Our Monarch Is A Great Philanthropist –Otota Of Umiaghwa Abraka Kingdom

By Daniel Dafe

The Otota (Spokesman) of Umiaghwa Abraka Kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Chief Nath Anho, has said that the monarch, HRM (AVM) Lucky Ochuko Ararile (Rtd.), is a great philanthropist, saying “he cares for the welfare of the people not minding which family the person is from.”

Chief Nath Anho

He spoke to Oasis Magazine exclusively on Sunday after the king’s Thanksgiving Service at First Baptist Church, Oria, as he clocked 12 years on the throne.

This year’s coronation anniversary held from Friday to Sunday.

Chief Anho described the celebration of the monarch’s 12th coronation anniversary as “a joyous one.”

He said: “We are celebrating it because it marks the 12th coronation anniversary of the king and within these twelve (12) years, we are joyous about the development witnessed in the kingdom.”

Adding: “Development sprang up in Umiaghwa land both home and abroad. Aside that, he spearheaded some of our sons giving scholarships to indigenes; a lot of people were trained on skills. He also introduced farming to our chiefs and other people and introduced skill acquisition.

“He also organised a cooperative society were World Bank and others came to give loans to people and cooperative society to farm. He is also responsible for the agricultural awareness that is in the place and helped in giving a lot of appointments to our sons. He has used his office and position for the betterment of the Umiaghwa people and within this period, we have lived in peace -no anarchy, violence or anything of such nature. His watchword is “let there be peace.” He is also admonishing the chiefs to keep the peace.”

Speaking further, he said: “With the little resources God has given him, he has helped the community. Like this coronation, he gave five hundred thousand naira (#500,000) to each ruling family to celebrate. In the past, he gave two cows to each ruling family to celebrate.

“He also tells the people to be law abiding because where there is no peace, there will be no development and he also put a structure in place where our security is very paramount and created that awareness in our vigilantes and came up with other security measures. If I continue to count, I will continue to do it for a long while.”

He continued: “He is also building bridges between this kingdom and other kingdoms. Last week, the king from Oyede, came to pay a courtesy visit to the kingdom with his chiefs. We ate and drank together and this is part of building bridges. The keyword to peace is building bridges between you and other people. For instance, this celebration was graced by the Ovie of Agbon, the government sent representatives, Commissioners and so on. This building of bridges is something I pray should continue.”

Furthermore, he said: “Our sons and daughters abroad sent greetings, money etc for the celebration, even both chiefs and non chiefs and that tells you how he has built on the unity. He has improved the unity of the people. Before this time, the place was devoid of all these type of things. Those people abroad would say let all those at home do their thing themselves but now all those our sons even though they are not here, still come here to contribute to whatever we are doing and we speak with one voice and there is peace in the kingdom.”

He also noted that the traditional ruler was the brain behind a lot of roads that were tarred in the area.

“You see the state and federal government presence. You see new transformers everywhere. So these are his contributions,” he averred.

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Meanwhile, he said subjects in the kingdom will continue to be obedient to him, build on the peace process he has built on, continue to unite and be loyal to him.

He urged community members to continue to respect and obey the monarch and also continue to pay allegiance to him and all the structures he has put in place.

“When I talk of peace, I talk about the structure he has put in place. For instance, if there is a quarrel in any area, you cannot just jump to the court. The small family must settle it. Where the small family cannot settle the issue, they go to the ruling family structure. Where the ruling family structure cannot settle it, it goes to the Elders Council. When it cannot be settled there, it comes to the palace and it must be settled in the palace. When we see criminal cases, we do not handle them. We send them straight to the police because it is against the law to handle criminal cases. That is why if thieves or kidnappers are caught, we don’t handle them; we send them to the police because of his awareness of the law and his background as a retired Air Vice Marshal. We operate within the law not outside the law.

“So, we will continue to pay our loyalty to him, cooperate and work with him. He cares for the welfare of his chiefs. Recently, one of our sons wanted to go to law school but was complaining about the money to pay the fees. He gave him five hundred thousand naira (#500,000). The monarch is just an amazing leader,” he said.