Like a scripted drama, the recent purported endorsement of Governor Ben Ayade for a second term by the Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council, amounts to grand illogicality and inducement. Driven by the desperation to remain in office, and given his woeful performance since the past three and a half years, Ayade has resorted to an arcane political manipulation and demystification of our revered traditional institution to score cheap political goals. The traditional rulers reportedly made their declaration when the governor presented a certificate of recognition and staff of office to the paramount rulers of Bekwarra and Obanliku Local Government Areas.
According to the report, the Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council and the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi Local Government Area, Chief Etim Okon Edet, said the traditional rulers decided to endorse him because of his achievements. Chief Edet further explained that the industrialization drive of the Ayade administration and prompt payment of salaries, warranted their action. The report also captured the Obong of Calabar, from the South; the Obol Lopon of Ugep from the Central and the paramount ruler of Obudu Local Government Area, representing the Northern senatorial district, respectively, affirming their collective position in this game of the ostrich.
Unfortunately, the traditional rulers failed to mention the main reason for their unpopular and less than credible endorsement of a nonperforming governor under whose watch Cross River State has degenerated to an unacceptable state of absurdity and debauchery. Two days to their nocturnal declaration, Ayade, in a brazen show of political corruption, had just handed to each of the 18 paramount rulers, a brand new SUV to buy their support towards the 2019 governorship election in the state. This is clearly the worst dimension of vote buying. But we insist that the controversial car gifts to our traditional rulers cannot compromise our royal fathers’ earlier impression about the abysmal failure of the governor to provide comfort to the generality of our compatriots who are languishing in abject poverty and gnashing of teeth since the past three and a half years of Ayade’s show of incompetence.
How can a governor who has not tarred or asphalted ten kilometres of roads; a governor under whose administration pensioners and workers are suffocating due to nonpayment of their entitlements be said to have provided infrastructure and endorsed by our traditional rulers? Are the traditional rulers not living in the state to see that Cross River State is presently the shadow of its old self with all public infrastructure completely grounded? Or, is it just the numerous billboards Ayade has mounted in strategic places in the state with the inscription: “Ayade Is Working” that they used in evaluating the extent of his “giant strides” in infrastructural development whereas, practically, there is nothing to show for it? Is it the phantom rice project which has not and can never produce rice for consumption this Yuletide period except importing, bagging and labeling? Where is the Ayade rice?
We expect our monarchs to continue to exhibit clear-headed and astute leadership, robust and ground-breaking royal interventions on the unity and peace of our dear state instead of allowing themselves to be used as political jobbers by an administration which has consistently displayed lack of direction while manifesting the highest level of administrative perfidy. Over the years, our traditional rulers have shown that they possess the missing link in the ability of the traditional institution to effect a change and leave an enduring legacy worthy of emulation for our people. There can be no doubt about the attendant relevance of the role the traditional institutions could play in the development and uplift of modern society.
Despite the enormous odds and gargantuan assaults against thrones and stools by both the colonial masters and the deluded foster elites that succeeded them, the institution has survived to be the most enduring legacy of African history, culture and civilization. For any society with a sense of history to survive, there is always a need to bring the past to bear on the present and then provide a template for future development. The totality of our Royal fathers’ achievements within their spheres of influence shows that civilizations are built on solid foundations of progressive traditions with transformative content and character. It demonstrates that traditional institutions in Africa have built-in mechanisms for survival and transformation. This is not what should be allowed to be rubbished on the altar of banal political expediency.
The outcome of their fecund leadership qualities should be peace and progress not only in their respective kingdoms but also across the length and breadth of the state. They must continue to demonstrate that wholly indigenous African traditional institutions have wonderful capacities to accommodate change and interestingly too, without losing their grandeur. Yet, it is hoped that the traditional institutions in Cross River State would come together to extricate the state from the maze of communal wars, violence and insecurity threatening to consume it even under a democratic dispensation. In almost all the 18 local government areas, the wave of insecurity and violence is unprecedented in our history.
Therefore, anyone who thinks that the custodians of our heritage and symbols of our tradition and culture should not have a role to play in the scheme of things but the collection of rents and car gifts from governors, is simply a daydreamer. If anyone should have a role to play in dousing the tension in the land, it is the traditional ruler who is even closer to the people than even the local government chairman. Traditional rulers, far from remaining as impartial arbiters in the tussle for political power must break the secure fence of traditionalism and reverence to help in brokering peace and unity in the country. The Land Use Act has to be amended in order for traditional rulers in the country to be given some measure of control over land in their locality rather than giving governors power over all lands.
Traditional rulers across the country, must come together irrespective of creed to preach tolerance and accommodation among their subjects. The Ooni of Ife; the Sultan of Sokoto; the Obi of Onitsha and some of their colleagues are already intervening in the intricate political crises that are tasking the corporate entity called Nigeria. But we want all the royal fathers to close ranks and advise our politicians on the need for justice and fairness in all the affairs of the country. For, without justice, peace would remain a receding mirage in the country. Modernity alone cannot succeed without a symbiotic marriage with tradition. Consequently, government must accord some measure of role to our royal fathers not just in ceremonial pantomime but in reality.
Despite obvious challenges, the monarchy has managed to coexist with modernity in several countries of the world, in somewhat modernized way. Some of these countries include England, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Yes, it is apposite that our Royal Fathers are entitled to cars and other appurtenances that their exalted thrones eminently deserve. But let it not be heard anywhere that our monarchs who are the custodians of our traditional mores collect financial or material gratifications to endorse incompetent politicians. According to Thomas Mann, the German philosopher and great writer, every man is a political animal. Our traditional rulers are no exception. But, as Royal Fathers, candidates of other political parties are no less their subjects as Gov. Ayade. Taking sides with any of them is roundly deplorable.
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