The people of Kabba in Kogi State have commended the plan by the government to build a befitting central palace for the Obaro of Kabba.
In a press statement from the palace of the Obaro of Kabba, Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi, the Obaro-in-Council, the body saddled with upholding the customs and tradition of Kabba people expressed their gratitude to the Governor the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello for reiterating the decision through his deputy, Chief Edward Onoja.
During the 2022 Kabba Day celebration, the Governor had said that the project had already been captured in the 2023 Budget of the state.
However, Kabba people said they were shocked when the Ilajo clan, one of the 13 ruling clans in Kabba in a recent press statement opposed the building of the central palace by the state government.
“The Obaro-in-Council regards this opposition as retrogressive to the development of Owe-Kabba. This Ilajo position is seen by the generality of Kabba people as an anti-government stance and must be rejected by all peace-loving good people of Owe extraction’’ the statement said.
It added that the opposition to the project by the Ilajo clan is absurd because it is the state government’s policy to build central palaces for Chairmen of Area Traditional Councils in the State adding that the one for the Ebira Traditional Council had been completed.
The Obaro-in Council noted that all the Obaro who had occupied the royal stool in the town, including the current one lived and reigned from their private residences because there is no central palace.
“The private residence of Obaro Arokoyo Obamudi Olu-Owe from where he reigned in 1928 to 1932 is the building that the Ilajo clan is now claiming to be their central palace. It is a modest one-storey building with large expanse of land that was renovated”, they said.
“Because of the dynamic nature of culture, Kabba cannot continue to operate without a central palace. That is why the Obaro-in-Council heartily welcomes the timely and kind gesture of our amiable Executive Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello. Thus, Government’s decision to build a central palace for Obaro of Kabba is a welcome development that cannot in anyway generate any tension or put law and order in jeopardy. Rather it will foster unity, peace, progress, infrastructural development and harmonious relationship among the various clans in Owe-Kabba. The Obaro-in-Council therefore urges the Kogi State Government to disregard the open threat of the Ilajo family and go ahead to build a befitting central palace for the good people of Kabba” the statement stressed.
