WADE INTO LINGERING CHIEFTAINCY TUSSLE OVER ARBITRARY CREATION OF KWARARAFA CHIEFDOM OUT OF GASSOL CHIEFDOM, COMMUNITY WRITES GOV. KEFAS

OPEN LETTER EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF TARABA STATE, DR. KEFAS AGBU:

 

A CALL TO WADE INTO THE LINGERING CHIEFTAINCY TUSSLE OVER THE ARBITRARY CREATION OF KWARARAFA CHIEFDOM OUT OF GASSOL CHIEFDOM

 

Your Excellency Sir, 

 

We the Stakeholders and Elders Forum of Gassol 1 State Constituency, Gassol local government area of Taraba State wish to seize this opportunity to congratulate you and the entire people of the State over your well deserved victory in the March 18, 2023 governorship elections.

Your Excellency Sir, your election was indeed not just a victory for democracy but a revolution towards emancipating the people of the State from the wasteful eight years of bad governance and poor leadership experienced by the people of the State under the misrule of Darius Dickson Ishaku. 

Sir, we the Stakeholders and Elders Forum of Gassol 1 State Constituency are constrained to write and bring to your Excellency 's attention issues that have and shall continue to be of paramount importance in entrenching of transparent governance for the overall good of the State, especially as it affects Gassol Chiefdom and other traditional institutions created by the Ishaku administration with similar disputes. 

Your Excellency may wish to note that on June 27, 2018, the immediate past administration of Darius Dickson Ishaku created Kwararafa Chiefdom out of the existing Gassol Chiefdom and appointed one John Agbu Tsokwa, now deceased, as 3rd class Chief. 

The creation of the Kwararafa Chiefdom which the entire people of Gassol chiefdom viewed as alien and an aberration, not only to the culture and beliefs of the people of Gassol Chiefdom, but also an encroachment to the structure and composition of the Chiefdom which has existed for decades. 

Sir, the creation of Kwararafa Chiefdom abinitio, if not for the careful handling of the situation by the peace loving Stakeholders and Elders of Gassol 1 State constituency could have degenerated to breakdown of law and order. We worked tirelessly to persuade on the people of the area to embrace peace and assured them of our determination to pursue the matter through peaceful process, including legal actions. 

The Stakeholders and Elders Forum of Gassol 1 State Constituency vehemently opposed the creation of the Kwararafa Chiefdom by writing a protest later to the then administration of Darius Dickson Ishaku to, in the interest of peace and justice, rescind her decision on the creation of the new Chiefdom out of Gassol Chiefdom with the view to maintaining the status quo. 

Sir, our reasons for opposing the creation of Kwararafa out of Gassol Chiefdom is anchored on the following reasons:

1. That the Villages proposed to be part of Kwararafa Chiefdom, namely:

(a) Nanguru 

(b) Yaku Shamaki 

(c) Sabon Gida

(d) Doubeli

(e) Disol

(f) Takai

(g) Dan Anacha

were all under Wuryo village area in Gassol District, Muri Division since the colonial era and subsequently formed Gassol Chiefdom when the former administration of Governor Jolly Nyame upgraded Gassol District to a third class Chiefdom in 2003.

 

2. That 100 percent of these villages that were being proposed to be carved out of Gassol Chiefdom to form the newly created Kwararafa Chiefdom Were part of what is known today as Muri Emirate Council,  therefore, any attempt to merge the villages with Kwararafa Chiefdom which is more or less, offspring of Wukari traditional council is absurd and an encroachment of Muri Emirate Council. 

3. We opposed the merging of the villages with the Kwararafa Chiefdom because the people of the villages have no traditional and historical ties with Kwararafa Chiefdom which is ruled by the Jukun tribe.

Sir, All efforts to convince  the former Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku to see reasons and cancel  the creation of Kwararafa Chiefdom proved abortive. 

This negative development compelled the peace loving Stakeholders/elders of  Gassol Chiefdom to institute a civil law suit against the State government, the  Attorney General of the State and Kwararafa Chiefdom in a Jalingo High Court in 2018, to compel the defendants to among other things, revert her decision on the creation of Kwararafa Chiefdom out of Gassol Chiefdom with the view to maintaining the status quo. 

It may interest you to note that the Jalingo High court presided over by His Lordship,  Justice Dauda N. Buba through a motion Ex-pate filed by our counsel on March 10, 2023, granted the following orders:

1. AN ORDER of interim injunction restraining the Defendant/Respondent, who are the Executive Governor of Taraba State, the Attorney General of Taraba State and the Kwararafa Chiefdom traditional Council  to  either by themselves, purveys, Agents, Representatives directly or indirectly from appointing, installing, recognizing, coronating any person, temporary or permanently and or otherwise as the substantive 3rd Class Chief of Kwararafa Chiefdom of Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State pending the determination of the motion on notice in suit No.TRSJ/85/2018 BETWEEN M IBRAHIM J. ISA VS. THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF TARABA STATE & 2 ORS: and 

2. AN ORDER of interim injunction restraining the Defendants/Respondents from redirecting any person whosoever,  directily or indirectly from parading himself or themselves as the  Representatives of the Departments in kwararafa Village of Gassol local government Area of Taraba State pending the determination of the motion on notice in Suit No. TRSJ/85/2018.

Your Excellency Sir,  despite the order,  the State government and the other defendants in the matter flagrantly disobeyed the court and went ahead to appoint one Meithusela E. Adamu as the 3rd class Chief of Kwararafa on March 23, 2023 to replace late John Agbu Tsokwa. 

We  view the appointment of the said Meithusela E. Adamu to replace Late John Agbu Tsokwa as a gross contempt of court, an abuse of the rule of law and a mockery of the judiciary.

Again, the defendants have done everything humanly possible to frustrate the court case since it was instituted in 2018, inorder to impose Kwararafa Chiefdom on the people of the aforementioned villages to form part  of Kwararafa Chiefdom against their will. 

Our Prayers: 

We appeal to His Excellency to urgently wade into the matter with a view to reverting the decision on the creation of Kwararafa Chiefdom out of Gassol Chiefdom and maintain the status quo. 

We equally appeal to His Excellency to embark on massive development of the rural communities and provide opportunities that would stop citizens from viewing the creation of chiefdoms as development instead of embarking on self fulfilling ideas.

Finally,  we wish to assure His Excellency that the Stakeholders/elders of Gassol 1 State constituency are peace loving and law abiding and are ready for dialogue upon your intervention Sir. 

God bless you. 

Signed: 

Prince Hamman Tukur Kawu

07035324036

For : Stakeholders And Elders Of Gassol 1 State Constituency, Gassol Local Government,  Taraba State.