ABAVO AT CROSSROADS

By: visabooks Mood: disapointed Date: 04/12/2012 14:49:41 Music: None

It is a personal honor and a great feeling for me, a non-name brand in the socio-political and economic equation of Abavo to address this august gathering of the great citizens of Abavo from home and around the globe, who are gathered in this extraordinary summit at this critical juncture to take a historic stand about the future of Abavo, the land we all profess to love so much.

 I salute the instrument that established the Abavo Kingdom and the resilience of our ancestors who fought against the various forms of odds recorded in our history, in some cases paying the ultimate prices to give us and defend the freedom we enjoyed till the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century when she started going through an unrelenting serial decline which just assumed a very disturbing dimension since the past few years, as a result of a tragic failure of leadership, traditionally and politically.

Abavo is now effectively  under attack by two determined and well funded mercenary conglomerates in religion and Oil exploration, exploiting the flaws in the Abavo’s visionless leadership apparatus who put their selfish interests above and beyond the Abavo interest.

These two forces are using pseudo manipulation to set the unsuspecting Abavo people, especially the youths, the gullible and corrupt elements in the system against each other and against the real Abavo patriots in order to first weaken institutional infrastructures with a good understanding that you cannot fight a people who are united against injustice, invaders or perceived enemies.

When you have these two forces operating at the same time in a place, a gloom of palpable tension and potentially ominous consequences rent the air.  Abavo has become a cult Kingdom with lots of guns and dangerous ammunitions and that is the reason for the upsurge in youth violence and avoidable deaths. Abavo children have become victims of ambush in the night where they have to fight against each other in order to get some food. I am very alarmed and ashamed of what I now see of some of a once very vibrant and resourceful Abavo youth population on Facebook, being the mouth pieces of criminal leadership elements whose bad choices and conducts have debased the essential ingredients of the Abavo culture and the Abavo cohesion.

Abavo has been put up for sale and we must not allow any buyer to come or we will forever become a nation imperiled by our failure to act. If we choose to be quiet, history will judge each and every one of us, regardless of what we think we are, harshly and generations unborn will obliterate us from the Abavo history and depict us as a wicked generation which mortgaged them and their future tens, hundreds or thousands of years before they were born.

We are all guilty of what has become of Abavo since the last decade of the 20th century depending on the positions we took or for not taking positions at all, with the chief culprit being what became a morally bankrupt and the spiritually compromised Abavo Monarchy which fell apart immediately after a few greedy Abavo people concocted a lie and committed an act of royal homicide and communal genocide at the same time, while the poor Abavo people looked on, helplessly. This is the moral albatross that the Abavo people will have to grapple with for a long time unless justice is done now.

Guess what? Our ancestors have started a revolution in the spiritual realm that is only becoming manifest in the physical. It will be a matter of time before it becomes unavoidable or inevitable.

Our freedom will never be handed free to us. We must fight for it just as our ancestors before us did, with the patriots, especially the youths who are the victims and whose future is in jeopardy, leading the way.

The Abavo defiance against colonialism led by The truly Royal Majesty, Obi Osaigbobu was the reason the imperial Europe established Agbor as the administrative headquarters of the geographical expression of what is now known as the Ika nation contrary to what you may have read in some Ika history books.

We did it before and we can do it again and again.

On October 17, 2010, group of Abavo patriots collectively known as the Abavo People’s Voice ignited a debate aimed at finding ways to rescue a drifting Abavo ship back to the course set by our ancestors many hundreds of years ago.

Though the ship, like other early human inventions is old, it still retains those ferocious attributes that made it possible for our ancestors to resist the tyranny of the leadership of the Ancient Benin Kingdom, leading to a successful secession and also to put up a stout defense against the European colonialism in the 1800s.

The builders of the ship were among the world’s best ship builders as they made provisions for automatic upgrades to respond to the exigencies of times all through the ages, but with a warning that “the operators must be men and women who have requisite knowledge of its simple navigation systems,  in addition to those attributes that constitute the Abavo  mentality which is defined by, patriotism, compassion, honesty, dedication to duty, transparency and accountability or the ship will derail.”

Can we comfortably say that those who lead the Abavo people today at all levels have led true to those six cardinal ideals of our founding fathers?  If I am faced with this question, my answer would be a big NO.

But the answer is not just for me to provide so that I won’t act in a manner that is at variance with my respect for the plurality of opinions or being out rightly dictatorial.

The journey of the past two years has been one of my most interesting and yet challenging adventures second only to the challenges and excitements associated with running my business. These two years have opened my eyes to things that I used to take for granted, especially with the behaviors of people who want to protect their interest while thousands of Abavo people are living below poverty line.

What gives me joy is that I elected to make myself available just as other members of our Movement to stir the minds of the Abavo people whose survival for hundreds of years has been hinged on series of resistance and rebellion against oppression and injustice, that there is another one flying in their faces and the need for them to take a position now or risk being extinct.

This journey started with the following Abavo patriots listed below;

Desmond Isibor

Benson Iweriebor

Edobor Andrew

Edobor Jasper

Awe Simon Chibuzor

Austin Ogbeide

Tony Jombo

Christian Oven

Stanley Augustine

Dr. Edwin Adaikpo

Jonah Ogbeide,.

Our mission

To harness all legitimate possibilities to continually identify, define, analyze, formulate, develop, articulate, champion, pursue and defend a holistic developmental blue-print anchored on education, cultural revival and sustenance, environmental protection and selfless community service and to engender peace, prosperity and all round development of Abavo and the Abavo people.

Our vision is to make Abavo home to all, heaven on earth and a model for Nigeria

I knew we were going to encounter all forms of obstacles on the way just as the late Christopher Jegbefume predicted when I invited him to serve as a member of our board of Directors. He said “Smart you have become so grown now and I am proud of you and the Abavo People’s Movement and the debate you have ignited in our land. I tell you that the road will be rough because people will come to give you millions of reasons why Abavo will not unite and why your efforts will fail. The reason they do it is because, this current endeavor is not their idea and they will do everything possible to hijack or frustrate it, but I am very optimistic that Abavo will unite again. Therefore, I am at your disposal whenever you need my help and I am ready to go anywhere with this group because of the caliber of people involved.”

Everything in the above predictions have come to pass, including some threatening phone calls during the electioneering campaigns even though I was not a candidate or supporting any candidate and also from a quarter that is not comfortable with the fact that I created a voice for people who previously could not say anything but praise the corrupt Abavo leadership Apparatus even in its most horrendous forms.

These vested interests and opponents of progress and change in Abavo have attempted without success, to use various arsenals in their armory to retard our march towards reinventing the Abavo that our ancestors long envisioned, through sponsoring membership and leadership crisis of confidence, the latest being an attempt to clone our members list to create a rival but a still-born ABV which lacks the organizational skills and ideological frame-work that will make kindergartens take them seriously.

Abavo people have their backs on the wall and the only option left for them is unleash the lions in them to push back, break the shackles and free themselves and Abavo from bondage.

I wish on behalf of the interim leadership to thank you and all those Abavo people who are sympathetic to the “change Abavo project” for the sacrifices they have made so far while reminding them that a lot more sacrifices would be required to keep the momentum and audacity to demand for change to grow bigger, more purposeful and more focused if we ever hope of being liberated.

We have accomplished quite a few things within the two years under review including:

-          Successful voters’ registration drive

-          Sensitization of the Abavo people about their rights to vote wisely

-          Bringing the Abavo Oil and environmental crisis to state, national and global attention

Permit me to delve into a little detail about the Abavo Oil crisis which was created by Pan Ocean Oil, an indigenous oil company with very strong ties with Shell. Shell started using proxies such as Pan Ocean Oil to do its dirty jobs because of its bad image in Nigeria. They hide under the Nigerian local content arrangement to go into silent partnerships with equally corrupt Nigerian companies to rip Nigerian communities apart.

We first got news of the Oil scandal in the summer of 2011 when one young patriot of note, Mr. Christian Oven first raised it on the Abavo People’s Voice forum. I remember the firestorm it generated from amongst those whose family members have been found in awkward positions as beneficiaries of this monumental fraud against the Abavo people, led by the Abavo Monarchy.

In a matter of weeks, while we were recovering from the inferno arising from a heated debate on the issue, Chief Vincent Chiyem Oseke, was reported assassinated by a yet to be arrested killers and the cause of the assassination was because of disagreement arising from the Money that Pan Ocean illegally gave to the Abavo people without the knowledge of the leadership of the Abavo Clan Union and which a few persons cornered and diverted into private pockets.

Things started moving very quickly, prompting the leadership of the Abavo People’s Voice to get in touch with Mr. Andrew Okoh, who took the time to explain everything that had happened to the best of his knowledge and ability, being a victim of sideline by the Abavo monarchy and his cronies who were parading themselves as the leaders of Abavo Clan union as seen on both still and video images displayed on two occasions the Abavo people met with the Pan Ocean delegations at Asaba on January 6 and February 16, 2012 respectively.

This is a serious criminal act concocted by what is supposed to be the highest Abavo’s moral and spiritual authority. So do we now have 419iers leading us? This is dangerous.

Therefore on October 25, 2011, the Abavo People’s Voice on behalf of the Abavo people wrote a letter entitled “Before you start drilling on Abavo soil: a letter to Pan Ocean” which I am sure has been circulated for you all to read. If not, I will read it to your hearing. Here is the excerpt below:

“October 25, 2011

The corporate Affairs Division & Communities Relations Affairs Managers,

Corporate Head Office

Pan Oceanic Oil Corporation

The Ark Towers, Plot 17 A Ligali Ayorinde Street,

Victoria Island, Lagos,

NIGERIA.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Before you start drilling Oil on the Abavo soil

It has been brought to our attention that your company is warming up to start Oil drilling activities on the Abavo soil.

This news of Oil find at Abavo, several years ago elicited a mixture of excitement and reservation among the citizens for various reasons ranging from the rapid development that may occur to environmental degradation, health challenges, potentials for needless armed conflicts among the locals, change in our local economic dynamics and other issues associated with Oil exploitation if not properly managed.

True to one of the earlier fears, or call it the speculations the people once harbored, an Abavo citizen, Chief Vincent Chiyem, the Eleme of Obi Ayima quarters of Abavo was murdered in cold blood by a yet to be arrested assailant, in addition to a palpable youths restiveness allover Abavo which are allegedly connected to suspicions arising from the divisive manner you have chosen to conduct your activities in the area.

It is on record that you have refused to officially recognize and engage the Abavo people, through the Abavo Clan Union, a Pan Abavo authority entrusted with running the administrative affairs of the Abavo people, despite letters to that effect by the Union’s President, but instead chose to deal with those individuals you could  manipulate  and who though may  have the interest of the Abavo People at heart,  do not  have a knowledge-based  foundation or foundation based on expert advice to  engage an Oil company as yours that has such a terrible track record of instigating communal crisis everywhere you have operated, which can be attested to by  a litany of pending litigations against your entity  in courts scattered all over Nigeria, knowing full well the negative implications any mediocre  measure on the part of the Abavo People would have on the environment, the local economy and the quality of life our people because of  health hazards associated with oil exploitation.

To make matters worse for your drilling bid at Abavo, it has been reported that your company is trying to site a flow station for the Oil to be drilled from the Abavo soil, at Owa- Alero, a non-oil bearing community because of the scheming and connections of an Owacentric politician, a member of the powerful Oil and gas committee at the Senate , that rode on the back of the Abavo People, who defied wise counseling against his candidacy, to overwhelmingly support his bid to become the Senator representing the Delta North Senatorial District at the Senate at Abuja .

Your company and the  Oil Sheikh Senator  (without Oil)in Abuja, knowing full well that Abavo has more oil wells based on incontrovertible data,  than the other communities that are now in contention for the location of the flow station, we gathered, have sealed a deal to go ahead with the plan that is now being contested by the traditional rulers and politicians from Ute-Okpu and Ekukwu-Agbor respectively, with the Abavo leaders at the traditional and political levels missing in action and which gives credence to the widely held suspicions that they have may been paid off to shut up, by your company as has been severally alleged.

Therefore, we the members of the Abavo People’s Voice in concert with the Leadership of the Abavo Clan Union have decided to stand up for the Abavo People where those who were elected or selected by a skewed natural antecedent have failed to lead or have abdicated their constitutional and natural oath of allegiance to the Abavo people for reasons best known to them.

Therefore, it is in your company’s best interest to resist the temptations or pressure by anyone to site the referenced flow station outside the Abavo Kingdom after you enter into a drilling agreement with the Abavo People, leading to the commencement of real business.

We have lots of doubts about the ability of your company, which is mostly unknown in Nigeria as a major Oil drilling outfit with a track record of excellence when you cannot answer simple phone calls placed to your office just as the one I experienced yesterday, when I attempted to speak with your corporate affairs manager.

We don’t want to believe that you gave out money to anyone or some people at Abavo. If you did, you may have become a victim of your own game and  as such , you should begin a process of recovering your money, because the Abavo people will not allow your company take away any drop of Oil off their soil unless you enter into an Oil exploitation and good corporate citizenship agreement with them through the Abavo Clan Union, with emphasis on the provision of infrastructures, employment opportunities, environmental protection, in addition to Royalties due to an Oil producing community in accordance with the applicable Federal laws.

Any arrangements you may have reached in the dark with anybody or group of persons, including but not limited to any monies that may have changed hands in the process, without the involvement of the Abavo Clan Union and by extension, the Abavo People, is hereby declared a nullity.

Therefore, in order for you to do business on our soil, you must as a matter of urgency and respect for the Abavo people and their rights, and Above all, respect for the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, officially approach the Abavo Clans Union for a negotiated agreement as to how your company and the Abavo People can work together in a rancor-free atmosphere, leading to a win-win situation for both parties.

Please, assemble your team to meet the Abavo Clan Union executives and our professional team made up of;

-          Environmental toxicologists

-          Geologists

-          Economists

-          Industrial medicine experts

-          Oil and gas lawyers

-          Petroleum Engineers

-          Human and environmental rights activists

-          Academics

-          Youth representatives

The Abavo people are a very peace loving people but will not allow anyone, group of people or company take advantage them.

We hope that you see reasons and start acting as a responsible entity.

If you fail to heed, we will mobilize all the resources at our disposal to pursue legitimate causes of action against your company, including but not limited to the invitation of the EFCC, ICPC and the UN to look into the activities of your operations in Nigeria.

We will also pursue all your interests in the United States and the UK as we are privy to information about your financial activities in those countries. We will push for actions that can lead to freezing your assets in both countries if Nigeria fails us.

Sincerely,

Smart M. Ajaja

Interim Secretary- General”

Pan Ocean based on our records received this letter on November 10, 2011 but did not respond to it officially. After waiting for a deserved response, we decided that we were going to march on Abavo on December 21, 2011. We made all the necessary preparations, including applying for permit to march from the office of the Delta state police commissioner who I gathered was ready to issue the permit without delay.

What we received instead of a permit was a disappointment from the commissioner as he waited till the last minute of the working day to decline us the permit because according to him, they got in touch with the Officials of Pan Ocean who indicated their willingness to meet with the Abavo People’s Voice and the leadership of the Abavo clan union on January 6, 2012. This meeting proved to be a waste of time as it was held in a heavily militarized environment.

That was when we sensed that something had happened and those who frustrated a legitimate march were Abavo people who rallied some Olotus to prevent our message to the suffering Abavo people. Now we are here and the people must hear this message. The Abavo leadership infrastructure is devious, dubious and dangerous and therefore has no more reasons to be in their various positions if Abavo must progress.

The second meeting between the Abavo people and the commissioner of Oil and gas proved once again to be a charade and an exercise in futility as the commissioner who promised a Town Hall meeting during the meeting has not at the time of writing this address contacted any of the officials of the Abavo Clan Union or the Abavo People’s Voice.

But we have great news for them that the ball is no longer in their court as we have moved the matter beyond their purview and we are optimistic that justice would be done. The Abavo case has been reported to the United Nations, Amnesty International and all the essential organs of the United States government. We will pursue Pan Ocean and their Abavo accomplices wherever their interests are in the world if they won’t come to the Abavo people for the way forward.

 It may take time but we will be steadfast in going about it.

The Abavo people must define themselves now or never

-         Working on a case against MTN for the masts and base stations they illegally installed in residential areas at Abavo.

We couldn’t have accomplished all of the above without the support of some Abavo people, especially the foot soldiers led by Mr. Tony Jombo who ensured that our message resonated throughout Abavo and beyond in an explicitly non-violent manner.

 I wish to remind you all that the real work has just commenced and that you should be ready to blaze the trail in a more determined and organized fashion now that  the Abavo people have been sufficiently sensitized for the change that we desperately need to make Abavo great again.

My compatriots and I made the decision to leave the United States to come down to Abavo just two days ago against our initial plan to attend this conference via video conferencing, taking cognizance of the emergent nature of the Abavo leadership crisis not minding the risk we face because of the many threatening phone calls and direct threats our family members at Abavo have been severally and daily exposed to, believing that the cause we are fighting is just and noble.

In arriving at our decision, we reasoned that our personal comfort and safety in the US will not amount to anything if the safety and comfort of all Abavo people, especially our struggling women and children are not guaranteed.

To the youths of Abavo, I wish to remind you that this struggle about you and your future and as such must refrain from seeing it as a struggle for Smart Ajaja, Desmond Isibor, Andrew Okoh, Tony Jombo or anyone as I do not immediately have any political ambition at the local level beyond seeing that every Abavo child has an equal access to the Abavo promise which is currently in the hands of a few greedy and connected families while 99.99% of the population are scratching the bare ground.

The people who are destroying Abavo are your peers and members of your generation who have cornered all the promises of Abavo for use ONLY by them and their family members and a few cronies. They are squandering your promissory notes and those of generations of unborn Abavo children today on the streets of London, Dubai, Abuja, Johannesburg and Toronto, Canada if what I read about the post on Facebook by the head of the failed, monumentally corrupt and morally bankrupt Abavo Monarchy a couple of days ago about his investment and Canadian citizenship is anything to go by

Youths of Abavo, did you hear this?  This is what Nigerian leaders, including the Abavo monarchy and some politicians are doing to their own very people. They preach to you and I to be patriotic while they rob us blind and practice terrorism and genocide through deliberate policies centered on self against the people.

 Therefore , it is your, my and our responsibility to demand  a promissory note for our future now by taking a stand today on how Abavo can get the type of leadership that would  lead her with honesty or manage Abavo’s resources with the highest standard of transparency and accountability or risk being imperiled, instead of going cap-in-hand every time to ask for help we could give ourselves if we had  defined means of livelihood or are empowered to take our destinies in our hands, with an open access to an  all encompassing Abavo promise for all against a promise for  reserved for a connected few.

A typical Abavo youth cannot and should not be a beggar because he can work and get paid for his labor instead of being a slave of a corruptly skewed traditional institution, someone or a group of people who has no vision beyond the addiction to an elusive vanity.

To those who for unexplained reasons found themselves in leadership positions at Abavo, I tell you that the Abavo people are no more moods to keep waiting for you to start acting right. They are poised to throw you out for robbing them and turning around to call them fools.

You are so wicked, insensitive, irresponsible, fraudulent, expansively deluded for failing to heed the calls to listen to the vibes coming from the people.

If you still don’t get the message, feeling, hearing or seeing them the signs, the Abavo revolution is here and the only honorable thing for you to do now is stand down.

 Act now to save Abavo the unnecessary embarrassment your continued occupation of her previously exalted leadership will bring upon the land and her people. The Abavo ship is ready to sail again and we are ready to reinvent the Abavo will that would guarantee a one and indivisible Abavo as designed by our fore-fathers.

The only people who can give and guarantee power and its continuity are the people and the Almighty God and not the leaders themselves and their clicks. Sadam Hussein, Mubarak, Ghadafi and their Hench men are raw recent examples for leaders with despotic mindset to examine when they attempt to abuse their people.

The era of the use of fear factor and impunity is gone forever. Know too that the Abavo people can no longer be intimidated by any type of force as they are capable and ready to push back when pushed beyond their elastic limits.

I am very proud to be an Abavo man but terribly ashamed of the Abavo leadership some of whom were people I once, ate drank and smoked with but decided to turn themselves into weapons of mass destruction through politics and policies that have serially debased the Abavo people, tradition, institutions and the Abavo interest.

As we deliberate on the way forward for creating a new Abavo consciousness, I urge all the Abavo people at home and in the Diaspora, regardless of political or ideological leanings to reflect on the current state of our beloved homeland and come up with non-partisan approaches to finding solutions to our numerous but surmountable problems, knowing full well that where there is a will, there will be a way.

The youths of Abavo, this is your call because you are the most at risk and vulnerable people in this struggle and I will hate for you to watch idly while your future is being squandered by people some of you have followed sheepishly without the benefit of the knowledge of the long term consequence. Abavo was a beautiful state of the Art craft created with all kinds of safeguards to promote progress for all and conduits against abuse by our ancestors but which has in recent times become a victim of serial assaults by those who are supposed to be protecting and nourishing her.

I congratulate all those who have seen the light and hope that those still on the fence will see reason to join forces with the Abavo progressives to rescue our drifting ship.

We must take Abavo back now or lose it.

If you know your history, you will know where you are coming from.

An until bigotry, prejudice and  malicious inhuman interest is replaced with understanding, tolerance, good will and respect for  our God’s given fundamental human rights by those appointed or elected to lead, we will continue to demand for justice.

Our resolution;

-          The Administrative machinery of Abavo should be overhauled to give the Abavo Clan Union the sole authority to engage entities coming to do business at Abavo, being the only recognized Abavo authority. They must seek the opinions of professionals with requisite knowledge before making decisions to avoid selling the Abavo people short.

-          The Abavo Monarchy in its current form has failed the Abavo people in all its ramifications and as such should be dispensed with and replaced with a transitional traditional governing council until a replacement is made. A letter to this effect should be written by the President of the Abavo Clan Union to the Delta state Government through the state ministry of local Government and chieftaincy Affairs upon ratification by the Abavo people in this conference. The letter should effectively withdraw and transfer all the entitlements and benefits that accrue to the office of the Obi of Abavo to Abavo Clan Union until further notice.

-          All agreements reached between the current Monarchy and Pan Ocean Oil should be declared null and void and of no consequence to the Abavo people as they were not involved in arriving at those agreements. This should take place with immediate effect and a letter of this resolution sent to Pan Ocean Oil. The Abavo people should ask Pan Ocean to leave the Abavo land but could return only when they will be ready to negotiate a new set of drilling agreement with an authority duly constituted by the Abavo People. This clause will effectively nullify the illegally constituted corporate community Relations committee (CCRC) that was skewed to serve the interest of the Monarchy and few cronies against the interest of Abavo and the Abavo people.

-          The Abavo People through the Abavo Clan Union must take back the Abavo Market and demolish all the existing illegal structures to give the market the look of a modern Abavo Market.

-          The Abavo Clan Union should liaise together with the leadership of the Abavo People’s Voice to press for an investigation into the Pan Oil scandal and pursue a criminal prosecution against Pan Ocean Oil and those found culpable to the fullest extent permitted by law. A petition to this effect from the Abavo People’s Voice is already pending with the EFCC, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Director of SSS. Copies of this petition have been handed to Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and the commissioners of Oil and Gas and his justice counterparts. The Abavo Oil and environmental crises have been reported to the UN and Amnesty International by the Abavo People’s Voice.

-          The Abavo Vigilante force should become Abavo Department of Homeland Security with the dispensary serving as its headquarters. The Abavo People in America will be prepared to play a role in providing training and other logistics that may be required for an effective take-off.

-          Create an Abavo department of works – responsible for the maintenance of our roads just like in the days of the white man when we had road overseers that maintained our roads up to the rivers.

-          Create an Abavo Department of Internal Revenue, Public Accounts and Audit –for Revenue generation from the local market, state, federal and community fundraising.

-          Abavo should develop a plan to build an Abavo Library to serve as an information hub for our teeming youth population. On this, I Smart Ajaja will give the Abavo Library its first 5000 books between now and March, 2013, by the grace of the Almighty

-          Abavo should have a standing written constitution that will address all the “ifs and whens” of how to ascend the throne of the Abavo Royalty

-          The urgent need to create and Abavo Mineral Resources and Environmental protection Authority

-          Democratize Abavo further by enlarging the Abavo Clan Union to accommodate representatives from Abavo’s five main quarters on equal basis for instance, Ogbe-Obi should have three representatives with one each coming from Ogbe-Idibon, Ogbe-Ohuolor and Idumu- Ugbo. Azuowa, Igbogili, Udomi and Obi-Anyima should do the same. The enlarged Abavo Clan Union should be conducted in a way to ensure that they meet once every month and entitled to a sitting allowance of N2000.00 each which we will pay for the first year to give the Union some time to look for ways of generating funds. This will serve as the legislative arm of the Abavo Clan Union with powers to make informed decisions for the people of Abavo. Quarters must ensure that they send their bests to this legislative arm of the Abavo Government so intelligent decisions based on global best practices are made in tandem with the Executive branch.

-          Commission historians to write and authentic Abavo history not written from the standpoint of inferiority. Part of our problem is that we have for so long allowed others to define us. We must define who we truly are now! This history if written, should be a must read for all Abavo people, especially the children and the youths who are often caught in a web of identity confusion between Abavo and Agbor. We are Abavo people!

-          Abavo must devise ways and means to generate revenue internally instead of waiting for Government that hardly cares

-          The Abavo Monarchy must become more traditional and ceremonial in line with the dictates of the current realities and as such must be shielded from situations that are capable of bringing the institution into disrepute or odium.

-          The arrangement that gives 5% of every land sold at Abavo to the monarchy must be abolished as we are aware that the Government pays them monthly salaries. Instead, the 5% should be collected and paid into the coffers of the Abavo Clan Union for developmental purposes. If the former practice is not stopped, we will challenge it in court for a constitutional ruling.

We have the vision but you have the power to choose between life and death.

On this note I make this solemn pledge

I pledge to Abavo my home town

To be faithful, loyal and honest

To serve Abavo and the Abavo people with all my might and strength

To fight for her freedom, defend her liberty whenever threatened

 To continue to fight for and Thursday, April 05, 2012defend her unity, honor and glory

So help me God

May God bless you all and the land we love so much.