By Charles Kumolu

Eku, a rural community in Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State  is  challenged by  leadership crisis which, if not addressed, could threaten harmonious existence in the community.

The crux of the matter, Sunday Vanguard learned, is a tussle over the leadership of Eku Progress Union, a body founded over 40 years ago to galvanise the development of Eku.

At the moment, the union, headed by Dr. Ode Iweh with branches beyond the shores of Nigeria, is embroiled in controversy.

And the matter is creating disharmony.

However, a better understanding of the issue  could be found in the narrative of Chief Stephen Ogbebor, who heads Eku Progress Union, Lagos branch.

‘’When we were growing up, the community set up Eku Progress Union to see to the development of the community. The union has no constitution.  We are more civilized now and whatever was set up then without a constitution requires that we have a constitution. But the person who was heading it then was able to  do things without any structure in place. So whatever he did was right. But a group of young men was able to bring on board a young person  to  bring innovation into the union. The person I am talking about was a legal practitioner. He is late now,” Ogbebor told Sunday Vanguard.

‘’For many years, the union was not rendering account to the community. But Uhuwora was able to open an account and brought sanity but some people did not like that. They started fighting him. But, as of that time, he did his best to ensure that there was a constitution for the union. That happened more than 40 years. The aggrieved people, including some elders of the community, hijacked the process and said he could not  write a constitution for the community. They took it upon themselves to write the constitution. How could they  write the constitution for the union without inputs from all the branches nationwide?

‘’That constitution is what they claim to be using to govern the community while the branches are on their own. The most intriguing thing is that they don’t hold union meetings. The last executive also had that challenge of not carrying the branches along.  We don’t know how union funds are spent  and that is what is bringing problem in the community today. We have a new President General of Eku Progress Union, who the whole town voted for, Dr. Ode Iweh. He has held different positions at the United Nations. He was also a lecturer at the University of Benin.  The people are now saying that he cannot form  vigilante group for the community whereas such  duty falls under his purview.  The man is not joining issues with them but they are allegedly using some members of the executive to frustrate him. They say they want to impeach him and that is not possible because the women, who they also used, are in support of this new executive and its leadership.

Areas of concern

‘’The women group went to visit some notable young people in the community like Edewor, Odagba, and Peteke but these people troubling the community took it as an offence. They challenged the women group for doing so.  The aggrieved people should know their areas of operation, the Eku Progress Union should also know its own areas of operation so that there can be peace and development. People should not jeopardise the progress of the community.

When this matter is settled, past leaders of the community should get ready to give account of all the money they have been collecting. In 1957, the late Chief  Awolowo came to Urhoboland as  Premier of Western Region and made it clear to them that they needed to have a king. Then it was only a few Urhobo towns that had kings. But Eku had a king, Itade, but the Otuta of Agbo was from my place. The present king is supposed to call those doing this to order.

Way forward

‘’The women group has told them that they don’t want any other President General of Eku Progress Union  than the man they voted for. They said the aggrieved people should allow the President General complete his four-year tenure. Unfortunately, the people are using the youths in the community to foment trouble. The people arrogating the leadership of Eku to themselves should call on us if there are certain issues they want to discuss instead of instigating crisis”.