Monarchs disrupt Delta Assembly anniversary

The public lecture of the Delta State House of Assembly to mark the 3rd Anniversary of the 5th Assembly was disrupted on Thursday.
Over 50 traditional rulers in a mild drama staged a walkout on the dignitaries at the ceremony after alleging “denigration of their titles”.
It took the intervention of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), whose office is in-charge of Chieftaincy Affairs in the oil rich state, before they were pacified.
The royal fathers protested to the exit door, causing distractions and embarrassing special guests, before they were appealed to and they returned to their seats reluctantly.
Trouble erupted after the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Peter Onwusanya, mounted the podium and address them as “Our Fathers”.
Irked by the introduction, the monarchs collectively stood up and headed to the exit door.
The situation put the lecture on hold, even as the speaker was dumbfounded and swiftly prayed the Deputy Governor to come to his aid.
For fear of not provoking the ‘gods’ again, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, represented by Dr. Ferdinand Agu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research and Documentation, in his presentation cleverly stood on existing protocols, having made allusion to how what made a chicken to stand on one leg when it visited a strange land, maintaining: “The existing protocol protects me from the royal fathers”, whom he noted their presence was very important.
Even Prof. G. G. Darah, a Guest Speaker at the occasion and delegate at the ongoing National Conference, pleaded with the royal fathers, lauding them for protecting the traditional institution.
Darah decried a situation where Northern Emirs have allocation of 200 jobs for themselves, the allocation which they collect monthly from the local councils, wondering why southern traditional rulers do not enjoy such previledges.
He said: “The cars the Emirs drive in the North, none of our monarchs have them and the money they use to get them is from the oil. In terms of local governments, we shall demand more because our own is large while theirs are small and with buoyant allocations.”
Anyim, as part of his speech, said the topic: “National Dialogue; A Panacea for Growth and Development,” was apt.
He lauded the robust legislation emanating from the Assembly, even as he said “they are not rubber stamp of the other arms of government of the state.”
Describing Delta as “a serious state”, he lauded the visionary leadership of Governor Uduaghan, his giant strides, especially with the domestication of ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ and the state’s warm support to President Goodluck Jonathan.