Government should revive Ladi Kwali Pottery Centre – Etsu Kwali

Can you recall how you were appointed a second class chief of Kwali, especially the chieftaincy tussle which trailed it?  
Alhamdulillah, I feel naturally happy. I feel a sense of self-actualization and I think one has to thank God because He has time for everything. After the whole struggle and the troubles that trailed the chieftaincy issue over the years, the struggle became fruitful and I have forgotten everything. Besides, the issues that trailed the chieftaincy tussle in Kwali were basically a misrepresentation of facts to the government by individuals who had nothing to do with the chieftaincy issue in Kwali. They made government believe we were advising it wrongly. And if you can recall, government at that time felt what it heard was the correct thing, so we were left with no option than to go and seek redress at the law court. And while we were still in court, the government opened its eyes and ears to the issues, which is why we are in this situation today. I also thank those that assisted or helped to ensure that the chieftaincy tussle was resolved and we believe that there is still justice in this country. All we need to do now is to remain loyal to the government so that other good things will continue to come to us.  

As a traditional ruler, can you give us a brief history of Kwali chiefdom?   
 Well, you see, before the creation of the FCT in 1976, we were under Suleja Emirate and the practice at that time was that the emirs usually referred to as Sarakunan Yanka would send their relations or relatives to oversee a community which Kwali happened to be one of such places. Now, the eldest son of the late emir of Suleja then, Alhaji Adamu Katsina, was sent here in 1963, not as a chief but as a district head, to oversee collection of taxes and registration of children into primary schools. So when government was ready to appoint and upgrade chiefs in Abuja, the indigenous chiefs were not recognized by the then government. What they did was to upgrade district heads in Kuje, Kwali, Bwari, and then, where there were no district heads, the indigenous chiefs were upgraded. Besides, Gwagwalada was then under Kwali and there was no district head in Gwagwalada but an indigenous chief which was Aguma, was appropriately given a second class status which was fine. And if you went to Abaji at that time, the only indigenous chief was the Ona of the indigenous tribe of Egbura Koto. Automatically, the Ona of Abaji was upgraded as a first class chief. At Kuje that time, we had an indigenous district head from the Gade extraction. So whether it was right to upgrade a village head or a district head they were all indigenous chiefs. Also, in Garki, there was no district head, but what we had was a village head, which was given a second class chief. And in Bwari, there were similarities with that of Kwali.   With the advent of science and technology, our cultural heritage seems to be gradually going into extinction. 

As a custodian of the peoples’ culture, especially the Gbagyi’s, how do you sustain or improve the cultural heritage of Kwali chiefdom?   
You see, the word culture seems to be misinterpreted. Culture means the people, culture is about education, culture is even about the entire behavior of the people; and culture is about the profession of the people. So, culture can be defined based on current happenings, the world must change and when the world changes, it changes according to its culture. It is because of advancement of technology that the people tend to forget what kind of food they ought to be eating and how they ought to behave generally. Our religion is also part of our culture as there is no way you can define culture without defining religion. However, what bothers me most is one of the cultural heritages left behind by our only mother, Ladi Kwali. She was into creativity in the area of local pot designing. Most of our people no longer show interest in pot making. The government also has its share of the blame for abandoning the Ladi Kwali Pottery Center. I am calling on the government to rehabilitate the center so that it will attract our people to continue with making and designing of pots.