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Emmanuel Adeyemi,
Lokoja
The frosty relationship between the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim and Kogi state governor may have degenerated further as the later insists, contrary to the tradition that he must appoint the new Chief Imam of Ebiraland.
The Chief Imam of Ebiraland, Alh Musa Galadima died last week at the age of 90 and has since been buried according to Islamic rites.
Governor Yahaya Bello was said to have boasted that he would soon appoint a new Chief Imam in Ebiraland and that the heavens will not fall, while the Ohinoyi and the people of Ebiraland said he has no constitutional rights whatsoever, and dare him to do so
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In a recent interview with a National Daily, the Ohinoyi said the governor does not listen to worthy pieces of advice from knowledgeable people but said he will rather take and delights in advice from those who idolize him and expressed disappointment that the same Bello he knew before he became governor has changed drastically.
The Ohinoyi said as the Paramount ruler of Ebiraland and one of the foremost leaders of an Islamic organization in Nigeria, he was the rightful person to appoint a new person to fill the position of the Chief Imam and not the governor
” I am the national vice president of Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the national vice president of the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, so I should be in the position to appoint imams and so on; not only because of my offices in the Islamic organizations but because I am a traditional ruler. That seemed not to have gone down well with the new administration here.
“The chief imam died a few days ago and I am not in a rush to appoint somebody. I still want peace and to do my consultations. It is my right, and if I do it, there is nothing you can do about it. But what I heard was that he (the governor)was going to appoint somebody the following day.
“I told the governor that I was not going to allow that. I called the Sultan two days ago and told him that I would not allow it because he is my son and there must be due respect to tradition and religion.
” The people came here to tell me that if he was going to kill all of them they were ready to die, but he would not appoint anybody. That was the outcome of our meeting.
” The Sultan has told him to stop that. He has told him that the person I put there all along, that is Naibi, should continue, and at the right time, we will appoint the chief imam.
” I am looking at the situation more closely in the interest of our people and religion. I want to see what we can do in order not to cause destruction. We don’t want those that would create problems for us in town.
“We want people who really know what Islam is. We want peace, freedom, and development. If anything happens, the governor has to face it” he added
