Mr. Richmond Edet (Ntoe Mgbe Okuakama)
By Raphael Ekpang
The president of Likeminds Football Club of Abuja, Richmond Edet has bagged a chieftaincy title of ‘Ntoe Mgbe Okuakama (The Police, the Guardian and the preserver of peace) of Kasuk Qua kingdom in Calabar. The coronation took place on Saturday, November 7, 2020.
The chieftaincy title was a reward for his services to the Kasuk Qua kingdom by his community. It is mostly given to members of the ‘Ekpe society’.
Edet explained that there are different titles giving to individuals based on their contributions to the kingdom, “Your contributions and that of your family to the kingdom determines whether you are qualify for such titles and which to be giving to you,”
On whether anyone can buy any of the titles, he said, “You can’t buy it because it is only your contributions and that of your family that determine which title to be given to you. Also, he said that is why until you are crowned you won’t know the title that would be given you.”
Members of Likeminds FC, Abuja with Ntoe Mgbe Okuakama and his wife shortly after his coronation in Calabar, November 7, 2020
Corereporters report that ‘Ekpe Society’ is one common force that binds all the three clans in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, together. Before the coming of missionaries in Nigeria, Calabar in particular in 1846, Ekpe society was the government that was used to control the people then. And even when Christianity came to Calabar, Ekpe chiefs and their bells were still the one used to summon people and also alert people to go to church.
Edet further explain that when the white men came to Calabar and they discovered that the Ekpe was too powerful they deployed means of destroying it, thereby labeling Ekpe as fetish so that people would denounce it, but in all saying and done, those who are really true born of Calabar held on to their tradition despite the white men antagonism, believing that it is a culture and a tradition and that it has nothing to do with fetishism but rather a way of life.
Corereporters also report that Ekpe society has members cut across different religious backgrounds.
The President of Likeminds FC said, with this title, it was obvious his people were taking cognizance of the little contribution he has been contributed to the community in order to maintain peace and order within the clan, therefore he said this recognition will spur him to do more to his people, especially in the area of preaching and working towards maintaining peace in Calabar and Nigeria as a whole.
