There was a mild drama on Saturday at the coronation of Tor
Tiv V, Prof. James Ayatse, when a 24-year-old man, Stephen Aondona Nyitse,
ascended the royal platform and sat on the chair meant for the paramount ruler.
The incident happened at 9.10 am on the premises of JS Tarka
Stadium in Gboko, the traditional seat of Tiv nation, where the coronation took
place, few minutes before the ceremony started.
Nyitse evaded the security men stationed at the platform to
sit on the royal chair before someone from the crowd called the attention of
the guards to him.
Our correspondent observed that irate youths had begun
charging towards the man in an attempt to beat him up before he was saved by
the intervention of security men who whisked him away.
Asked to explain the reason for his action, Nyitse, who
hails from Ushongo Local Government Area of the state, said, “The Spirit of God
sent me to go and sit on the throne.”
He added, “If I am beaten up here, they will regret their
action.”
Following the incident, the state Chairman of the
Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Mike Angou, moved to the platform to
anoint the seat.
Angou said, “A young man just went and sat on the chair
provided for Tor Tiv, so I have to go and re-anoint the seat because at the
time the chair was brought here, we had anointed it based on the directive of
Tor Tiv.”
Meanwhile, Ayatse has called on the Federal Government to
involve the Tiv people in its empowerment programme that will facilitate the
provision of agricultural inputs and food production.
The paramount ruler, who took his oath with the Holy Bible,
bemoaned the absence of Tiv indigenes in top positions of government and
appealed for the appointment of Tiv sons and daughters.
According to him, his assumption of office comes at the time
when several daunting challenges have eaten deep into the Tiv nation.
Ayatse said, “I am ascending the throne at a very difficult
time in the history of the Tiv nation where there are many challenges such as;
insecurity and safety, erosion of cultural values and tradition, leadership
crises, marginalisation, unwholesome political practices, etc.”
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