The Obong of Calabar controversy

THE controversy surrounding the Obong of Calabar stool has brought into sharper focus some of the unresolved issues that have bedevilled the process involved in the selection of candidates into this ancient office over the years. This time, the issues revolve around the ascension of Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey to the position of the paramount rulership of the Efik, following the passing on of the last Obong, Edidem Nta Elijah Henshaw VI, on February 16.

TO be sure, the current disagreement over the Obong stool follows a typical pattern that keen followers of the Obong succession politics, not the least of whom are the Efik themselves, must be used to. The difference this time round is that players involved ought to have learned from the past and should have been better positioned to handle the matter with more maturity. This is to say that the disagreement would have been needless and wholly avoidable but for the exclusivist policy of the Etuboms Traditional Council or an influential section of it.

WHILE the action of this group that purportedly has control of the palace might seem correct on the surface — in that its favoured candidate is from Western Calabar in accordance with the rotating principle of the Creek Town Accord of 1970 and outcome of a 2002 government Whitepaper that gave the position to Western Calabar— the lack of transparency that led to the rejection of not just the favoured candidate of the Mbiabo-Ikoneto people and subsequent exclusion of, at least, seven ruling houses and many members of the Etuboms Traditional Council in the selection process created the stalemate that led to the current controversy. Failure to resolve this stalemate in time and to the satisfaction of the Efik people, it was said, motivated a section of the excluded group to sponsor Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey as a consensus candidate that could help bring peace to the troubled stool. There are strong indications that the majority of the Efik people are satisfied with the emergence of the current Obong, Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey II, who was traditionally crowned in the Efe Asabo on the 6th of April.

ONE of the strongest factors that had apparently worked in favour of Etubom Bassey is the traditional norm that says that once an Obong has been crowned no other person can undergo the same process while the crowned Obong is still alive and well. In other words, it would be greatly sacrilegious and, to that extent, provocative to the Efik to crown another person while there is a sitting Obong. This was the case in 1999 when, despite an order by the Donald Duke government purportedly dethroning Edidem Nta Elijah Henshaw VI over violation of the rotating principle of the Obong stool, the said Obong remained in office until his demise last February.

THE Duke government, certainly, realised the strong traditional principle undergirding the selection of an Obong as one that cannot be repeated twice in the same circumstance. Another factor in favour of Etubom Bassey relates to what seems like his solid grassroots appeal which might be the outcome of his populist stance as a well-known political and labour leader of several decades. What is more, the fact that his being crowned in the Efe Asabo in broad daylight, under the watchful eye of the police guarding the shrine and the local population surrounding it, points to his relative acceptance among the people who have the traditional role of keeping unauthorised persons away from the ancient shrine. The above factors have, apparently, translated into the relative peace that has marked the ascension of Etubom Bassey to the position of Obong. An attempt was made six days before Etubom Bassey was crowned to install the candidate of the palace faction of the Etuboms Traditional Council but the attempt was foiled. According to reports, the police guards and other custodians of the shrine had put up strong resistance and foiled the attempt.

IT is obvious that the Efik have voted for peace. In this wise, it is important that all concerned in this sensitive matter read the writing on the wall correctly by allowing the wish of the people to prevail.

ON his part, Etubom Bassey would do well by extending a fatherly hand of fellowship to every son and daughter of Efikland. His is a call to duty, which can only be accomplished with the involvement of all stakeholders in the well-being of the Efik. This is no time for grandstanding or the issuance of inflammatory statements that can only serve to aggravate frayed nerves. The task ahead is both onerous and grave.

THE Government of Cross Rivers State and the new Obong must work together to ensure that the peace is maintained in the city of Calabar. That way, the status of Calabar as the number one tourist destination in Nigeria will not be compromised.

gunning for marks

IT is said that many of the armed bandits in Nigeria are well-educated. Many of them, it is often claimed, took to crime because they were denied gainful employment. Many victims of armed robbery have told stories of their encounters with Queen’s English speaking robbers. They say the robbers speak the language “trippingly on the tongue” just as Shakespeare recommended it should be spoken. So, there is no reason to doubt the fact that many Nigerian armed robbers have seen the four walls of a university’s lecture room. Many of them, it is said, obtained high grades.

BUT what could prompt some armed bandits to snatch the West African Examination Council’s (WAEC’s) answer sheets at a police station? Newspaper reports claimed some gunmen invaded Amassoma Police Station in the southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa State and stole sacks containing Practical Biology answer sheets of students of nine secondary schools in the area. The reports claimed that the gunmen probably thought the sacks contained money and so had helped themselves to them.

NOW that it has been established that the armed bandits had snatched the wrong loot, what is going to happen to the answer sheets? Are they going to return them to the police station where they were snatched or will the robbers help WAEC to mark the scripts? It is not unlikely that the robbers would have among them university graduates who could qualify to grade the papers. Should the robbers decide to mark the scripts, how will they get the scores across to WAEC?

THERE are suggestions, though, that the robbers knew what they were after, that they did not steal the wrong loot. It is being suggested that some of them sat as candidates to write the examination but had no confidence in the WAEC’s markers who would use their pens to mark them down. But these bandit-WAEC candidates are gunning for marks. They may not know much about plant reproduction system or insects’. But they are, definitely, well versed in the human anatomy and know where bullets can score a fatal point. They also know the difference between guns and pen-guns. So, in a way, that makes some of them Biology experts and qualified markers of WAEC’s practical Biology.

THE issue, however, still remains, when are they going to return the scripts after marking them? But while Nigerians are waiting to see what they would do, WAEC should think of how to conduct a fresh examination for the unfortunate secondary school students. It may not need scripts marked with pen-guns or Mark 1V and AK47 riffles, anyway.