Non-assignment of constitutional roles to traditional rulers responsible for insecurity in Nigeria —Delta monarch, Arthur Whiskey

His Majesty, King Obukohwo Monday Arthur Whiskey, Udurhie I, Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, spoke with EBENEZER ADUROKIYA on the state of the East-West Road linking about six states, the refusal of the Federal Government to inaugurate the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), insecurity in the country, among other issues.

 

The East-West road linking Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, is still in a deplorable state six years after the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration came in. What is your take on this?

East-West is about the only road linking about six states in the south and we need the Federal Government to fix it because the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has failed in addressing the deplorable condition of that road. The Ministry of the Niger Delta has failed. Therefore, the Federal Ministry of Works should come to our rescue, fix the road and put in place a mechanism that will enable regular maintenance of the road.

 

You have often appeared to be unimpressed about the performance of the NDDC. You once described the forensic audit of the commission as a scam. Is that still your stand?

Of course, yes. Illegality has been perpetrated by the Federal Government in the name of running the NDDC for the past three years.

Let it be stated that the NDDC has a sister agency called the North East Development Commission which is still domiciled at the presidency as we speak. That the Federal Government would go and domicile the NDDC with an individual so that the common wealth of the people can be in the hand of an individual is an illegality and we say no to it. The Federal Government is trying to wind up the activities of the NDDC using an individual as the messenger of doom. We will not keep quiet on this. Henceforth, all monies meant for the NDDC should be paid into a special account except that which is meant for the salaries of staff until the inauguration of a statutory board recognised by the NDDC Act 2000. That is the position of well-meaning Niger Deltans.

 

If the Federal Government refused to heed your call on the inauguration of the NDDC board, what would Niger Delta leaders do?

The Federal Government should return the NDDC to the presidency and probe the commission’s spending in the last three years. Should they fail to do that, they will still account for the NDDC money one day. They should stop funding the NDDC except for the payment of staff. Monies meant for it should be lodged in a special account. Companies helping to fund the NDDC should stop funding it for now. Such monies should be paid into a special account. I said from the onset that the so-called forensic audit was a scam. They used it to buy time. They submitted the report about six months ago and nothing has come out of it. If that is what they have used to buy time, they have bought enough time. Let them now constitute the board. Those they nominated and screened should be sworn in. There was no forensic audit. In my kingdom here, we have got notable NDDC projects that were abandoned. Nobody came here to look at them. So, where did they work?

 

What is your advice on tackling insecurity in the country?

The Federal Government needs to go back to the drawing board and assign constitutional duties to traditional rulers because they are the closest people to the grassroots. There is no reason royal fathers should not have constitutional roles. They are the ones who control kingdoms under local governments. If their kingdoms are peaceful, it means the local governments will be peaceful. If the 774 local government areas in the country are peaceful, it means Nigeria is peaceful. It is an aberration that traditional rulers no longer have constitutional roles as it was during the days of the colonial masters. Whatever it was that took away the power they had during colonial years is what is responsible for today’s insecurity.

In my kingdom today, we quash any little uprising in no time because we know that if there is no peace, there will be no development. So, I am calling on the Federal Government to reassign constitutional duties to royal fathers to address the growing insecurity in Nigeria.

 

How are you tackling insecurity in Idjerhe Kingdom?

We put in place a very active local security network. We track any criminality just as we did this morning (Monday, 31 January, 2022). We arrested some bandits using our territory to move arms to other areas. We don’t joke with security within the length and breadth of our kingdom. If you strayed into Idjerhe Kingdom as a criminal, in 24 hours, we will track you down.

 

Governor Nyesome Wike is leading a war against illegal refineries in Rivers State. Do you support his move?

As somebody who knows the enormity of the ecological effects of illegal oil bunkering, I don’t encourage the menace. If you sold a million products from an illegal bunkering site, you would have caused a ten-fold damage to your environment. And that environmental degradation stays for centuries. So, I encourage Governor Wike and others in the Niger Delta to continue the fight against the menace. It is part of governance. You can’t allow lawlessness in your place because some individuals are benefiting. Wike should be commended and others should follow suit and let it be known that our people are not part of illegality.

 

There is growing inordinate quest for wealth among youths. Is this the reason why you banned the wearing of artificial dreadlocks and earrings by youths in your kingdom?

If there is one king that is perpetually against youths engaging in unwholesome practices, I think it is me. Only recently, we met and banned cultism, wearing of artificial dreadlocks, young boys wearing earrings, because I know that is the foundation of restiveness and radicalism. Some days ago, we had a four-hour prayer in our kingdom. Every year, we set aside a day to pray for this kingdom to experience freedom in all ramifications. If I am driving and they see me coming, some of the youths take to their heels because one or two things would happen. If you are on dreadlocks or earring, my security will pick you up. As royal fathers, we are the closest authorities to the grassroots and we shouldn’t shy away from our responsibilities. Royal fathers should be equipped both with law and with funds. What I spend on security in my domain is more than the stipend I receive, yet, I must secure my domain.

 

What is going on in your kingdom regarding youth empowerment?

Idjerhe Kingdom has so many things working for us. We have abundance of free land to give out to investors, individuals and governments, local or foreign, because I want to engage my youths. Today, it is only in Idjerhe that we have about 15 sand dump sites. In other kingdoms, sand is loaded with loaders into trucks, but we said no, when we have thousands of youths roaming the streets. So, we assigned five boys to each tipper. As we speak, up to 100 boys assigned to over 30 tippers feed their families through loading sand in tippers. A tipper load is N5,000. If the five persons load five tippers per day, each person goes home with N5,000. Isn’t it better than engaging in criminality?

 

The 2023 general elections are at hand and aspirants have been visiting you for royal blessings in spite of the fact that you are expected not to be partisan. What is your advice for politicians on how they should handle things?

My wish is that the elections are conducted in a peaceful atmosphere. The political gladiators should realise that it is only those who are alive that can offer democracy dividends they promise. Every campaign should be devoid of crisis. They should campaign to the consciences of the people who want to vote for them. They should sell their manifestoes to the people and not coerce them. All the aspirants should carry out their campaigns in a peaceful atmosphere devoid of violence, killing and maiming.