Taraba: Disquiet as Takum gets new chief after 28-year tussle
The recent appointment of Barr Sopiya Gboshi as the Ukwe Takum by Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas, after 28 years of chieftaincy tussle, has generated disquiet, Daily Trust Saturday reports. The stool of the Ukwe Takum in Taraba State has been vacant for the past 28 years following the death of the former chief in […]
Governor Agbu Kefas with the traditional rulers shortly after he presented them with staff of office at the Government House in Jalingo, recently photo: Magaji Isa Hunkuyi
The recent appointment of Barr Sopiya Gboshi as the Ukwe Takum by Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas, after 28 years of chieftaincy tussle, has generated disquiet, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
The stool of the Ukwe Takum in Taraba State has been vacant for the past 28 years following the death of the former chief in 1996.
The Ukwe Takum stool has been the subject of a lingering dispute over who succeeded the late ukwe, Alhaji Ali Amadu, who was of the Kutep extraction.
Following his death, there was a tussle between the Kutep and Chamba ethnic groups over who was to produce the next candidate to occupy the stool.
The Kutep ethnic group had over time laid claim to the stool of Ukwe Takum, describing it as an exclusive preserve and a no-go-area for any other ethnic group.
On the other hand, the Chamba ethnic group has equally been laying claim to the stool, saying they too have a right to be the chief of Takum.
The claims and counter-claims became a bone of contention between the Chamba and Kutep which at some point, resulted in bloodshed that claimed the lives of many people.
The lingering tussle, therefore, left the people of Takum without a substantive traditional head for the past 28 years.
Past governments in the state could not resolve the tussle given the sensitive nature of the matter until May this year, when Governor Agbu Kefas used government clout to appoint a chief to fill the vacant stool of Ukwe of Takum.
Signals of the government’s plan to appoint a new chief of Takum started when in February this year, Governor Agbu Kefas sent a letter to the state House of Assembly seeking for the stool of Ukwe Takum to be addressed as Chief of Takum.
The governor also sought that the stool should be rotated among the three tribes in Takum, namely Kutep, Jukun and Chamba.
The state House of Assembly, after a public hearing and deliberation, passed the bill into law.
The governor acting on the approval of the House, requested the three tribes to present their candidates for appointment as chief of Kutep, Jukun and Chamba.
However, the Kutep rejected the idea and refused to present a candidate but the Chamba and Jukun presented their candidates.
The Jukun presented Uhwe Bala Ephraim while the Chamba presented Barrister Sopiya Gboshi.
The Kutep on the other hand refused to present any candidate for installation as 3rd class chief and accused Governor Kefas of attempting to erase the dynasty of their culture.
The coronation and presentation of the staff of office to the two appointed chiefs took place recently at the Executive Chambers of Government House, Jalingo.
A few minutes after the presentation of staff of office to the chiefs, the governor elevated Barr. Sopiya Gboshi from 3rd class to 1st class chief of Takum to fill in the vacancy created by the death of the late Ukwe Takum.
At the event, Governor Kefas said the idea behind the rotation of the 1st class chiefs among the three clans was to bring a lasting solution to the “senseless killings and destruction of properties over the stool in Takum.”
In their reactions to the installation of the chief of Takum, Kuteb Nyantso, the umbrella body of Kuteb worldwide, condemned the exercise, stating that Kuteb will never recognise Gboshi as the 1st class chief of Takum.
The president of Kuteb Nyantso, Mr Emmanuel Ukwen, who addressed journalists in Jalingo on the development, said the matter was in a court of law and therefore, any action taken by the governor outside the court’s judgement would not be accepted by the Kuteb.
“The matter has been before the state high court. Yesterday, the judge hurriedly heard the case and passed its judgment. The same day, the governor presented staff of office to the chiefs in the middle of the night.
“It has never been done that way in the history of chieftaincy matters in Taraba State. We have instructed our lawyers to appeal the kangaroo judgment. For now, we have our Ukwe Takum who we have appointed through traditional rituals by the name Rimanyaw Habu. Till he dies, we cannot accept any other chief of Takum,” Ukwen stated.
However, a former Minister of Defence retired Gen. T. Y. Danjuma, whom the Kutep accused of being the brain behind the ceding of the appointment of a new chief of Takum to the Chamba clan, commended Governor Agbu Kefas for his courage in breaking the jinx of resolving the Takum chieftaincy tussle.
The retired general, while speaking during a reception in honour of the new chief of Takum, Barrister Sofiya Ahmadu, in Takum, advised the governor to defend his victory of resolving the almost three decades tussle.
According to him, the Kuteb are determined fighters, therefore, the governor should be ready to defend what he has achieved in installing a new chief in Takum.
He said the Kutep are permanent litigants and will never give up, saying they would continue with litigation.
He said the Kuteb would continue with litigation until the lawyers “chop all their money.”
General Danjuma also accused the Kutep of inventing a new history for Takum which, he said, has no basis elsewhere.
Danjuma stated that those protesting against the appointment of a new chief of Takum were never born in Takum and were the same people who were saying Takum town belonged to them only.
He however advised the new chief to rule his people with justice and fairness.
He said with the installation of the new chief in Takum town, there should be peace, adding that the new paramount ruler must work for peace and unity among the people of the area.
Speaking, Governor Kefas recalled the challenges he faced on the way to reconciliation, fairness and unity, and appealed to the people to give peace a chance.
“Today, we bring peace and unity to Takum. As the chief of Takum, you must rule with integrity and respect for all,” he said.
Reacting to T. Y. Danjuma’s statement, the Kuteb Yatso of Nigeria (KYN), the umbrella body of Kutep worldwide, accused the retired general of deliberately distorting and inventing new history of Takum to benefit his tribal people (Chamba).
Chief Emmanuel Ukwen, President General of KYN made the accusation while addressing newsmen in Jalingo.
He said the implications of General Danjuma’s statement was that it has already pre-empted the decision of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on the matter, making the judiciary to be seen as not dispensing justice in fairness to all citizens.
The Kuteb also accused Danjuma and his associates of making plans to demolish the Takum Central Mosque and the palace of Ukwe Takum which had been located behind the Central Mosque in Takum town.
Ukwen further stated that the recent speech presented by Danjuma during the coronation of the newly appointed chief of Takum against the Kuteb and the late Ukwe Takum, Ali Ibrahim, was unacceptable.
“It is a pity that T. Y. Danjuma referred to one of the Ukwe Takum as a very bad and terrible chief on flimsy reasons that he was a Kuteb man and a Muslim.
“There is a sinister move by Danjuma and his cohorts to demolish the Takum Central Mosque and the Ukwe Takum palace which is behind the mosque under the guise of urban development.
“We want the whole world to know that the graves of our late Ukwes who reigned and died are in the palace.
“Any attempt by Danjuma and his cohorts to desecrate the tombs of our fathers will amount to cultural genocide,’’ he said.
The Kuteb leader also accused Danjuma of preaching peace in the public while he instigated a crisis in his hometown.
“The Kuteb through Ukwe Takum ruled Takum from 1510 to 1996 uninterrupted by any other tribe; how come Danjuma is forging history that the Kuteb are people from the hills? Ukwen questioned.
“Kuteb Yantso of Nigeria repeatedly rejected the newly crowned chief of Takum, Sopiya Gboshi, from the Chamba tribe who was appointed by the state governor to succeed Ukwe Takum Ali Ibrahim from Kuteb tribe who died 28 years ago.”
But reacting to the allegation by the Kuteb association against General Danjuma, an elder from the Chamba tribe in Takum, John Mamman, debunked the allegations that Danjuma was planning to demolish Takum Central Mosque and the palace of Ukwe Takum.
“I am speaking as an elder in Takum not as a spokesman of General Danjuma but the fact remains that a typical Kuteb man will never see anything good in T. Y. Danjuma,’’ he said.
Mamman also claimed that the Chamba people had nine chiefs that ruled Takum, adding that the mosques which Kuteb alleged the general was planning to demolish were actually built by Chamba and not by the Kuteb.
“The Kuteb are only trying to incite the Hausa and Muslims against General Danjuma and the general has helped in building bigger mosques in many places; why should he demolish the one in his home town.”