson, who lived among Ndi-Onitsha from 1960-62, is a rare onyeocha (Whiteman) who truly listened — learning our language and institutions from within, and giving the world the most authoritative account of what it means to be Onitsha: that kingship, eze, ozo, umunna, ogbe, and the spirit of ani are not relics but a living system in which every man carries the dignity of a king.

His book remains not only foundational in Onitsha—respected in palaces and homes—but also considered a primer on African anthropology. His continuing archive at amightytree.org, with Helen Henderson, preserves our photographs, shrines, iba, okpulukpu, and oral histories that might otherwise have been lost. Hence his name is invoked in Onitsha with unusual reverence for an outsider.

On arrival, a team from Ime Obi, led by Chief Ben Epundu, Ijagwo Obi, received him. The delegation included: Ojinnaka Onyenyionwu, President, OIU Lagos; and Commander Tagbo, NDLEA Commander, MMIA. (The Nation)