Non-Certification of Otoro-Ubo Clan:
Ekpo writes Udom

The prolonged delay in the certification and recognition of Dr. Ime S. Ekpo as the clanhead of the reinstated Otoro-Ubo clan in Ikot Ekpene local government area has sparked wide condemnation from the public and the civil society fingering some politicians and royal fathers as the stumbling block.
It could be recalled that Otoro-Ubo clan was reinstated during the Akpabio-led administration, to bring the total number of clans in Ikot Ekpene to three, but unseen hands in government and in the royal family in Ikot Ekpene, have been working around the clock to ensure that Dr. Ime S. Ekpo, the villagehead of Utu Edem Usung, who won the clanheadship election since 2008, is denied the nod to function as certificated clanhead of the clan.
Several attempts by the concerned public and civil society organisations to correct the impasse have always hit the brick wall as the government mind may have been poisoned against Dr. Ekpo's legitimacy for the highest stool in the reinstated clan. The late Paramount Ruler of Ikot Ekpene, Okuku (Engr.) Augustus Jonah Ekpenyong Asiak, was alleged to have been, in connivance with those loyal to him,
influencing former Governor Akpabio publicly, against recognizing and installing Chief Ekpo as Otoro-Ubo clanhead. Asiak's hatred for Ekpo may have been 'inherited' by his successor, His Majesty, Okuku Okon Udo Ukut who claims that he can take advantage as an inlaw to Governor Udom to neutralize any attempt by the His Excellency to look into Otoro-Ubo clanheadship.
Worried by what appears an open robbery of his fundamental rights, he has written to His Excellency, Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel recounting the lane of royal lineage in Ikot Ekpene, the traditional structure and the negative forces in his administration who are also working secretly against the governor.
The letter, read in part,
"...I am a businessman and Chief Executive Officer of Incarnate Holdings Limited with chains of conglomerates in many parts of the world boasting intimidating business profile and international connections.
With this too, I concentrate on my royal duties and build my community as our forefathers had left it. Like my late father, I do not depend on the monthly stipend for chiefs, rather, I use my personal resources to complement government's capacity development effort in the community. Today, Utu Edem Usung is one of the most peaceful villages in Ikot Ekpene. That is my pride. I don't parade government's corridors looking for one favour or the other, rather, I remain in my palace to receive many classes of visitors on daily basis.
This exemplary lifestyle, I think, may not please a lot of people who see me as a threat in their ill-machinations and selfish expositions. As a result, they tactically and systematically keep me away from sensitive traditional issues; meetings are scheduled without my consent, policy-decisions are made without my consent.
They see my business background as too intimidating and detrimental to traditional governance.They believe that traditional governance system should remain static and positively retrogressive with 100% dependence on government, as the colonial authority had designed it.
Your Excellecy, sir, although, traditional rulers are supposed to be apolitical, occupants of traditional positions should have their fundamental rights. As citizens in their own rights, they should have a voice, in the sense of
contributing to the democratic process without being accused of partisanship, which, in the worldview, has the capacity to negate the belief that they are fathers to all. Most occupiers of traditional stool across the country in general, are modern, educated and career persons in their chosen fields before ascending to the stool of their forefathers.
The immediate past Ooni of Ife, Oba Okenade Sijuade, was a successful international busness man. Oba Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, was a lawyer and an Assistant Inspector-General of Police. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, retired from the Nigerian Army on the rank of Brigadier General in 2006.
and was even the Attache to Pakistan, before his coronation as the Sultan. The Gbong Gwon of Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, was a Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service. The traditional ruler of Oko in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra state, Obi Professor Joseph Chike Edozien, is a Professor of Nutrition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
As custodians of history and culture, traditional rulers should be vested with enough exposure and social experience to make them useful in the reconstruction of the society because when policy neglects history, culture and social context, huge amounts of effort and resources can be wasted on poorly conceived initiatives.
Sir, lookig at this background, one should wonder why my own business career with its international connections should cause a stumbling block to my chances for royal fortunes, hence, the government's delay for my certification and recognition for Otoro-Ubo clanheadship.
It is not far from the truth that the crisis rocking the Nigerian democratic process today is the absence of viable traditional governance system capable of unifying the deeply fragmented Nigerian state..."