EMMA OGU, OwerriI (Champion Newspaper Online Edition)

Imo state governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha has increased the powers of traditional rulers in the state with new responsibilities backed up with new salary structure and welfare package.

Under the arrangement, traditional rulers are now governors and chief security officers in their respective communities under Okorocha’s 4th tier of government called community government. The royal fathers will also coordinate the activities of vigilante groups and take responsibilities of developing the alternative dispute resolution strategy meant to decongest the courts of over crowded cases.

For these new roles the governor announced that the royal fathers will henceforth be given security votes while their salaries have been increased by the government.

Chief Okorocha who disclosed this yesterday at a breakfast meeting with journalists in the state however, warned that no traditional ruler is allowed to live outside his community and anyone who decides to live outside his community must appoint a regent and handover his staff of office to him at his own risk. He further warned that any royal father whose communitiy is found to be harbouring criminals stand the risk of losing his staff of office.

He also stated that traditional rulers henceforth are not allowed to issue chieftaincy titles to people without the approval of the government. According to him, all title holders will now under go recertification in the state. The measure he said is to stem the tide of frivolous and mockery titles being issued by traditional rulers adding that government will investigate any one to be given title to know what he has done to merit the title.

The governor further said that no traditional ruler is allowed to go to police station for purposes of securing bail for detained suspects even as no traditional ruler will speak English in public function as a way of promoting our language and culture.

He explained that the alternative dispute resolution practice in our communities has become very necessary not only to decongest our courts but to promote peace and harmony among the people even as the system in tandem with our culture and tradition which is based on amicable way of settling disputes.

"We have discovered that any time any of our people go to court they come back enemy for life but any time communities intervene in dispute they come back hugging themselves. We increased the salary of traditional rulers to motivate them and increase the strength of 4th tier of government which make them governor of their various communities".

The number one citizen of the state also explained that the recent dissolution of the state council of traditional rulers headed by Eze Cletus Ilomuanya was done in good faith and for the purposes of sanitizing the traditional institution which he said was almost going down the drain and becoming so actively political to the extent that the royal fathers lost their bearing.

He said: "It got to a stage where you can no longer differentiate the traditional ruler from a politician. We need to restore the dignity of traditional institution as custodian of culture".

Meanwhile, Okorocha announced a non refundable deposit of N1 million for any group that is seeking autonomous community. He said already the state has six hundred traditional rulers with people still yearning for new communities. He said the non refundable fee of N1 million is not even a guarantee that such community will be created upon payment as government will also look at conditions for autonomous communities including population and economic viability.

On the ten thousand job programme of Ikedi Ohakim administration which his government suspended, the governor said the exercise is being reviewed and only those who were really give job will be asked to go back to their positions but noted that there is no factory or ministry in the state today that can take ten thousand job.

He said his government has approved the eighteen thousand naira minimum wage for workers while a back to land programme meant for agricultural revolution will be launched to create jobs for the youths.