RE-AGBOR, A HOUSE THAT IS DIVIDED

RE-AGBOR, A HOUSE THAT IS
DIVIDED

By
Tonnie Egun

Privileged
subject of the Dein of Agbor Kingdom

Special
Assistant to the Queen Mother.

It
has taken me a very long time to think and consider reacting to the media
bashing that the Agbor monarchy has received from those who claim to love,
cherish and revere the throne. The recent opinion of Elder John Ehikwe in Ika
Weekly and Anioma Watch is absolutely one too many. It should not be ignored
because while it has analysed the Agbor problem, it has also concluded on the
cause of the problem.

Elder
Ehikwe’s treatise is hinged on what he refers to as the “violent rigging of
elections in Ika Federal constituency”. Unfortunately he is not able to mention
the perpetrators and their allies from Ika South, and specifically, Agbor
kingdom.

He
is an advocate of the Agbor agenda and laments the non realization of this
agenda. I ask, when was this agenda articulated? Who articulated it? What was
the implementation strategy and within what time frame?

Secession from
Agbor Kingdom

After
his introductions, Elder Ehikwe goes straight to his very nostalgic memories of
the era of the Regency Council in Agbor Kingdom and the very  noble role he and Chief Philip Igumbor played
in ensuring that secessions by disgruntled villages did not occur and that the
Dein came back to meet a very united, progressive and focused Agbor Kingdom.

Unfortunately,
according to one of the most committed Agbor men, since the Dein came to assume
his destined responsibilities to his people, things have fallen apart and any
part of the kingdom that would want to break away now can readily and easily do
so. He attributes this to the fact that the traditional institution has failed
woefully. It appears that Agbor kingdom was better off when there was a vacuum
and the Regency Council held sway. I wonder where those worthy members of Agbor
Community, Agbor Stakeholders, and Elders’ Forum have been since the Dein
returned. Are they all dead or do they prefer to work only in a vacuum? Why are
we more divided than ever? Is the presence of the Monarch responsible for this
division?

Political Moderator

My
dear Elder does not explore this but he is quick to lament the absence of a
political moderator in our time of need. Who is the desired political moderator
of the Agbor people since Ehikwe believes that only self-styled political
leaders emerged? When I think of players in our political arena that should
satisfy Ehikwe’s expectations, my limited knowledge recalls these people who
were either appointed or elected into political offices. They include: Hon A.
K. Emeye, Chief F. O. Isibor, Chief (Mrs.) Hetty Ajuebon-Egbarin, Chief (Mrs.)
Margaret Amechi, Chief Sunny Akpenyi (Recently Late), Hon. Chief (Dr.) Cairo
Ojougboh, Hon. Engnr. Doris Uboh, Hon. Ben Obuh, Hon. Magnus Onyibe, Hon. Sunny
Nwaolokor, Hon. Sunny Ogwu, Hon. Sunny Animele, Hon (Mrs.) Caroline Agbi, and
Hon. Hilary Ibude. Was any or all of these supposed to or expected to be the
political moderator(s)? Who and what prevented them? Who scattered the sheep in
Agbor kingdom and stalled the emergence of a credible and acceptable shepherd?
If the forces were external, who were their accomplices or partners in Agbor
Kingdom? But, come to think of it, what are the attributes of a focused
shepherd?

Self-Styled shepherd of
Agbor Kingdom

Elder
Ehikwe alleges that the self styled shepherd of Agbor kingdom joined forces
with a rival shepherd. With the benefit of having read the opinion to the end,
I can safely name Queen Mother V. Ikenchuku as the self styled shepherd and
Hon. Martins Okonta as the rival shepherd referred to but I hasten to ask if
Hon. Okonta was a shepherd or one of the flock?

Elder Ehikwe
laments that the establishment failed to proffer unbiased advice. Queen Mother
V. Ikenchuku was a serving Commissioner in the Delta State Executive Council.
She was APPOINTED by the Governor of a PDP government! Where were our
politicians who were on ground, who had structures, who had the financial
resources, who had the liberty and dexterity to manoever, decamp and return out
of and into whatever political parties or alliances they were convinced would
deliver the aspirations of their people?

Agbor Agenda

Elder
Ehikwe laments the failure of Agbor Agenda. Where were the Agbor Cause
exponents when Ben Obuh, Magnus Onyibe, Festus Okoh, Kingsley Odabi and Doris
Uboh all contested for the House of Representatives ticket in the PDP
primaries? When Hon Doris Uboh emerged as the PDP endorsed candidate, where was
Agbor Agenda when our Political Shepherds confused and led the flock to vote
for ACN and Accord Party candidates at the expense of Doris Uboh and Festus
Okoh? Were we not aware or conscious of the determination of Ika North East to
get the Senatorial seat through the PDP and the House of Representatives seat
through the ACCORD Party?

Who
are the non Agbor politicians that worked against Agbor Kingdom? Where are they
from? Who are their allies in Agbor? Who sponsored and encouraged seven
educated, politically astute sons of Agbor Kingdom to contest against one
candidate from a rival kingdom – a candidate of the party in government, one
time Speaker of the House, incumbent member of the DTHA. Hon. Okonta was a
close associate and ally of Hon. Chief (Dr.) Cairo Ojougboh as Dr. Ojougboh
went round in his campaign for his senatorial ambition. Hon. Sunny Nwaolokor
was the Director General of Martins Okonta’s Campaign Organisation!

When
did Martin Okonta indicate his desire to go back to the House for a third term?
What was our reaction to it? At what point did the Agbor agenda evolve. When
did  Nwaolokor become the Agbor choice
for the House of Assembly under the PDP? When did our other sons decide to seek
alternative platforms to actualize their personal dreams and the Agbor agenda?

Where
was Elder John Ehikwe, an acclaimed Political analyst and Strategist,
throughout this period? Analyst, maybe; but STRATEGIST, I beg your pardon! He
told Agbor people that “they” NOT “we” had handed the seat back to martin
Okonta. He lambasts all of us – the combined leadership of Agbor Stakeholders’
Forum, Agbor Community in Agbor and Lagos – for the very last minute attempt to
find a solution to our problem. I wonder who he referred to as being
hypocritical. He says no contestant agreed to step down and acknowledged that
they had all spent lots of money and time for the campaign.

Who
did they spend the money on? Who were the political leaders, community leaders,
opinion leaders, stakeholders, landlords, influencers and elders who were
consulted with kola nuts, drinks and the accompanying “wedge” by all these
contestants? Who were the leaders and elders who kept harassing these aspirants
on the need to come and declare their intentions? During these consultations,
the strategists and Agbor Cause proponents did not deem it necessary to advise
our children appropriately; instead they operated the philosophy of “all of you
will win”.

Traditional institutions
have failed woefully in the traditional duties

 Elder Ehikwe believes
that the Agbor people have surrendered their political right to the traditional
institutions. I was a bit confused but he, categorically posits that: if
these traditional institutions have failed woefully in the traditional duties
for which they have been groomed, how do you expect them to succeed in the
muddy waters of politics? This is an obvious direct attack on the
palace and person of the Dein. It will be good to know what these traditional
duties are, the expectations of the people, the desired and expected
deliverables, the measurement and evaluation criteria and an assessment of the
Dein’s performance in order to appreciate the enormity of this allegation. Who
will take it up in Agbor Kingdom? Onye ekwue? It appears some of us seek fame,
popularity or notoriety by picking on the palace. Who will respond to Elder
Ehikwe who is already a self confessed firm believer in the monarchy and would
be very sad if the monarchy is insulted and rubbished in the name of politics?
Somebody please help me out here: I don’t understand.

He
agrees with Kingsley Philips and quotes copiously from his paid press
advertisement in an earlier edition of Anioma Watch where he derided the palace
and cast aspersions on the integrity of the Queen Mother and the sanctity of
the palace. The great Kingsley Philips whose surname is Agbokigboro but prefers
to bear Philips is now a frontline politician from Ika South. Kingsley’s claim
to fame is that he was in court with Martin Okonta for over three years
claiming to be the PDP candidate in the 2007 Delta State House of Assembly
elections. He had a brief respite in 2010 and spent about three months in the
DTHA after which the court returned Hon. Okonta as the authentic candidate. He
further contested for the same position in 2011 on the platform of the DPP
having decamped from the PDP after he was rejected at the primaries. His party,
DPP, won in four out of the twelve wards in Ika South. One of the four wards
was ward one which has two units located in the palace premises. This is the
same area he dubbed a “rigging shrine”; who rigged at this shrine then?

Who will Speak for the
Palace

But
who will speak for the palace when the elders, stake holders, community leaders
who are firm believers in the monarchy and who hate to see the monarchy
insulted and rubbished take to the press to support the throne bashers?

Elder
Ehikwe finally arrives at his destination- the cause of the failure of Agbor
Agenda is the appointment of Queen Mother V. Ikenchuku, the mother of the Dein,
as a member of the His Excellency’s Executive Council. Ehikwe posits that the
appointment brought her down, and, invariably, the Agbor Kingdom. She stopped
being the mother of all but the mother of some because all the people do not
belong to PDP. He insists that the Queen Mother ceased to be neutral by
accepting to serve in the State Exco and compromised the Dein’s position
because Baba will not remain neutral once his mother has taken a decision. What
great love, respect and reverence Ehikwe has for the throne; a throne that is
so susceptible to emotional interference.

Here
comes the martyr, John Ehikwe, who looks forward to being made an automatic
enemy of the palace, who loves the palace so much that, rather than grumble and
moan about the palace’s involvement in politics, he has decided to always express
his feelings and the complaints of the Agbor people in writing and through the
press. This must be a great conscientious and responsible elder of Agbor
Kingdom, who, after his sojourn abroad and in Abuja, has come home to ensure
that his people get the best from the government of Delta State.TO BE
CONTIUEND NEXT WEEK