It is shameful to support corrupt leaders –Oba
• Saturday, Feb 23, 2008

The recent visit of a Port Harcourt based NGO, Global Conflict Resolution, Hope Restoration Initiative (GOCOHRIN) to the Palace of the Oba (Eze Ogba) of Ogba land, His Emmience, Eze Chukuemela Nnam Obi II at Omoku, recently, offered The Weekend Tide an opportunity to capture the Oba in one of his most reflective mood.

Burdened by the contradictions that characterise the Nigerian state, the chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers unfolded the inner riches of his initiative mind through a cursory and introspective view on Nigeria.

He described Nigeria as a country weighed down by decades of untold injustices which has resulted in gross underdevelopment in the country, and stressed that the ideal of conflict resolution which the NGO initiated was timely and relevant in view of the decadent moral stench in our society today.

The Oba whose speech was studded with uncommon wisdom rooted in ancient OgBa traditional heritage linked Nigeria’s many problems to the emergence of self-seeking leaders with an obssession for wealth without any concern for the common good. According to the Oba, the act of self appropriation on the part of most Nigerian leaders which has turned the entire country in a deprived mood was in recent times landing them into problem. “Most Governors today are leaving their exalted thrones to prison. Instead of being leaders they became thieves, it is shameful to support corrupt leaders, those who are not mannered have no business with wealth,” he stated.

The Oba was also piqued by the decline in our collective sense of patriotism, history and culture, an ugly trend which had militated against the preservation and transformation of values in the country.

“Nigeria beheaded it fathers and is crying to be an orphan. We live in a world of confusion where Christianity is betrayed, where culture is turned upside down. In Nigeria, people are disposed of their possession, the hunter is starved of his venison and there is nobody to hunt tomorrow,” he lamented.

In his assessment of the country political independence for the past 47 years, he said the prospect of an egalitarian society has over the years been bastardised by emerging neo-colonialists who became slave drivers of their brothers, employing monstrous and mean political advantages to undermine the sanctity of life.

He reasoned that the social engineering of Nigeria would only make the desired impact when the wrongs of injustices are addressed, especially in the Niger Delta region which has borne the brunt of the morbid realities in the country.

Oppression of oil communities is direct fight against God. It is really disheartening that despite it enormous contributions to the nation’s economy, the Niger Delta has nothing to show for it. Ogba land produces 98 per cent of oil and gas in Rivers State and production is tripled in the area to meet up areas where they are not producing, yet the area is not remembered in appointments,” he stated.

Speaking on how he emerged as the present Oba of Ogba land, Eze Nnam Obi disclosed that he ascended the first class traditional stood on the demise of his predecessor in 1970. As a youngman of 30 then, he said he heeded to the call of his people to take over the stool as the rightful occupant but like the Biblical Solomon, he did not hesitate to seek God’s approval of the royal calling. “At midnight of 21st December 1970, I took a vow with my God to always guide me against anything that wild hinder my royal calling, ever since I have lived to the sacred dictates of that calling and I have survived that oath for 38 years today. Missing over the increasing role, traditional rulers have had to play in the development of the society, the Ogba monarch emphasised the need for sensitisation on the part of the traditional rulers to enable them carry out their duties effectively. This he said was the philosophy behind the three-day retreat for traditional rulers in Rivers State.

“Traditional rulers shouldn’t be strangers in their calling, they need proper sensitisation to realise the role in society, they are the harbingers of peace in their respective communities and they must remain vigilant to that responsibility” he stated.