Why We Can’t Rotate Takum Throne, Kuteb Groups

Several Kuteb groups from Takum local government area of Taraba has  warned that the plan by the state government to rotate the traditional stool of Ukwe Takum is an invitation for anarchy

They said before Governor Kefas will make the seat of Ukwe Takum rotational among Chamba, Kuteb and Kpanzon, he should first start with the seat of Aku Uka of Wukari and rotate the stool between Wapang, Tiv and Hausas being the dominant tribes in Wukari. 

While the Kuteb Youths Forum (KYF)  opposed the proposal by the Taraba State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas to create three chiefdoms in Takum,  Kuteb elders reject the planned agenda in totality.

This was contained signed by KYF spokesman Mr Danjuma Rimamnde  in a statement stated that such an action was capable of undermining the seat of Ukwe, the Paramount traditional stool of Takum.

The statement said that the KYF was still standing with the decision of the Kuteb traditional committee on non-rotation of the Ukwe Takum stool.

According to the statement, Takum Chieftancy stool is the birthright and inheritance of the two ruling houses of Likam and Akente and should not in any way be substituted/rotated with anyone for any developmental agenda.

It further stated that traditional stools were sacred and represented the culture and custom of the aborigins which was quite different from political and social affairs as seen in other places. 

The statement quoted the forum as referring to Gov. Agbu Kefas's statement that, he had solved much worrisome issues in the Niger-Delta compared to the Ukwe stool quagmire.

" It is worthy of note that the stool of Ukwe Takum is governed by custom and tradition and is recognized by Taraba State chieftaincy laws which is not in consonance with the political and social pandemonium in the Niger- Delta led by Tompolo as referred to by Gov Kefas.

Spokesman of the Kuteb Elders, Joshua Rimamsikwe, who gave the position of the elders while briefing journalists in Jalingo, said the plan to dismantle the ancestral stool of Ukwe Takum to create three third class tribal chiefs in Takum is not only an invitation to crisis but an agenda to wipe out the Kuteb race from the surface of the earth. 

He added that the Kuteb, who have been the sole occupants of the stool of Ukwe Takum, reject the planned agenda in totality.

He lamented that the present administration is only implementing the age long agenda of his godfather whose quest has been to rob the Kuteb tribe of the stool.

"I want to place on record that before the creation of Taraba State in 1991, there existed three main traditional institutions in what is today known as Southern Taraba. 

"These include Aku Uka of Wukari First Class headed by a Wapang as paramount ruler, Gara Donga, in Donga, Second Class headed by a Chamba as paramount ruler while there is Ukwe Takum also second class headed by a Kuteb tribe as paramount ruler, before the stools of Ukwe Takum and Gara Donga were elevated to first class by the former Governor Jolly Nyame administration in 2005. So, why is it only the stool of Ukwe Takum that should be made rotational amongst major tribes in Takum?" he said.

Meanwhile Apex socio-cultural and political organization of the Jukun people, Jukun Development Association of Nigeria JDAN, has thrown its weight behind Governor Agbu Kefas's roadmap for Takum and the installation of a new Chief in the ancient town.

 In a unanimous voice vote, the expanded Congress of the Association from across the country yesterday voted to back the Governor, saying his plan shall usher in an era of everlasting peace, security, and progress in Takum and Jukun land in general.

 In a communique signed by the Association Secretary General Mr Bulus Abe after the meeting, the association warned " extremists and tribal champions" to stay clear of Takum Chieftaincy affairs .