From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The controversy surrounding the sacking of the paramount ruler of Calabar South and Muri Munene of Efut nation, Prof. Itam Hogan Itam, has continued to gather momentum as Calabar South Traditional Ruling Council, Muri Munene Council, has stated that the monarch (Itam) remains the patriarch of Efut nation until his transition to the great beyond.
Cross River governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, sacked Itam for allegedly dabbling into partisan politics. The monarch’s suspension followed directives from the state governor asking for the immediate withdrawal of certificate of recognition of the king.
Itam was said to have participated in a meeting of a caucus of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the southern senatorial district, where one of the governorship aspirants, Mr. Authur Jarvis Archibong, was voted as their consensus aspirant to stand for the pending party primary election.
The letter signed by Ayade’s special adviser on chieftaincy affairs, Mr. Adoga Ifob Victor, dated May 11, 2022, addressed to the paramount ruler, read in part: “Following the report of the panel set up by the Cross River State Traditional Rulers’ Council (CRSTRC) and the approval of His Excellency, you have been removed as the village head, clan head of Ukem and paramount ruler of Efut, with immediate effect, to enable you go ahead to do your partisan politics. You have, therefore, ceased to be so recognised and cannot operate as such, forthwith.”
Reacting, the Muri Munene Council, comprising the eight ancestral clans of the Efut, whose prerogative it is to select the Muri Munene of Efut and the Council of Efut nation, called on government to temper justice with mercy, admitting that, though it is the responsibility of government to maintain law and order, there is also the peace component of its task to ensure.
In a statement signed by members of the council, including Muri Amambo Ekpenyong Nsa (Efut Abua Odukpani), Muri Ita Okokon Mesembe (Efut Ibonda), Muri Joseph Bassey Anating-Edem VI (Efut Ekondo), Muri Bassey Nyong Etim (Efut Ifako), Muri Itam, Itam Hogan (Efut Ukem), Muri-elect Asuquo Edem Essien (Efut Mkpara), Muri Boco Ekpo (Efut Abua Isu-Ekom, Akpabuyo) and Muri Ebuka Edet Eyo (Efut Abua, Calabar South), the royal fathers said its monarch, the Muri Munene of Efut, once enthroned, as in the case of Muri Munene Prof. Itam Hogan Itam Nyam Nnakor, remains the patriarch of Efut nation until his transition to the great beyond, adding “no other person can be selected in his lifetime.”
According to them, while the government has its constitutional duty to protect and the duty is on course, it is their duty to safeguard the customs, norms and traditional values of Efut by its natives.
The ancestral clan heads maintained that, in line with the provisions of the constitution of the Muri Munene Council of 1974, Article VI A, Sub 1 & 2, “the Muri Munene shall be the president of the council to be assisted by a clan head and he shall hold his office for lifetime as well as his vice.”
They added that, in line with their 1996 provisions and rules, it is only the original (ancestral) eight Efut clans, including Ekondo, Abua Odukpani, Ibonda, Abua Calabar, Ifako, Abua Isu-Ekom Akpabuyo, Ukem and Mkpara, and their Muris that can select one of them to become Muri Munene.
Against this background, they stated that “the Muri Munene, once enthroned, as in the case of Muri Munene Prof. Itam Hogan Itam Nyam Nnakor, remains the patriarch of Efut nation until his transition to the great beyond,” stressing, “No other person can be selected in his lifetime.That on May 11, 2022, the ancestral clan heads, have, unanimously, owing to the recent development, selected HRH, Muri Joseph Bassey Anating-Edem VI, the clan head of Efut Ekondo, to preside over the affairs of Efut nation until the anticipated resolution of the impasse.”
Meanwhile, Efut Combined Assembly, the apex decision-making body of the Efut, presided over by Muri Munene Maurice Okon Eyo, the supreme head of Efut Combined Assembly and president, Calabar South Local Government Traditional Rulers Council, has commended Ayade for promptly intervening in the matter, which it described as a step in the right direction to deter a recurrence.
A release also signed by the secretary-general of Efut Combined Assembly, Ndabu Dr. Godwin Bassey, called on all sons and daughters of Efut, at home and the diaspora, and other members of the public to remain calm and go about their businesses, as the Efut poeople will soon present their leader to government for recognition.
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that Prof. Hogan Itam was sworn in as the traditional ruler of Calabar South and the Muri Munene of Efut kingdom by Cross River State government in October 2018, ending about 10 years of the royal tussle over who would be the Efut monarch.
The Efut have been a kingdom without a king fro some years, as they have been enmeshed in succession tussles after the transition of the former Muri Munene, Ita Okokon Ekpenyong Ebuka-Ebuka IV, to the great beyond.
Following the demise of the former monarch, Muri Ita Hogan Itam was proclaimed the new Muri of Efut Kingdom of Calabar South and was, subsequently, crowned Muri Munene and paramount ruler of Calabar South on September 21, 2012, at the palace of Muri Munene in Anantigha.