Monarch Urges Constitutional Role For Royal Fathers

A prominent traditional ruler in Abia State has called on the makers of the country’s constitution to make the monarchy the fourth tier of government in Nigeria .

Eze Gauis Ihejiamizu who made the call in his Miracle Lodge palace in Mbutu Ukwu Umuojima, Isiala Ngwa South local government area said conferring a constitutional role on royal fathers as the closest arm of government to the grassroots would empower them adequately to maintain peace in their domain, thus ensuring peace in the country and reducing the cost of governance.

“Make traditional rulers the fourth tier of government since they are closest to the grassroots. This will help to restore the dignity of the monarchs and will empower them to maintain peace in the communities,” Ihejiamizu said while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abia State Council, led by its chairman, Comrade Hyacinth Okoli.

He pointed out that peace enhances social and economic growth and development just as it reduces the cost of governance. “Monarchs help government to ensure peace. When there is peace, government channels its resources to other areas of development instead of spending fortunes to contain crises and restore peace,” he added, stressing that peace was the greatest legacy any royal father could leave both for his people and government.

The royal father enjoined his colleagues to ensure that peace reigned in their domain and wage war against societal vices, especially criminal activities of kidnapping and armed robbery.

He called on well-meaning and wealthy Abians home and in the Diaspora to think home, pointing out that building a strong Abia would be the pride of all as the was “no place like home.”

He commended the Abia Council of the NUJ for maintaining a cordial relationship with the government of Chief Theodore Orji, stressing that it would contribute to the efforts to develop the state. 

Earlier, Okoli had commended the monarch for being a good friend of the NUJ.

He said that Ihejiamizu was not only prominent as king, but his immense contributions to the formation and sustenance of Enyimba Football Club stand him out as a patriotic Abian.