Sophia Michaels
The Yoruba Council Worldwide has condemned the act of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who instructed traditional leaders in Oyo State to rise and greet Governor Seyi Makinde during a project inauguration in Iseyin on Friday, deeming it as disrespectful to traditional customs and norms.
The PUNCH reports that a short video of Obasanjo, who spoke in Yoruba language, had surfaced on the Internet, expressing displeasure to the monarchs for not rising to greet Makinde, describing the action of the royal fathers as disrespectful to the office of the governor.
Describing the development as depressing, disparaging and disrespectful to the Yoruba people, the YCW urged Obasanjo to apologise or face untold traditional and legal consequences.
The YCW President, Oba Oladotun Hassan, made the development known on Saturday during a press conference held at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union Of Journalists, Jabi, Abuja.
Hassan said, “The recent weeks have witnessed a barrage of monumental embarrassments, ridicules and brazen abuse of traditional royal Obas and most shocking to grasping with this well intended orchestrated embarrassments by chief Olusegun Obasanjo who dropped the biggest bombshell taboo in the history of Yoruba land, perhaps most disturbing sacrilege in Iseyin, Oyo State when he addressed arrays of first class royal fathers and other leading Obas like toddlers or a village headmaster or Army General talking profusely at his foot soldiers in a most depressing, disparaging and disrespectful manner.
“Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has since left the corridors of honour, while we reiterate as the leading vanguard voice for all Yoruba indigenous people globally, we have eternal duty to preserve the aesthetic distinct Omoluabi ethos, royal stools and ancestral customs and traditions of the Yoruba Obaship, precipitating our demand for immediate apologies by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo within the next three days or face untold traditional and legal reprisal consequences, not limited to filing action at a court of competent jurisdiction for defamation and scandalous libel, while we shall call for stripping him off of all chieftaincy titles conferred on him by any Yoruba monarchs.
“Furthermore, we shall mobilize all market women, youths and leaders of thoughts against the Baba Obasanjo for desecrating the Yoruba ancestral cultural heritage, norms, tradition and values. On this note we wish to set the records straight that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is NO longer the President of Nigeria, and he should stop parading himself deceitfully and impersonating or creating a scenario to command such ill motivated authority.”
Also speaking, the YCW Secretary General, Siyanbade Adekanmbi, called on the President, Bola Tinubu to call Mr Obasanjo to order, as part of ways towards preserving and protecting Nigerian royal Institutions.
Adekanmbi said, We have seen Omoluabi President Bola Tinubu accord high level respect during his recent visits to the Awujale of Ijebu land Oba Sikiru Adetona and Alake’s palace, as well as Governors like Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State prostrate before kings and elders, wherein at all times this standard practice should be emulated and not the disrespectful manner done by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria.
“We therefore call on President Bola Tinubu to call Obasanjo to order, and as part of way forward towards preserving and protecting the Royal Institutions is to establish the National Council of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs wherein other duties of grassroots security and community policing, national economic planning and strategic growth, granting of 10% special allocation funds from the federation account and other roles as expected of Traditional leaders will be guaranteed by the Federal Government accordingly.”
