By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
Nigerian politicians have been challenged to emulate the nation’s traditional rulers by jettisoning religious and other socio-cultural differences and aim more at promoting the unity and development of the country.
Prominent traditional rulers in the country, led by the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman, National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and his deputy, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja ll, threw the challenge on Thursday during the 80th Birthday Lecture and Book Launch in honour of His Royal Majesty, King Dr. Edmund Maduabebe Dakouru, Mingi XII, Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom and Chairman, South-South Monarch Forum.
The colourful event, held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, could be described as the single biggest gathering of royal fathers from different parts of Nigeria, as each emir or king thronged the venue with a large entourage of loyal courtiers to honour one of their own.
Indeed, as one enchanted guest observed, it was “pomp and pageantry on display,” with each traditional ruler, perhaps, wanting to out-do each other with the very colourful and rich royal attires and their entry into the Congress Hall in equally majestic styles.
Prominent among the traditional rulers and other religious, business and political leaders in attendance included, apart from the Sultan of Sokoto and the Ooni of Ife, the Bayelsa state governor, Senator Diri Douye (represented by the State’s Commissioner for Agriculture, David Algoa); Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero; former governors of Rivers and Cross River states: Rufus Ada-George and Senator Liyel Imoke, respectively; Senator Bassey Henshaw; the Attah Igala, Matthew Opaluwa; the Etseu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar; Amanyanabo of Bras, Chief Alfred Diete-spiff; Amanyanabo of Ipobo, His Majesty, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja (who was Chairman of the event); Chairman of Abia State traditional Rulers Council, Eze Joseph Nwabueke; the Emir of Arngungu, Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed and a former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Godknows Igali.
There were also high-powered representatives from the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha; the Tor Tiv, Prof James Ayatse; the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe; the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbal El-Kanemi; the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, ewuare II; the Gbong Gwom Jos, His Majesty Da Jacob Gyang Buba and; the Obi of Owa & Chairman, Delta North Traditional rulers forum, Dr. E. O. Efeizomor II.
But it was the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar II, who fired the first salvo when, in his goodwill remarks, commended King Dakouru for not only turning 80 but being able to gather almost all traditional rulers in the country under one roof as one big family.
“If anybody had thought that the traditional institution is not united, they ought to have been here in this hall to see that we are united,” he remarked.
He described the Mingi XII, Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom as “Mingi of the world” and “a man of many parts; an honest and upright man who has gone round the world and has known what unity means.”
Commenting on the two books in honour of King Dakouru, Sultan Abubakar said, “history is very important and we must continue to write book to tell stories about our various communities. We need to write books and chronicle our achievements and contributions to nation-building so that others will not write lies about us.”
Also speaking, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja ll, described Dakouru as a natural bridge builder and a man with a touch of class.
He said: “Our politicians will always come and they will go, but we the traditional rulers always remain. This is what we should be doing regularly. We all left our various kingdoms to gather here and celebrate with you (Dakouru). We do not have any country or any other place to go to but Nigeria. We the traditional rulers must use occasions like this to tell all concerned that we are together.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of occasion, His Majesty King Dandeson Douglas Jaja Jeki V, Amanyanabo of Opobo, welcomed King Dakouru to the “class of 80,” wishing him god’s blessings and good health “to be able to continue serving his kingdom, Bayelsa State and Nigeria.”
In his response, King Dakouru noted that God had been very kind to Nigeria “by giving us a combination of the Sultan of Sokoto and the Ooni of Ife” (as Chairman and deputy Chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria).
While expressing the hope and belief that “this kind of gathering is replicated in other parts of the country,” King Dakouru however regretted that it had been difficult to achieve such unity because of politics.
“Politics is supposed to be about finding common grounds, finding ways of achieving the best for the society but today, politics has become a source of rivalry and friction. This worries us the traditional rulers,” he said.
Emphasising the need for Nigerians in places of authority to imbibe “diligence, honour and fair-play in all that we do,” King Dakouru enjoined public office holder never to be tired of being diligent.
“I’m happy that the issue of legacy has being raised by previous speakers. It ought to be diligence because it’s not all about legacies but results.”
King Dakouru, who gave God the Creator the glory, for giving him the capacity to play diligently the roles that he had been privileged to be assigned, said “may today be a day for the celebration of diligence in all of us, in all we do; in the diligence of those who initiated the idea of the book-launch and laboured assiduously towards its achievement; the diligence that has lifted many of you here to the height that continues to inspire me and teach me, even at this early advanced age.
“ I do this by choice, knowing full well that in our current industrial age, only results matter,” he explained.
He said he was utterly short of words to express “how deeply I appreciate each and everyone of you gathered here today: dignitaries of every rank, from the topmost echelons of government serving and past, to Royal Majesties and Highnesses of every level of grandeur; renowned statesmen and astute political leaders; academicians, men of letters and captains of industry; good people of every description who in their daily honest labour in the fields, waterways and offices keep the wheels of state and the economy rolling; and yes, those who with wisdom and courage have carried this nation through times of impending disaster to new-found unity and foundations for future prosperity.
“We would need a Kipling, Byron or Browning to truly describe the socio-cultural diversity of this audience, which for that reason alone if nothing else, elicits my appreciation and humble gratitude. The inconveniences of travel, many times multiplied by distance cost and deteriorating infrastructure has made you all instant heroes more than any fine words in prose or verse can convey,” Dakouru said..
While saying that it was not his intention to bore the gathering with the details of community development, King Dakouru explained that it would be a major omission on his part if he closed without saying anything at all about it.
“Nigeria has 774 LGA’s, which are recognized in the Constitution, and are part of the budgeting process of the States. Their functionality and economic well-being is a prime responsibility of the States. But since the past two decades, if not three, they have become a drain on national resources instead of being development centers and the foundation of national economic production.
“Thus, after all is said and done, it is these empty shells of the economic dream of the mid-seventies that the kings in the present time have to oversee in some form or other,” he said.
.The occasion also featured a public lecture on the theme, ”The imperative of Energy Security for Accelerated rural Development: A special case of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria,” by a one-time Economic Adviser to the President and National Coordinator of the National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP), Prof Magnus Kpakol.
Presenting the paper, Prof Kpakol explained that energy security could be defined as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price, ading that the economic fortunes of the nation were inextricably tied to the economic development of Niger Delta.
KPAKOLArguing that it was a national imperative light up the Niger Delta if the nation is to be sustainably lit up, Kpakol said, “indeed, the development of especially the rural areas of Niger Delta is foundational for any national economic development.”
Prof Kpakol, who is the Executive Chairman, Economic Growth and Development Center, warned that there would be no sustainable energy security without economic development and poverty eradication.
Describing energy poverty as inadequate access to sources of energy, Kpakol said that anyone in energy poverty was in a a prison, “handcuffed away from the ability to produce the goods and services that the people of the world want.”
He charged Nigerian leaders to create a national policy for intentional investment in the economic development of the Rural areas of the Niger Delta, stressing that human capital development must be institutionalized throughout the nation.
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