Former President of Henshaw Town Council (HTC) and a retired High Court Judge, Etubom (Justice) Charles Archibong, has given reasons he feels Henshaw Town community leaders of Calabar South should sheath their swords over the lingering crisis in the community.
In a chat with our reporter, Etubom Archibong said he had been in the trenches, leading the late Etubom Inyang GD Henshaw’s group for six years and that instead of the crisis abating, it was stoking indescribable enmity among people of the same root.
On his reconciliation with his once sworn enemy, the Paramount Ruler of Calabar South, HRM Etubom Nyong Efiom Okon, the retired Judge said many crises, the world over, are resolved with a round table peace talks and not at the war front.
“It is true that I have reconciled with Etubom Nyong and I’m convinced that this is the right thing to do for the interest of Henshaw Town community. We had been in the trenches for six years and what has been the benefit? Nothing but aggravated enmity among people of the same roots. Returning lasting peace to Henshaw Town is my goal.
“A traditional council is not like a professional body or a social club where you select members on the basis of educational attainment, level of professional training or on the basis of income and ‘clubability’.
“As in families and communities, in traditional bodies you generally do not get to pick and choose who you want to sit with. Nobody gets to pick who their parents nor choose their siblings or their cousins. Family has all sorts. And there can be sibling rivalry and what not.
“We have made the recent mistake in Henshaw Town of trying to select whom we are comfortable with; to put some people ‘in the rear view mirror’. My mother used to say, ‘ifum idiok owo idughe’ ie there is no refuse dump for unpleasant or unsavory characters. She was referring to relatives and unavoidable homebodies.
“In Ekpe fraternity, we cannot abide enmity among members of a lodge. Something or someone has to give. As in any close association, there must be respect and cordiality among those who ‘break bread’ at the same table. It cannot be otherwise.
“On the other hand, where an Etubom (family head) or Clan Head ‘misbehaves’ or causes mayhem in a Traditional Palace, he may have his people (ie his family) to answer to for any sanction he is faced with; or any penalty levied on him.
“When an argument has been settled for good or bad, when a struggle has been won and lost – a battle of supremacy brought to a conclusion, there is no option but to bind the wounds and rebuild common ground.
“If you are not building and maintaining cohesion among people in a community of ethnics as a traditional ruler, you are not doing any good to the survival and vitality of that system.
“Families and Ethnic Communities are like infrastructure – in constant need of repair and maintenance. Sitting in a traditional conclave, you work to preserve tradition, decorum and custom.
“What is more ‘traditional’ than dispute and disagreement? In the end there must be resolution and engagement. Institutionalizing grievance and grudges do not achieve anything but disintegration and decline in ethnic solidarity This is the time to sheath our swords, I mean all of us,” he stated.
