The Gongola Peoples Forum (GPF) has commended Governor Umaru Fintiri for creating seven new chiefdoms and emirates in Adamawa State following the passage of the Chiefs Appointment and Deposition Law by the state House of Assembly.
General Secretary of the GPF, Chief L. D. Nzadon, in a statement described the creation of the new chiefdoms and emirates as a momentous milestone in the lives of the people that constitute the affected areas who because of indirect rule had been forced for over a century to live under an alien administration and culture.
Chief Nzadon said with the creation of the new chiefdoms and emirates, the rubicon has been crossed through the courage of Gov. Fintiri and the painstaking legal and legislative process of the state House of Assembly.
He added that a great window of reality for self- determination and autonomy which the forum had for decades advocated for has been achieved.
The forum stated that Gov. Fintiri has demonstrated that politics in Nigeria can be a tool for good governance, progress and emancipation.
Chief Nzadon asserted that only a bankrupt leadership gives politics a bad name, adding that Gov. Fintiri’s people-oriented policies and projects are an incontrovertible proof that there are still exceptional leaders in Nigeria today.
“This no doubt is a clear and unequivocal demonstration of good governance and true service to the oppressed. Indeed, you have written your name in gold and entered the state’s record book as a fearless leader, a legend and an emancipator of the indigenous peoples of Gongola region who have been under political eclipse for decades.
“We believed in you and you have not failed us. We want to take the opportunity of this great success for the state to assure you of our unflinching support in the remaining years of your positively eventful tenure,” the forum said.
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The forum noted that this epoch -making event is the culmination of decades of agitation by the ethnic nationalities to assume the right to administer their traditional affairs by themselves in accordance with their customary laws, rather than an alien and imposed system.
It appealed to the ethnic nationalities to conduct rancor-free selections of their chiefs and emirs, including establishing a solid foundation for their chiefdoms and emirates on the basis of their customs and traditions which had been emasculated for over a century by a foreign and imposed system.
The new chiefdoms are Hoba Chiefdom with headquarters in Hong (2nd class status); Madagali Chiefdom with headquarters in Gulak (2nd class status) and Michika Chiefdom with headquarters in Michika (2nd class status); Gombi Chiefdom with headquarters in Gombi (3rd class status) and Yungur Chiefdom with headquarters in Dumne (3rd class status).
The new emirates are Fufore Emirate with headquarters in Fufore (2nd class status) and Maiha Emirate with headquarters in Maiha (3rd class status).
