Emmanuel Awari-Jalingo
The two Kuteb rulling houses, Likam and Akenten has disagree with the decision taking by Governor Kefas Agbu to make the Chieftaincy stool of Takum as rotational.
In a statement issue by the elders of the two rulling houses, Prince Andesati Danjuma – Likam and Yerima Sani Ali Ibrahim – Akenten said that they are not in support of such arrangements.
The statement reads in parts,
“Our attention was drawn to a statement by our Governor that we have met with him and agreed on the rotation of the paramount stool, Ukwe Takum.
“This is untrue and short of fairness. It’s unfortunate, untrue and must be disregarded.
“The Governor must not allow himself to be used by those who can go so low for the sake of their interest by fabricating and dishing out false information to the public that never existed during our engagement with him.
“The Governor had said he had made up his mind to abolish the status of Ukwe Takum to create a new first-class chief to be rotating among the Kuteb, Kpanzon, and the Chamba and that nothing on earth could change his decision. We, as the ruling houses of the Takum dynasty, vehemently resist this barbaric act and unholy arrangement and would not tread this course either to be a part of it.
“The Governor who is a Prince from the Bama Ruling house in Wukari should know the implications of trying to wipe out our history and the heritage of the Jukun and the great Kwararafa kingdom through these actions and make necessary corrections.
“It is pertinent to note that the Kuteb people have selected our Ukwe Takum and only seeking his approval as the executive Governor to give him the needed recognition by presenting the staff of office to the crowned prince as it was done to Wukari and Donga.
“The government is not in any way responsible for selecting or nominating King but for giving recognition.
“We will never be part of any arrangements or actions to undermine our historic heritage.
“We pray that our good Lord will ensure that justice and honesty are implanted in this issue for the sake of our unborn generations.
Sign
Prince Andesati Danjuma (Likam)
Yerima Sani Ali Ibrahim (Akenten)
In a similar development, the Kuteb Youths Forum (KYF) has opposed the proposal by the Taraba State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas to creat three chiefdoms in Takum.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Danjuma Rimamnde, spokesman of the group which was made available to newsmen in Jalingo on Friday.
It stated that such an action was capable of undermining the seat of Ukwe, the Paramount traditional stool of Takum.
The statement said that the KYF was still standing with the decision of the Kuteb traditional committee on non-rotation of the Ukwe Takum stool.
According to the statement, Takum Chieftancy stool is the birthright and inheritance of the two ruling houses of Likam and Akente and should not in any way be substituted/rotated with anyone for any developmental agenda.
It further stated that traditional stools were sacred and represented the culture and custom of the aborigins which was quite different from political and social affairs as seen in other places.
The statement quoted the forum as referring to Gov. Agbu Kefas’s statement that, he had solved much worrisome issues in the Niger-Delta compared to the Ukwe stool quagmire.
” It is worthy of note that the stool of Ukwe Takum is governed by custom and tradition and is recognized by Taraba State chieftaincy laws which is not in consonance with the political and social pandemonium in the Niger- Delta led by Tompolo as referred to by Gov Kefas.
“Never in the history of African traditional settings has any sequence of traditional leadership lineage that has existed for centuries been destroyed to allow a new dynasty to be established or created.
“This is unacceptable, strange and alien. We in totality reject the proposal by the state government to create three chiefdoms in Takum undermining the existing Ukwe stool.
“To the best of our knowledge, there are existing laws that gave legal backing to the traditional stool of Ukwe Takum. We hereby refer Your Excellency to Taraba State chieftaincy laws from 1991 till date.
“Therefore, it is worrisome for anybody to have misled His Excellency, the governor of Taraba, Dr Agbu Kefas that the stool of Ukwe Takum was never in existence.
” The kuteb youths look at any action to erase the existing history in respect of Ukwe Takum as observed as an outright confrontation to the kuteb race as a people.
” And any attempt to distort the existing history concerning the stool of Ukwe Takum will amount to injustice to the entire kuteb as a people,” it stated.
The Kuteb youth forum urged the Governor to rather address the more disturbing cases of herdsmen crisis/Banditry that engulfed over 150 kuteb communities for over five years with no government intervention rather than igniting a fresh crisis in the area.
The statement however, commended the governor for giving the forum an audience through
the meeting held on 3rd February, 2024 between His Excellency and the Kuteb Youths Forum.