Owei Lakemfa
14 May 2008
column
Lagos — PARTS of our country are sliding into anarchy and all we seem to do is watch. But no serious country will wait for blood shed when proactive steps can be taken to save lives and property.
Two instances of the festering sores- the anarchy in the Ekiti State House of Assembly and the tussle over the Obong of Calabar where two kings have been crowned for the same stool while a third claimant fights on in the courts.
The 500-year history of the Efiks witnessed the unusual when on Saturday May 3, 2008 a new Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi was crowned while a subsisting Obong is alive. Edidem Bassey Ekpo Bassey II had been crowned in the sacred Efik shrine, Efe Asabo on April 6, 2008.
Following the crowning of the latter, desperate and quiet bloody attempts were made by those opposed to his kingship to seize the shrine. After bloody campaigns and efforts, the shrine fell like a conquered enemy territory, and the conquerors marched in to crown a second Obong.
The Cross Rivers State has had experiences over disputes on the emergence or crowning of a new Obong. The opposition to the crowning of the deceased Obong, Edidem Nta Elijah Henshaw VI was so stiff that the then governor, Donald Duke arrested him and the then chief priest of the shrine (now) Edidem Ekpo Bassey Ekpo and threw them into prison. Wise counsel later prevailed and the men were set free.
The current tussle is a tragedy; if thuggery is the basis of crowning an Obong, what moral authority will he have over his people? What respect will an Obong crowned under the current circumstances command?
More fundamental is the violence and death that have been visited on the Efiks in the name of succession. How can we have so much violence and anarchy and government still claims affinity to "due process" and "the rule of law"? How can we allow the rule of might?
The point need be made that I am not passing judgment over which of the "crowned" Obongs was properly selected. What is at stake is not who the true Obong is or should be amongst the two crowned men, and Etubom Anthony Ani the third claimant. The point is that the state government failed to arrest the situation.
Once the dispute started festering, the government should have waded in, first by preventing the continuous violent assaults on the shrine and people, secondly by either convening a peace meeting or instituting a probe carried out by non-partisan persons. To turn a blind eye to the murderous attacks and issue a bland appeal for peace is like encouraging the anarchy that is now afoot.
If the state government supports a faction of the Efik king makers, how far is it ready to go? For how long can it contain the crisis, and can a magisterial pronouncement recognizing one claimant and rejecting others, bring peace?
The truth is that there is a dose of politics involved. Edidem Bassey Ekpo Bassey is known for radical politics and being non-conformist.
In contrast, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has conservative credentials. To make matters worse, Edidem Bassey Ekpo Bassey ran for senatorial elections in the April 2007 elections on the platform of the opposition Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).
But the issue at stake should transcend partisan political interests or dislike for individuals. The government should allow an investigation of the circumstances leading to the crisis and do justice to the Efik people, their tradition and the people of Nigeria.
The situation in Ekiti has already exploded with the shootings that have occurred in the State Assembly. The Speaker, Hon Femi Bamisile had been accused of shooting randomly into a crowd of the opposition Action Congress (AC), injuring some of them. He last week claimed that his Deputy, Hon Saliu Adeoti had shot at him in the Assembly. The Speaker "sentenced" his Deputy to be "... locked up for the next six months for assaulting my PA".
Ekiti State had the misfortune of having three "governors" at a time, all from the ruling PDP and all claiming legitimacy. Ekiti House with members evenly divided between PDP and AC would have provided the country a good democratic challenge.
This same thing had happened in the United States; it brought out the beauty of their democracy. But in Ekiti, rather than engage the minds, might was used, and attempts made to brow-beat opponents into submission.
Unconventional measures such as trying to hold sittings at 6a.m. while opponents are asleep, holding sessions in secret or handing over the mace to the Police will not do. Dialogue, negotiations, respect for opponents and the Constitution and consensus building must prevail.
The National Assembly and the Presidency need to prod the Ekiti combatants to peaceful resolution. We delude ourselves if we think that what is happening in one part of the country will not affect the rest of us.
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