…Says proper planning, boundaries delineation ‘ll reduce communal conflicts
…Condemns traditional land tenure system as impediment against development, industrialization
The royal father of Umiaghwa Abraka kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, His Royal Majesty, AVM Lucky Ochuko Ararile (rtd), Avwaike I, has strongly advocated the need to put in place proper masterplans for cities, towns, villages and kingdoms, stressing that it will prevent communal clashes that result from boundary disputes.
HRM Ararile who gave this indication during a press conference held in his palace on Tuesday April 12, as part of the events lined up for the 10th Anniversary celebration of his ascension to the throne of Umiaghwa Abraka kingdom, also held the traditional land tenure system as a major factor impeding development and industrialization of communities in the country.
The royal father who is a retired military pilot, while regretting that over the years most cities, most parts of the State do not know their boundaries, noted that the government should make it a matter of priority to prepare masterplans for all the cities, towns, villages and kingdoms in the State to prevent boundary disputes and communal clashes.
He further stated that when he mounted the throne, one of his visions was to transform his domain to a model kingdom in terms of development, adding that all over the State, apart from the capital city of Asaba, no other city, town, village or kingdom that was properly planned.
“Initially, I wanted to make a distinction, using Umiaghwa Abraka as a model of development. If you look throughout Delta State, apart from Asaba, there is no other city, town or kingdom that is planned. They are all slums.
“So, my first take here having settled down, was to inform government of the situation in the kingdom, that it was necessary for the kingdom to be planned. In the community, we can set out an industrial area, residential area, commercial area and plan it accordingly with necessary roads. It may not have to be develop in the next ten years or fifteen years but people have to know that you cannot build your house on the road that has already been planned. And if you go against that, your house has to be demolished without compensation as El Rufai did in Abuja. And that was because there was a master plan in place. There is the need for all kingdoms, all settlements, cities and villages in Delta State to be planned. I wrote to government on that and the response was disappointing.
“So, that is one of the priority areas. You must plan, you must have an idea of what this kingdom, this town will look like in the next ten, twenty years. But right now, apart from Asaba, everywhere else is unplanned. So, we just build houses anywhere. We just buy a plot of land. You can put a storey-building, you can put a bungalow, you can even bury somebody there, fence it up and walk away. So, to me, we have to plan. And that is beyond what the traditional ruler can do. Our role is to sensitize government on what it should do in this direction,
“To do a survey of this kingdom, I called privately for a Consultant. They gave me a bill of almost N150 million. What is the area when we talk about Umiaghwa Abraka kingdom? What is the size? What are the boundaries? This are the issues of government, not for the traditional institution. Every day, the government is still creating kingdoms. When the British were here, at the time they created the Provinces, Warri Province, Aboh Province, etc, immediately they were created they were surveyed. You can get the coordinates of the boundaries. But I tell you that in Delta State, no two kingdoms know their boundaries. That is why you have this communal crisis every time.
“And that is why I mentioned earlier that part of our achievements is the maintenance of peace. And in that respect, because of what the governments ought to have done, they have sort of created serious areas for communal clashes. So, our own responsibility is to minimize those clashes. In that regard, I think we have tried to minimize the area of Umiaghwa Abraka and Oruarivie kingdoms from clashes. That is a major achievement that we have made”, he said.
On the effort of the kingdom to exploit and harness the natural resource provided by the Ethiope River that runs through the length of Abraka, His Royal Majesty, acknowledged that the River offers a great tourist potential which, if properly tapped into, could increase the GDP of the area as well as create sustainable job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths.
He however admitted that attracting investment into the development of the tourist potential is impeded with the traditional land tenure system, adding that if the ongoing Dangote Refinery project was to be sited in Delta State, it would have been almost impossible to secure such large expanse of land for that purpose.
“Honestly, Abraka is a tourist destination. The development of tourist centres is usually private-sponsored project, not government. Government can only facilitate by providing enabling environment and necessary infrastructures. Private individuals are already doing that. You have a number of beaches in Abraka currently and more are coming up. So, that is an area we have to go.
“Tourism is an industry that survives. It is not dependent on any resource that will exhaust. This river, hopefully, if we maintain it well, it will be here for centuries. So, if we develop the tourism aspect of it, it will create jobs and they are jobs that are sustainable.
“So, we are encouraging individuals, investors, by facilitating especially the acquisition of land. Part of the problem in Delta State is the land tenure system. The land tenure system is very tedious for you to get a sizeable expanse of land for development. I tell people that what Dangote is doing in Lekki in Lagos, if he had come to Delta State he wouldn’t have got the land because you would have had to deal with maybe ten communities to get that size of land. And the issues between some communities are as old as hundred years. Are you going to resolve them in three months for Dangote will build his refinery?
“These are some of the constraints to whatever we want to do. So, the government has a lot of work to do in terms of, not just the legal framework, but necessary infrastructures.”
Emphasizing the achievements of the kingdom in the last ten years of his reign, HRM Ararile stated that the major achievement of every traditional ruler is peace, adding that as a traditional ruler if one is able to maintain to some extent, security and minimize conflicts, both at individual level and at the Community level.
“The major achievement for any traditional ruler is peace. When in your kingdom you are able, to some extent, guarantee some level of security, you are able to minimize conflicts, both at individual levels and at community level given the fact that most traditional institutions are resource-constrained, then you have achieved a lot. Those kingdoms which have more resources are able to achieve more than those who do not have.
Another major area of achievement in the past ten years, the monarch noted was in restoration of electricity to Abraka. According to him, when he mounted the throne some ten years ago, the kingdom was absolutely without electricity supply, adding that he facilitated the change of connection from Ughelli Power Station which was bedeviled with regular faults due to poor maintenance, to the Sapele Power Substation. He disclosed that it took the Federal Ministry of Power about two years to complete the project, it eventually, light was restored to Abraka.
“When I came home to Abraka, there was no light. I had to call the manager of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, to explain to me why Abraka with students’ population that is exploding do not have light. He explained to me that since Abraka is hooked to the power line connection from Ughelli power station which is prone to regular faults, the best solution is to connect Abraka to Sapele power substation and added that it is so capital intensive such that a community cannot afford to embark on the project.
“I went to Abuja to get the Ministry of Power to connect Abraka to Sapele. And they came and did the assessment. The project was supposed to take ninety days to complete because African Development Bank, ADB was ready to fund it, the Budget Office whose director is from this community was ready to fund it but the Ministry of Power insisted on using its internally-generated revenue to fund it. And that was why a project that was supposed to be completed within ninety days took almost two years to accomplish. But at the end of the day, it was done and that is why the power situation has improved tremendously in Abraka.
“So, in terms of major achievements, I think that is one area that I would like to reckon with and I must thank those who facilitated it especially at the Ministry of Power where the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Awosika who took it upon herself to ensure the success of the project, and of course, when I was already here having retired, I had to hand over the follow-up processes to the Director of Budget Office, Dr. Bright Okogu who pursued whoever was needed to be pursued in Abuja to get the job done. I’m eternally grateful to them”, the Monarch said.
The royal father used the opportunity to explain why the booming cassava production and processing industry in the kingdom before now, suddenly collapsed. According to him, the land became a subject of dispute between Edo and Delta States when the former forcefully allocated the more than 400 hectares of cultivated area to a company, Presco Plc for oil palm plantation, adding that the Delta State government and its Edo counterpart failed to resolve the crisis and hence the investor in the cassava project relocated to Ondo State.
He reeled out the various activities lined up for his 10th Anniversary on the throne which coincided with the annual festival of the kingdom. According to him, the celebration which commenced a few days back, will include prayer session, lectures for youths on skill acquisition, dances and cultural display, conferment of chieftaincy titles to deserving sons and daughters of the kingdom, food competition with N1 million prize money, thanksgiving and finally, the paying of homages by the different ruling houses in the kingdom to the palace.
