Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state at the weekend, presented first-class staff of office to the Esu Chikun, Dr. Danjuma Barde, just as he called on residents to live in peace with one another.
Addressing people who thronged the Esu Chikun Palace in Kakau, el-Rufai said that elevation of the Chief was done to recognise his contribution to advancement of peace in the state, while tasking traditional rulers to encourage community tolerance and cooperation. He called on residents who live or work in the chiefdom to support the Esu Chikun, adding that government has taken steps to enhance the prestige and authority of the traditional institution.
“Our administration is implementing a policy that anchors the authority of a traditional ruler to territory, not tribe, that way, our royal fathers can easily command the allegiance of every person and community within their territory, rather than just the people with whom the ruler shares a common ethnicity. Our traditional institutions should be assisted to flexibly adapt to the reality of increasingly diverse communities.
“The decision to upgrade Chikun chiefdom to first class status follows a recommendation by the Ministry of Local Government Affairs which highlighted the role of HRH Danjuma Barde as a bridge-builder among the various ethnic groups in the chiefdom. Shortly before the elevation, the government had sent a letter of commendation to the Esu Chikun whose chiefdom includes a significant chunk of Kaduna metropolis.
“Since his installation as Sa Gbagyi on 18th January 2001, Dr. Danjuma Barde has provided exemplary leadership and dedication to promote integration among the diverse population of his chiefdom which covers entire Chikun local government area. The ultimate guarantee of peace is the willingness of people to live together in harmony. The sustainable route to peace is for our communities to uphold respect for the right of every resident to live in security.
“Our communities ought to expose and report those who seek to deny others this right, and who resort to violence to resolve differences. We should not compromise on our insistence that what matters is a common humanity. In spite of the loudness of those who see only tribe and faith, let us continue to respect every human being and their rights, wherever they live, whatever language they speak and however they worship!
“In terms of welfare, we have provided brand new cars for our 22 third-class and second-class chiefs to address the transportation difficulties they face. We will soon extend the same to our first-class chiefs. We are also renovating some palaces. All our emirates and chiefdoms were consulted in arriving at the new designations of chiefdoms to reflect this policy. Unfortunately, some bigots have seized upon this as an opportunity to peddle their divisive baggage, including vile lies about the circumstances of the unfortunate demise of HRH Dr. Maiwada Galadima.
“Our pursuit of investment has created jobs and business opportunities for thousands of our people. We are working with investors to transform Chikun LGA to become a centre of economic activities not only in Kaduna state but in the northern region.
“Already, the largest feed mill and hatchery in Sub-Saharan Africa has been built in Chikun. We are in the process of creating Green Agro Allied Industrial Zone (GAAIZ) that will house big companies like Dangote, Peugeot factory, OCP Fertilizer blending plant and other big companies in Chikun local government area,” the Governor added.
The new Esu of Chikun, Dr Danjuma Barde, who dedicated the elevation to Gbagyi ancestral fathers, commended Governor el-Rufai for the honour to the chiefdom. He however, tasked all traditional rulers in his chiefdom to preach peace and live in peace with one another irrespective of his or her ethnic, tribal and religious background.
