The Obi of Ogwashi-Uku, Obi Ifechukwude Okonjo the second, has emphasised the need for sons and daughters of the kingdom to come together and ensure there is peace, unity and progress in the community.
The Obi made the remarks while speaking with journalists shortly after the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council was inaugurated by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in Asaba.
According to the monarch, “Ogwashi-Uku is highly endowed with human and capital resources and our efforts is to leverage the resources that we have for the greater good of the community. We know what are problems are. We have identified them. It is for us to work together to build a solid community based on the fundamental values that will transform our people. The fundamental values will be anchored on hard work selflessness and dedication to duties”. The monarch is a brother to Prof. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
On the recent Supreme Court victory and the taking over of the palace, the monarch said there was no victor and no vanquished.
“The people are our relatives and as such I don’t want them to see themselves as losers. I want to embrace them as my brothers because I believe there is much benefit in unity”
He revealed that the palace would be reconstructed to a befitting and modern standard with all modern facilities attached.
The Obi added that every member of the community has a stake in what happens in Ogwashi-Uku and therefore called on every member of the community to key into that.
On the perennial water scarcity in his kingdom, the monarch noted that Ogwashi-Uku had been without water for a very long time, adding that the community neighbours had encroached on their land and water sources.
“Ogwashi-Uku is sitting on a plateau and that also makes it difficult to get adequate water supply”
The Obi, however promised that the water problem would soon be a thing of the past.
“What I am trying to do as Obi of Ogwashi-Uku is to reach out to various development agencies to reactivate the dam that was built for irrigation purposes to get a water work in place. We are working with some firms to do a cost analysis to see how much it would cost to develop the water works for Ogwashi-Uku and other nearby communities”.
The Obi also spoke on Otulu, part of Ogwashi-Uku kingdom that wanted autonomy.
According to the monarch, Otulu remained part of Ogwashi-Uku because Otulu has been part of the kingdom until recently that children of settlers and some non indigenes started to make noise about autonomy.
“We have gazette dating back to the establishment of Ogwashi-Uku Council in 1952 under the Western Region. We have the Bendel state gazette of 1983 where Otulu was gazetted as part of Ogwashi-Uku”.
He revealed that one Francis Odiakose, who crowned himself as the king of Otulu was not from the community but from Ika-South LGA of Delta state.
Obi Okonjo revealed that the community had taken a legal action against Francis Odiakose for the criminal act of crowning himself a king over a part of Ogwashi-Uku kingdom, adding that they were still waiting for the state government to act accordingly.
