Traditional Rulers Lament Political Marginalization
2 min read
Asuquo Cletus Felix, Calabar
The Traditional Rulers Council of Abeugo Community in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State, on Friday, vowed to support the candidacy of Dr Alex Egbona, the member representing Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Speaking when the campaign train paid a visit to the community, Chief Oniro Oniro Ikpai, secretary of the council said the lawmaker had always provided and met up with their needs.
He said “he has always been at our beck and call. When we call, he always responds. When we need financial assistance, he will say I am there for you. In all of his programmes, he has always keyed in the people of Abeugo and I am assuring all of you that for the sake of Alex, we will give APC 100 per cent.
“I am not mincing words, perhaps you may not know the strength of our community and the way we take decisions. When we take our decisions, our decisions are final. Our decisions flow from top to bottom. The leaders take decisions and it is binding on the people and so we are going to surprise APC. ”
On the issue of political marginalization, the monarch said “despite these great achievements, there are still some problems which we would like to point out.
“These issues we want to point out are like a peaceful protest. We want to express this issue very seriously because the Abeugo community, in spite of its size, as a small community, is amongst one of the nine autonomous communities. It is a community standing on its own, amongst all other communities.
“We have been working for the various governments but when they come to sharing the duty of office, Abeugo will be stigmatized as a small community.
“Since 1999 till date only one councilor, one personal assistant, one SA, to the governor. In the wake of the new administration, 22 appointments were allocated to Usumutong council ward, none came to Abeugo.
In remarks, the lawmaker said assured them of looking for ways to address their issues. I have listened to all of your complaints and we will work on addressing them and settling them amicably”.
