The Amanyanabo of Kirike in Rivers State, HRM Tamuno-Omisiki Ogube, has called on his subjects in self-exile due to insecurity to return home.
Ogube made the call during an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt recently.
The monarch said that he had already met with some of his subjects in self-exile on the issue.
It would be recalled that there was a 17-year leadership tussle in the kingdom which led to insecurity in communities within the kingdom.
According to the monarch, some Kirike youths, who came to pledge their loyalty and solidarity, told him that they had been subjected to slavery.
“Some of them have been on exile for 10 years, some eight, while some are yet to return.
“So, it is an enormous problem in my community.
“ As the Amayanabo, I  will ensure that I maintain peace and peaceful co-existence in my community.”
He said that the youths were not asking for too much, but to be engaged in meaningful self-sustaining projects, pointing out that some of the youths requested to be mechanics, while some asked for other employment opportunities.
“Some of them want to be drivers of engine boats, some want to have some money to buy nets for fishing and some want to be riding motorcycles to generate revenue for the upkeep of their families,’’ he said.
The traditional ruler said that some youths also called for the establishment of a craft centre for skill acquisition, especially on computer, noting that due to lack of skills in computer, taking examinations like the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had been difficult for many youths in the community.
“These are the things we can do. These are the issues I want to tackle.
“I have told them to maintain the peace so that we can do whatever we can, including liaising with the state government to provide some amenities for us.
“I know that by the time I see the governor, he will help us. You know we have problems before because of lack of leadership.
“Due to lack of leadership, there was nobody to talk to and so we must show that leadership,’’ he said.
Ogube said that part of his mandate, as a new king, was to ensure security of lives and properties in the kingdom and that he had already set in motion strategies to engage the youths to minimise crimes.
He said that he would liaise with some “senior sons and daughters’’ of Kirike Town to assist in the establishment of a craft centre for youth development.
Ogube said that already the elders and chiefs of the community, including the Fiberesima War-Canoe House (a clan in the community), had pledged their solidarity to him and even intimated him with some of their problems.
“So by the grace of God, we must make sure we bring out some strategies to overcome some those challenges within this period that I am going to be King.’’
He also expressed optimism that crime rate would reduce by the time the centre was established.
Ogube said that he would speak with companies to assist in employing some of the youths as well as set up a foundation to assist members of the community with their financial challenges.
He said that he had established a foundation when he was the Chief and Head of Ogube War-Canoe House.
The monarch said that Ogube Foundation was helping many of the indigenes to get interest-free loans to pay their children school fees, start petty trading and many others and which to some extent reduced poverty in the War-Canoe House.
He said that the replication of the gains from his foundation in the community where interest-free loans would be drawn would assist the community greatly.
“If there is poverty in the land, you will expect cultism, so I will try to ensure that we eradicate cultism in my kingdom,’’ he said.