Posted by PETER AKAA, Lafia on
THE deposed Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mustapha Jokolo, is adjusting to life in exile in Obi, the headquarters of Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, to which he was banished after his deposition by Kebbi State government.
THE deposed Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mustapha Jokolo, is adjusting to life in exile in Obi, the headquarters of Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, to which he was banished after his deposition by Kebbi State government.
But his banishment to the town is causing anxiety among residents many of whom found it difficult to believe the deposed emir had become one of them.
Security had been beefed up in the council guest house which is Jokolo's new place of abode when Sunday Vanguard visited the town last Saturday. The council guest house was also being given a facelift. Our correspondent who visited the town reported that the guest house had newly been painted.
The generating plant installed there had, according to sources, been recently serviced to provide electricity for the banished monarch and his household. The guest house also has new security posts built in front of it and some strategic places within to shelter security men from sun and rain. Sources, who spoke on how Jokolo was adjusting to life in exile, said he was not being allowed to receive visitors but was allowed to move around within the perimeter of the walls surrounding the guest house just as security within and around had been stepped up.
The guest house wore a serene look as movement was not seen around the area except that of the few hands that helped him out with his personal needs and security personnel. Whereas Jokolo is said to be a little bit withdrawn and reserved, he is reported to be in good health. Many people in Obi believed his confinement in the town was untrue because they said they were yet to see him physically.
One of those who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, Osoho of Agwatashi, Musa Ogashua, said that he was yet to be briefed on the deposed emir's confinement to Obi. According to him, Governor Abdullahi Adamu and the local government chairman, Mohammed Sidi Bako, had not told residents anything on the matter, noting that it was while passing along the road to the guest house that he noticed the security build-up around the area.
Ogashua, who is also the chairman, Obi Traditional Council of Chiefs, stressed: "I have never seen that man (Jokolo) in my life". According to him, the confinement is mere rumour. Also speaking to Sunday Vanguard, a district head in Obi, Yusuf Madaki, said he was not aware that Jokolo had been confined to Obi.
On the other hand, the custodian of the second class stool in Obi, Ibrahim Okoshi, who declined to comment on the issue, said he was not competent enough to speak. A prominent personality who pleaded anonymity, said that though some states had rejected Jokolo, the people of Obi chose to accommodate him in good spirit. While explaining that what happened to the deposed emir could happen to anyone, he said as a way of safeguarding the security of the nation, they decided to accept him.
According to him, it was the people of Kebbi that had problem with Jokolo "and not the rest of us in Nasarawa". Although he did not expatiate on this, Sunday Vanguard gathered that the royalty in Gwandu rejected the confinement of the deposed emir in the town on the grounds that he should not be confined there because of its proximity to the seat of power (Abuja).
At the local government secretariat, the chairman, Mohammed Sidi Bako, could not be reached as he was not in office at the time this reporter visited the council. A competent source at the council said the chairman was among the people who were aware of the confinement of Jokolo because he had paid several visits to the council guest house since Jokolo arrived Obi last week.
Some people in Obi were indifferent to the confinement of the deposed emir. While some of the residents received his stay in the town with total indifference, others felt his coming would deprive the place of its peace.
The Director of Communications to Governor Abdullahi Adamu, Samuel Gimba, told Sunday Vanguard that all inquiries about the deposed emir should be directed to Kebbi State government even as many top government functionaries and influential personalities in the state refused to comment on the issue.