We are still poorly remunerated; we need better welfare package to function effectively —Owa Eleshi

How did you feel when you heard you would become the Oba?

I was surprised. I stayed in Lagos but went to spend Christmas with my old Mum. They came to me and said “You are the next king”, and that was all. And I was installed. The mode of selection was done through traditional process. They had already consulted oracles. They know how to do their investigation. So many names were taken to the oracle where they found out who the best candidate was. Many people were good but they had to take the best and they said I was the best in all the places they went.

What were you doing before you became a king?

I was a Civil Servant. I worked in Lagos State Government. My parent Ministry was Lands Bureau, Governor’s Office, Alausa, Ikeja.

What do you think should be done toEkiti and Ondo communities which are fast becoming dens for kidnappers and ritualists?

Unfortunately, this issue you have raised is a national problem. It is happening almost everywhere now. It is happening in Oyo; it is happening  in Osogbo; it is happening everywhere. So, it is a national issue that the Federal Government should address. But starting from our own area, thank God there has not been any such case in our local government. It is happening in areas, within the Oyo and Ekiti boundary,  precisely Iwaraja-Efon axis, Itawure down to Aramoko. Those areas are more or less danger zones. Thank God, the government is reacting to this. It has already done very well, in this regard. We have security men at all the black spots; the Military men and some other local vigilantes. It is also happening between Kogi and Ekiti North, around Ikole Ekiti. That was why the then former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, requested for military men. And since then, there have been no cases of armed robbery or kidnapping. So, the government is doing very well. Immediately they hear of any incident, they take necessary steps and they curb it. The most important thing is that every government has a special fund for security called security vote, which comes from Abuja to maintain peace, law and order in the state. Therefore, what I will suggest is that let the Military, Nigerian Police, Mobile Police and the local vigilante be involved. They must be stationed permanently, in those crisis-prone areas or any area that is prone to attack, so that the people will not be caught unawares. My advice is that even everybody should be involved.  We should be security conscious. When you see any strange movement, you should be able to contact the security operatives to inform them. This is because they operate within the community. There is no way they can move without people seeing them. When information is given on time, they won’t be able to perpetrate any heinous crime.

•  Govt agencies still diverting funds ― Buhari

Give us a brief history of your community? 

My community has been in existence for a very long  time, I will say decades ago. We all migrated from Ile-Ife. We continued moving round until we came to a place called Ayebode. Ayebode now consists of about 10 communities and small villages.  The communities now come together at Ayebode. But after forming a large community at Ayebode, they discovered Ayebode was not accessible as it should be. The only route that passed through that place was Ikare-Omu Road. So, the community was cut-off. So, around 1948,my father, who was on the throne at that time, was going to Ibadan and Lagos to buy goods as a trader. He was a trader before he became king and also a strong farmer. He had already tasted civilization and, as a result, knew that the community would not grow without road. He now said we should come between Omu-Oke and Okota where there was a new road, then, because anytime he was coming from Lagos, they usually dropped him and others coming to the community at Omu-Oke, because the vehicle would not beable to go through the bush, especially whenever they got there at night. So, he now said we should move to our present site. Out of 11 communities, some decided to move to Obadore while about seven of us moved to our present site. And because of the difference, we now changed our name to Araromi-Ugbeshi, Ekiti. So, other people in Omu-Oke gave us land, and we settled there. Presently, there are six major communities at Araromi-Ugbeshi Ekiti. We had other communities that joined us. This is because the place we were given was a very plain land. When we got here, everything was so peaceful. There was no fight. They were peace-loving communities. Since then, we have been living together without any problem.

2019 general elections are around the corners, and many Nigerians are very apprehensive. What are the Obas doing in their spheres of influence to douse all this tension?

The fact remains that the Electoral Act has already stipulated all the necessary steps to be taken by INEC (Independent Electoral Commission). There will be security men on ground. Once you have your PVC and your name is checked, you vote and you leave. We, the obas, have already informed them that we don’t want any crisis. All the communities in our area are peace-loving; we obey the constitution and laws of the country. Whoever wins should believe that that is what the Lord has already ordained. It is just a period of four years. Within a short time, four years will go. Those who lose today may win tomorrow. So, you remember what happened to Abraham Lincoln. You know how many times he contested for the position of American President and he finally became the president. He became one of the best that America may never forget. So, God has already ordained time for everybody. So, we preach peace and they always listen to us. We tell them-if you don’t win today, you win tomorrow. It’s not a do- or- die affair.

There is this clamour, in some quarters, that traditional rulers in the country should be assigned specific roles in this democratic dispensation. How would you react to this?

Traditional rulers are very important because we are the nearest to the people, and they understand ourlanguage. The tradition goes with a lot of respect, so when they talk, people, especially their subjects listen.If there is going to be problem, we the Obas and the Chiefs will talk to them and they will listen and we can say thatthe law of the land can now take its normal course on whoever does not listen. And they prefer to listen to us. Weare their fathers and they are our children. So, as fathers that we are, they should listen to us. We work 24 hours and therefore, government should increase our salary. Our salary is too poor. From the day you ascended to the throne, you continue to work non-stop. If you are sleeping around 1 a.m,they will come and wake you because our doors are open.Government should give us all the necessary things we need like vehicle, driver and others to enable us perform optimally. They should pay for the services we need. They should pay for all our attire, medical treatment. They should treat us the way governors are being treated, because we are working as hard as the governor. It is not easy for you to be controlling a whole community

What are those peculiar challenges of ruling this community?

The challenges are many. Even as the head of a family, you have challenges because if you tell the children to go to the left, you may still  see some that will go to the right. So, the onus is now on you to convince them that this is right one, not to talk of a community that is composed of chiefs, High chiefs, Iwarafa mefa, different heads of families. You know what the youths are doing nowadays due to civilisation and how it is for them to agree, it is an Herculean task. So, it is not easy. It requires prayers to conveniently and effectively rule such community.