The Chairman of Kogi State Council of Traditional Rulers, and Attah Igala, HRM Matthew Opaluwa Oguche on Sunday warned traditional title holders in the kingdom to desist forthwith from giving titles of the land to people with questionable characters.
The Attah Igala stated this when he met with all the Igala title holders (Onu Igala) from across the 36 states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The monarch declared that traditional titles in the land are meant for people without questionable traits, warning that giving them to people who did not merit such honours as such would amount to desecrating the ancestral stool of Igala land.
The Royal father said, “The time has come to uphold decency, truthfulness and morality associated with Igala people in doing things in the kingdom, for the goodness of the people, state and country at large”.
He, therefore, admonished, in strong terms all the title holders of the nation to strike the cord of unity within themselves, with Igala speaking people in their domain, and their neighbourhoods for a peaceful country.
Attah Igala who spoke of the love and bravery of the queens of the kingdom of the old, which led to the land to receive victory from the invading enemies, urged the Igala of today to imbibe that virtue and secure the land with their capacity from any invading forces of disunity in any guise.
While he emphasised on the importance of unity as a great tool of development, His Royal Majesty warned those selling ancestral or family land to caution themselves and stop such bad habit that is capable of delivering crisis, hardships and disaffection within the family set up in the nearest future.
“If your ancestral parents had put the land on sale before you were born, you would not have anything to inherit as children. Think of what your grand children would stand to inherit tomorrow, if you sell the family land today,” he said.
He, therefore, warned some monarchs who were into such practices to retrace their steps in the interest of their unborn grandchildren and to avoid curses of the ancestors.
The event which was observed with traditional fanfares saw to the beading of about sixteen Onu Igala for some states in the country.
Earlier, the chairman of Onuh Igala in the country, Joseph Idakwo, said they would strive to uphold the ethics associated with the Igala ethnic nationality with their host communities to enhance the good name of the stool.
While he wished the monarch a peaceful reign, he thanked him for his royal advice and blessings, promising to enthrone and express it in all dealings, both in their character and with other ethnic tribes in their domains for peaceful coexistence.
