Is Governor Obi At War With Traditional Rulers?

When about sixty traditional rulers in Anambra state left their respective domain for Lagos to attend the wedding ceremony of the sister of Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, little did they know that they had incurred the wrath of Mr. Peter Obi, the state governor

Ubah is the managing director and chief executive officer, Capital Oil and Gas Limited. He is also aspiring to succeed Obi in 2014.

Ubah has sympathy for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the same party with the governor. Indeed, he is believed to be the spirit behind the Chief Victor Umeh-led faction of APGA. Umeh’s faction is stoutly opposed to a faction of the party led by the governor.

So, for most political observers, Ubah has gained a political mileage over Obi by drawing to his side, the traditional rulers who are supposed to be under the watchful eyes of the governor.

The monarchs were said to have be flown to Lagos in a chartered flight. That was not all. They were allegedly given fat allowances by their host.

Though on the surface, the monarchs attended a wedding ceremony, the political motive of their trip was not lost on Governor Obi, and indeed, several other watchers of Anambra politics. “If the traditional rulers travelled to Lagos at the instance of Uba, the tendency is that the oil magnate will use them to further his political ambition when the time comes”, said one politician in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity.

And that is why Governor Obi is rattled over the conduct of the traditional rulers. Addressing members of the state Traditional Rulers Council during a seminar organized for them at their state secretariat in Awka, governor Obi charged them to be good ambassadors of the state, and avoid making speeches; taking any action and even attending ceremonies that would degrade their reputation and their traditional stool.

He stated that traditional rulers by virtue, of their position as custodians of the culture of their people, should live a life worthy of emulation; should be role models; sources of inspiration and guidance and direction to their people and as such, should not indulge in any action that would tarnish their image in the estimation of their people.

Governor Obi made it clear that he was not against traditional rulers attending social functions, but warned them not to indulge in partisan politics.

And as leaders at the grass-roots level, he urged them to mobilize their subjects to support the state government, even as he said the traditional rulers should be loyal to the state government.

He said that since the traditional rulers are the chief security officers of their various domains, they should not travel outside the state without informing him vide his special adviser on chieftaincy and town union matters.

“Today, I cannot travel out of Nigeria without informing the president. If anything happens to me, the president should know my whereabouts. Likewise, it is not good for you (traditional rulers) to travel out of the state without informing me. In spite of their stature and prominence, traditional rulers such as Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, and Igwe of Ikelionwu, Professor Chukwuemeka Ike, Igwe Peter Ezenwa of Oba still inform me whenever they want to travel out of the state”, said Governor Obi.

The traditional ruler of Igbariam, Igwe Kelly Nzekwe, however, seems to disagree with the governor on the policy of the state government as it concerns movement of traditional rulers outside the state. He stated that the policy was an infringement on the freedom of the traditional rulers. He insisted that the state government should not introduce any policy that would restrict them from associating with people who would help them improve the welfare of their people and even develop their communities.

Meanwhile, it is clear that the financial gifts from those aspiring to contest the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state has torn members of the state council of traditional rulers apart as each of them or group is now aligning with the various governorship aspirants for personal financial gains.

But the leadership of the state Traditional Rulers Council has already begun a move to checkmate politicians from dividing their ranks and undermining their loyalty to the state government.

In a press statement issued last week, the Chairman of the state Traditional Rulers Council and Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, stated that though there was nothing wrong with traditional rulers attending a wedding, the council has resolved that in order “to remove any vestige of suspicion of partisan political inducement during the visit to the said wedding (of Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah’s sister in Lagos), those who attended and received monetary gifts should pool the monies together for donation to a mutually designated charity”.

The apparent alignment of some of the traditional rulers with some governorship aspirants has become a source of worry to the incumbent governor. This is understandable. The fourth-tier system of government which his administration operates, are manned by traditional rulers and town union executives. The implication is that the system could be hijacked by the highest bidder, and that could mean a plus to the political aspiration of such paymaster.

When he introduced the fourth-tier system of government, Governor Obi stated that the arrangement would provide the most effective way to fight insecurity and other forms of criminalities as the traditional rulers would be accorded the status of chief security officers of their various domains.

He said they would run the affairs of their respective communities in collaboration with the town union executives. “There is no criminal that exist in a community who is not known by the people of the community. So, it is easier to drive criminals away from the society through the use of the leaders of the community”, Governor Obi stated during the state workshop on security.

He told all the traditional rulers in the state that they would be held responsible for any case of “armed robbery and kidnap” that happens in their respective communities. He abolished the state vigilante services and approved only community based vigilante group. Accordingly, each community or town has community vigilante group, established, supervised and maintained by the traditional rulers in collaboration with the town union executive.

The state government provides the necessary funds to maintain the vigilante groups, purchase operational vehicles for them and provide other logistics.

For those who are familiar with the security situation in the state prior to the introduction of the policy, the new arrangement has proven to be very effective. Some observers are of the view that but for the security policy put in place by the governor, it would have been difficult to tackle the menace of armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes that had earlier engulfed the state.

But with the current seeming disloyalty of some of the traditional rulers and the obvious security challenges the forthcoming gubernatorial election imposes on the state, not a few agree with Governor Obi that the security of the state would be compromised if the traditional rulers allow themselves to be used by politicians.

There are 177 communities in Anambra state and each community has a traditional ruler and town union executive.

All the traditional rulers duly recognized by the state government receive monthly allowance. And periodically, the state government disburses funds to the traditional rulers and town unions to enable them carry out development projects in their respective communities, including rehabilitation of link roads between the various villages. They are even given money to rehabilitate primary schools and construct new ones.

There are palpable fears that the state government may soon apply the hammer against any traditional ruler in the state who overtly or covertly involves himself in partisan politics.

Source: Leadership