Revocation of South Uneme Clan __Agba as Target
By DADA AYOKHAI
Technically, the decision also meant a withdrawal of the appointment and/or recognition- of HRH Benjamin Ikhani as the clan head of South Uneme.
The state government action definitely send shock waves and forced pundits back to the drawing board in a bid to figure out the real motives behind the government action.
With divided opinions on the rightness or wrongness of the government action, a fresh unwarranted crisis which has drawn the ire of many has erupted in the state.
To, once again, refresh our memory, the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomole elevated South Uneme to the status of a clan, with headquarters at Uzanu in the twilight of his tenure.
South Uneme is also the home base of Prince Clem Agba, the honourable minister of national planning and budget.
According to the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Bar Osarodion Ogie, both the revocation and withdrawal of appointment took immediate effect.
To douse tension which its action may elicit, the government quickly added that its action was, "predicated on the incessant and flagrant disregard of peace agreements as well as government directives on the need to maintain peace in Uzanu and its environs".
By this singular stroke of the pen, the state government wielded the big stick and in so doing returned Uzanu back to its former status as a village under Weppa
: Pundits have since been trying to fit the government's action within the context of recent political developments in the state.
Much as they have roundly condemned the action as "ill timed, provocative and laced with political undertones", they have also laboured to fathom convincing reason(s) for the unpopular decision, all to no avail.
To worsen matters, the statement relaying the revocation and withdrawal of the monarch's appointment and which was credited to the SSG, was undated. In addition, it seems the government was needlessly hellbent on killing a fly with a sledge hammer. It accused the monarch of "flagrant disregard for peace". Does this constitute a threat?
Not at all. So, in the eyes of pundits, the punishment is far more heavier than the offence
. Besides, if the government is to be believed, there are sufficient punishments in the statue books to deal with any recalcitrant monarch who poses a threat to peace such as suspension, or dethronement. Why the rush to punish an entire community for the sins of one man?
This and more were some of the posers which begged for answers. As prominent South Uneme citizens grappled with the development, a media aide of the deputy governor, Benjamin Atu, provided a most bizarre insight into the puzzle, stating the purported creation of Uzanu clan was the handiwork of Comrade Oshiomole and Prince Clem Agba.
In other words, the creation of Uzanu clan was an illegality. What a twisted reasoning!
The fallacy in this logic is that the creation of Uzanu clan followed due process and was duly gazetted. The process then allowed aggrieved individuals or groups to channel their objections, if any, via the courts. Since there was none of such, it is rather lame duck and pathetic to use the exalted office of the deputy governor to do a hatchet job and revoke what was properly done, even if that government has axe to grind with some perceived opponents.
Even more bizarre is the allegation that Prince Agba, an illustrious son of the community, played a significant role in the creation of Uzanu clan. When did it become a crime for an indigene to support a set cause of his community?
Beneath the brouhaha around the revocation and withdrawal of the appointment of HRH Benjamin Ikhani, is the political undertone associated with the action.
For years, Uzanu and Igiode, her immediate neighbour, where Sen Francis Alimikhena hails from, have both been engulfed in an intractable land feud, which has defied solution and it appears government latched on the conflict for some sinister motives
One other allegation which refused to stick is the one which fingered Prince Agba as the mastermind of the intractable crisis between his village and her neighbours.
Assuming the government position is tenable, how does that translate into the revocation of Uzanu's status as a clan and the withdrawal of the recognition accorded the monarch of South Uneme?
What is the Nigeria Police set up for? Is it not to detect and investigate crimes? Is there any sinister motive in the plot to turn the state boundary commission, which is headed by the deputy governor of the state as chairman, into a court of law with the powers to approbate and reprobate at the same time?
In a nutshell, the entire episode smacks of vendetta.
Otherwise, why would the deputy governor display so much partiality in a case he is supposed to be neutral?
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