By Gabriel Yough
Jalingo – Gov. Darius Ishaku on Monday charged the newly installed second and third class chiefs in the state to promote peaceful co-existence among their subjects to check insecurity in their communities.
Ishaku gave the charge while presenting Staff of Office to the newly inaugurated 10 second class and 38 third class Chiefs in Jalingo.
“The challenge of insecurity made it possible to create these chiefdoms and upgrade the existing ones and you must ensure peace in your domains.
“I want to warn you to steer clear of politics especially as the 2019 elections approaches.
“As traditional rulers, you must live above board and carry every one along in the discharge of your duties.”
According to him, the move is to strengthen the traditional institution in the state to enable it to address the legitimate yearnings and aspirations of the people.
Ishaku explained that the population growth of the state called for an urgent review of the traditional institutions to accommodate the development.
He said his administration had carefully carried out the exercise to give all ethnic nationalities in the state a sense of belonging.
Earlier, Alhaji Bello Yero, the Permanent Secretary, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, commended the courage and wisdom of Ishaku in understanding the yearnings of the people of the state.
Yero, who noted that over 40 communities benefitted from the gesture, urged the traditional rulers to reciprocate the gesture by ensuring peace in their domains for the good of the state.
Yero said the creation of the chiefdoms was a holistic approach that would accord citizens the privilege to feel free and independently grow according to their traditional norms.
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated chiefs, the second class Chief of Mutum Biyu, Alhaji Mohammed Bose, said the traditional rulers would reciprocate the gesture by helping the government in restoring peace in the communities.
(NAN)
