‘Monarchs don’t need constitutional obligation, their roles are divine’

His Royal Highness Alhaji Aliyu Kevin Danesi, Oba Danesi III, is the Aidonogie of South-Ibe Kingdom, Etsako West Local Government of Edo State. He spoke on how traditional institutions can help in governance and other sundry issues. Excerpts:   How do you think traditional rulers can perform their duties effectively? The traditional institution was the […]

His Royal Highness Alhaji Aliyu Kevin Danesi, Oba Danesi III, is the Aidonogie of South-Ibe Kingdom, Etsako West Local Government of Edo State. He spoke on how traditional institutions can help in governance and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

 

How do you think traditional rulers can perform their duties effectively?

The traditional institution was the first government long before colonialism and politicians came to disrupt the system. It is the richest in terms of human capacity but the government or politicians do not see us as partners in progress rather they see us as competitors. Our own ways of coming to the throne is different and varies from community to community. So, we are not competing with them but complementing them. Even on security issues, when they are making policies they don’t put us into consideration.  Giving that scenario, the government should recognised that when policies are being made, traditional rulers should be asked to make inputs. I am a standing member of security committee of the National Council of Traditional Rulers. We did a comprehensive report on security between 2012 and 2015, when a member of the Boko Haram committee of former President Goodluck Jonathan saw it, he commended that it was better than theirs. 

 

There had been clamour for constitutional role for traditional rulers. What is your take on this?

We don’t need constitutional role because our roles are divine. We have the Muslims, Christians and others who are not Christians and Muslims. We are grounded in our people’s culture and traditions. For instance, in some communities, you can’t steal because they know the consequence of the action and they will curse whoever that steal and the person will reap the repercussion for everybody to see. The traditional rulers are sent from heaven, they represent God on earth. 

 

What is your view on the security challenges in the country especially farmers/ herders clashes. How can this be addressed?

The farmers/herders clash is a new phenomenon and I don’t think it is up to 15 years since it started. In the past, cattle never went into the farms to eat crops. One thing we have to look at is the sophistication with which the attacks are carried out and the kind of weapon used. With such weapons, I believe they are not the mere cattle herders that carry sticks. I think some criminals across the border have infiltrate the group and be using it to commit atrocity. So, to me, government should use its information gathering mechanism to fish out those people. We have heard about a situation where some of them were arrested and they are not Fulanis and can’t even speak Hausa and English which show they may be from other countries. Our borders are not well manned and anybody can carry out an attack and go back. So, government should look beyond herders and identify these people. When herders and farmers clashed people bring ethnicity and religion into it. The attacker will not ask the religion or ethnicity one comes from before they strike and as such we should look beyond herders.

 

It is believed that many traditional rulers are appendages of the government as they seem not to be telling the truth about those in power?

We have made comments on issues bothering on the affairs of the country. We just came back from the National Conference of National Council of Traditional Rulers. I was a member of the communiqué drafting committee and I know the extent we went on all issues about what the government should do and by the time it is out you would know that we are not afraid of politicians or people in government. We tell them the truth, the fact is that they don’t want to work with it because they have their agenda to pursue whether it is right or wrong. So by the time the communiqué is out people will know whether we are afraid or not. We respect them and we are partners in progress.

 

What is your take on the anti-corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari and how can the nation move forward?

No matter what people say, Nigerians should thank President Muhammadu Buhari. Past governments have contributed to the corruption in Nigeria today. So, for one man to come and say let us fight this problem and bring it to a standstill or reduced it to the barest minimum and he is doing it with all sincerity and everybody have vouch for his integrity and trustworthiness, then we should be happy that God has given us such a man. The least we can do is to support him in every way we can. If not for Buhari who would ever know that one man who has nothing to do with the state treasury, can have access to Central bank and removed billions of dollars and be dishing out as if he was sharing tomatoes and pepper. People criticize Buhari that he is selective in the fight but one thing you can’t take away is that he has started and he is doing it whether selective or not. And even if he is selective, when any government takes over they should take on those perceived to be left out and bring them to justice. It is not a war we can win in one day and don’t forget that as you are fighting the war, the people are fighting back because there are some people in his government who still believe that corruption should continue.  So for anybody to say he is only prosecuting PDP, Muslims or Christians, they are being uncharitable to the man, we should thank Almighty Allah that we have Buhari at this time. They said he brought hunger, hardship. We are suffering from the sins of yesterday. All that the man did was locking the taps of corrupt money and those who were fetching from it now saw that it was no longer flowing and as such ‘Buhari brought hardship.’ The holes and the gaps created in the course of that corruption is what we are suffering today.

 

Any regret being a traditional ruler?

No, I was born into it and having the privilege of being a traditional ruler of my community is the best thing God has done for me, because I like serving and I am serving my people and they are happy and that gives me joy.