• A’Ibom monarch backs call for constitutional role for traditional rulers
The Ibenanaowie of Ekpetiama Kingdom and Chairman of Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM, King Bubaraye Dakolo Agada IV, has linked oil resource mismanagement to the rising insecurity in Nigeria.

King Bubaraye Agada IV disclosed this in Calabar yesterday while presenting an address at the 14th Extraordinary General Assembly of the South-South Monarchs Forum.

He said: “Mismanagement of oil and gas resources is the root cause of insecurity in Nigeria for so long. This has made people hungry, poor, sick, and risky and if you are already dead, you will not fear death anymore.

“While the Federal Government wants to solve insecurity by getting more guns, I feel that is completely way off.

“It is so absurd to have pipelines in your home alongside tank farms, flare sites, and well heads all in your home, yet you buy petroleum products at the highest cost in the world.

“There are no filing stations in most parts of the swamps and riverine areas of the Niger Delta, why will a country be so insensitive?” he said.

The monarch also faulted the approach adopted by the Joint Task Force on oil theft, saying oil thieves are not from the Niger Delta and cannot live there.

“There are no oil thieves in Nigerian prisons despite the presence of the Joint Task Force to prevent oil and gas theft because what they are chasing is not oil thieves.

“Oil thieves are not from the Niger Delta and cannot stay there overnight because of their wealth. They live completely in Europe and America and carry out their activities in the region.

HOWEVER, the President General of Akwa Ibom State Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers and the Oku Ibom Ibibio, His Eminence, Ntenyin (Dr) Solomon Etuk, has expressed support for formalising the role of traditional rulers within the Nigerian Constitution, advocating for the recognition of their existing administrative and adjudicatory functions within their respective domains.

He said this aligns with growing calls to integrate traditional institutions more closely into the governance structure, leveraging their cultural and historical influence for societal stability and dispute resolution.