Angry reactions yesterday trailed the ‘stand up, sit down’ order issued by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to traditional rulers at a public event in Iseyin, Oyo State on Friday.
Obasanjo had berated the Obas for not standing up to acknowledge his presence and that of his host, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde at the ceremony.
The Oluwo of Iwo, Osun State, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, branded the action of the former President as disrespectful and declared that he (Obasanjo) could not talk down on northern emirs in same manner.
One of the Obas ordered to ‘stand up, sit down’ told The Nation yesterday how they all quietly left the venue, thoroughly embarrassed.
The Yoruba Council Worldwide gave Obasanjo a three-day ultimatum to apologise for showing disrespect to the monarchs.
The Oluwo, in a statement in Osogbo, said the former president’s action was an affront, intentional desecration and sacrilege against revered stools of Yorubaland.
He said: “Respect should be earned, not demanded. Traditional rulers respect their subjects too. There is a way respect is accorded to people of old age and position by monarchs.
“Kingship is an institution of God. As such, relating with kings requires a high sense of modesty, courtesy and respect.
“I trust myself and my stool. At death, there are certain things my soul will not take let alone when alive, active and kicking.
“I only blame the monarchs who stood in obeisance to such an ignoble and desecrating of traditional institutions from the old man.
“The display by the former president of Nigeria, General Obasanjo, was an affront, an intentional desecration and sacrilege against revered stools of Yorubaland.
“An injury to one is an injury to all. Yoruba traditional rulers are not uniform men anyone can command at will.
“I don’t blame him. Those Royal Fathers who stood up to obey such an embarrassing direction are to blame.
Read Also: Group lashes Obasanjo over outburst against Oyo monarchs
“I have strong assurance that such will never happen in Iwo and some few monarchs I will not mention. Iwo kogba igbakugba (Iwo does not tolerate nonsense).
“The show by the former general is condemnable. Yoruba traditional institutions demand an apology for the open desecration to molest and bring down the institution.
“He needs to prove himself as a core Yoruba man with an apology letter. Kings are not toddlers. We are fathers. He will never dare that against the Northern emirs.”
Apologise or face ‘untold reprisals’, YCW tells ex-president
The Yoruba Council Worldwide gave Obasanjo a three-day ultimatum to apologise for his alleged disrespect to the monarchs.
It threatened, in a statement, to mobilise all market women, youths and leaders of thoughts to protest against him should he fail to apologise.
Besides, the group claimed that he should be prepared to face “untold traditional and legal consequences not limited to filing action at a court of competent jurisdiction for defamation and scandalous libel,” if he failed to show remorse.
President of the group, Oladotun Hassan, and the Secretary, Siyanbade Adekanmbi, asked Obas to strip Obasanjo of all chieftaincy titles conferred on him.
Iseyin natives demand apology
A group of Iseyin natives, Ebedi Frontliners, Iseyin (EFI), also demanded an apology from Obasanjo for the Obas, saying the Friday outburst has caused global disrepute to the image of the monarchs and affected their collective psyche.
It said: “We, on behalf of true Yoruba sons and daughters, are using this medium to call on the former President of Nigeria to immediately apologise to monarchs from Oke-Ogun zone for his undeserved remarks over his claim that they failed to stand up when the governor and himself climbed the podium at yesterday’s commissioning of the LAUTECH’s College of Agricultural Science and Renewable Natural Resources, Iseyin.”
“We want it to be on record that with this action of the elderly politician and supposed statesman, we expect his apology soonest, and if he fails to do so, we will want him to know that he is not welcome to step into any of the Oke-Ogun communities.
“We did not benefit anything from his eight years reign as Nigerian President; why would he come here to shout on our Obas? Those that know him well to give him candid advice should tell him to immediately tender unreserved apology to the monarchs.”
Our story, by Oba at receiving end of Obasanjo’s order
One of the traditional rulers in Oke–Ogun, Oyo State, who was at the event, told The Nation yesterday that Obasanjo’s action smacked of politics.
He said it could also be because of the advanced age of the former president.
The Oba, who does not want to be named, said on the phone that the traditional rulers were too embarrassed by the development that they all dispersed quietly after the incident.
His words: “I think Obasanjo behaved that way because he is getting old. If you watched the video very well, he was inconsistent in his speech.
“Usually when we are at a public function and the governor arrives, he would greet the dignitaries present, exchange pleasantries with monarchs by handshake or wave at them, and the monarchs would stand up to acknowledge him.
“But what Obasanjo did really shocked many people.
“After the incident, the monarchs just dispersed. The majority of us did not wait for what they came to commission, because the people of the town were also embarrassed by what Obasanjo said.
“Obasanjo is unpredictable. He didn’t do well by embarrassing the traditional rulers.”
The traditional ruler, who said the state Council of Obas would discuss the matter at the September 24 meeting of its executive committee, added: “I think the truth of the matter is that for Obasanjo to speak the in manner he did, the governor probably had a discussion with him where he complained about some things.
“You would notice that the governor in his speech at the occasion said that the people of that axis did not vote for him the way he expected, adding that it was only the Iseyin people who voted for him, and that was why the project was sited in Iseyin.
“The governor complained that of the 10 local government areas in Oke-Ogun, the votes he garnered in Iseyin were more than the other nine LGAs put together, and that was why he gave them the school.”
The Oba said it was possible that Makinde complained about the traditional rulers to Obasanjo on their way to the venue.
The monarch said the most unfortunate aspect of Obasanjo’s outburst on Friday was that among the traditional rulers were the five that Governor Makinde invited to the ceremony as his special guests.
He said: “They were the monarchs that attended the programme with the governor and Obasanjo. The governor gave these five monarchs special invitations to the programme. Three others joined them.
“It was the eight that Obasanjo embarrassed because he could not identify them as being the friend of the governor.
“Since the event, people have been calling us to do this or do that. It is unfortunate that Governor Makinde is trying to turn himself into an emperor.”
Oyo APC fires Obasanjo, Makinde over assault on Oyo monarchs
In its own reaction, the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said Obasanjo acted in bad faith and in clear demonstration of his vindictive tendencies.
The Publicity Secretary of the party, Olawale Sadare, said Obasanjo’s verbal assault was not accidental or coincidental but premeditated, scripted and purposely delivered as a prize to people who had defied him on his mission to enthrone Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party against the popular choice of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC in the last presidential election.
He said: “We recall that one of the monarchs on seat appeared on some private radio stations during the electioneering and mobilised support for Tinubu who won the election eventually.
“This did not go down well with the former president who is known for his vindictiveness and he used the opportunity handed down to him by one of his loyalists (Gov. Makinde) to hit back at his target.
“We condemn in strong terms the conduct of Chief Obasanjo, who threw decorum to the wind on account of being a former president and chose to desecrate the rich culture and tradition of the Yoruba people.
“By assaulting the monarchs who were at the occasion on invitation, the Owu-born former military dictator has shown to the world that he was not worth his status as a statesman, title chief and leader on the African continent.
“It is on record that despite ruling Nigeria for a combined period of 12 years, Obasanjo did not make a significant impact on the lives of the people of Oyo State as the best he did (and still does) was removing an elected governor of the state and refusing to add value in the areas of infrastructure, wealth creation and empowerment of our people.
“So, the good people of the Pacesetter State do not hold him in high esteem, and they expect little or nothing from him even if he has another opportunity to become president again in future.
“However, there is a pertinent question begging for answer regarding the choice of Obasanjo as the chairman of the occasion at the instance of Governor Makinde.
“The simple truth is that the whole scenario has further exposed the hypocrisy in Governor Makinde who has done everything possible to claim the glory of President Bola Tinubu’s victory in Oyo State in the February 25 presidential election.
“How can you be loyal to two opposing characters in a political contest at the same time? It is obvious, Obasanjo is anti-Tinubu and Makinde is also pro-Obasanjo while we watch keenly as the governor continues his tricky game in the political space.”
Obasanjo erred, undermined Yoruba culture, tradition – Akinsola, Alaye
A legal practitioner, Dr. Kayode Akinsola said Obasanjo erred both in law and the rich culture and tradition of the Yoruba by his action.
Dr. Akinsola, who is also a public affairs analyst, said there is no constitutional provision or an Act of law that requires traditional rulers to stand up or sit down against their wish because a governor or president appeared in a public function or took the podium to address a gathering.
He noted that if Obasanjo had come from a royal family in Yoruba land, he would probably not have acted the way he did in Iseyin, Oyo State.
A Political Scientist, Dr. Adekunle Alaye, described Obasanjo’s action as condescending, undermining and desecration of the Yoruba traditional institution.
Alaye said Obasanjo’s remarks were a product of colonialism and cultural imperialism in post-colonial African states, adding that after the British imperialists captured Nigeria, they undermined the traditional institutions in Lagos, Benin and other places, describing Obasanjo’s replication of same in Iseyin as “vacuous.”
“Obasanjo’s vacuous display, no doubt was a regurgitation of colonialism and product of cultural imperialism where in those days with the deceitful introduction of the British system of “indirect rule” in 1914, following the Amalgamation of the region’s as one entity, subjected traditional rulers to the imperial dominance and control of the British,” he said.
Obasanjo treated Oyo monarchs like ‘glorified’ civil servants —Traditionalists’ president
The President of Traditional Religion Worshippers Association in Osun (TRAWSO) Dr. Oluseyi Atanda said the embarrassment was partly caused by some Obas, who he said have lost touch with the Yoruba tradition.
Speaking on the phone to The Nation, Atanda said: “I will say the Obas got what they deserved. We’ve always said that Yoruba Obas have lost track with tradition and they don’t know what they are doing.
“Yoruba Obas are the only traditional rulers I know in this world that bow before Imams and pastors. They cringe before governors.
“Many of them are not entitled to the throne; they begged to be there.
“What do you expect from somebody who licked your boot to become king? A king without spiritual rites will not know the power that he has. The throne is not even his due right.
“We had divination during the 2023 Isese Day and the deities are not happy with the kings.
“We warned that one after the other, the deities will start to disgrace the kings who refuse to abide by tradition.
“We warned that they will be removed from office. Now it is happening. They must return to tradition. “
Stop denigrating our traditional rulers – YWG warns Obasanjo
The Yoruba Welfare Group (YWG) warned Obasajo to stop insulting the Yoruba Obas and desist from rubbishing the traditional institution or risk prosecution or banishment from Yoruba land.
The National President of the Yoruba Welfare Group (YWG), Abdulhakeem Adegoke Alawuje, said in a statement that the former president appeared confused about Yoruba tradition, otherwise he would not have in one breath asked the Obas to stand up to greet him and in another breath say the Yoruba do respect age and position.
He said: “It is a known fact that Obasanjo is coherently incoherent as well as consistently inconsistent.
“Hence, the best we can do for him as Yoruba is to help him save his face.
“How do we do this? We should stop inviting him to important gatherings of such. It is obvious Baba Iyabo is suffering from old age, and we must assist him to stop disgracing himself in public.
“Even when Obasanjo was still agile, active and somewhat self-aware, he was never consistent.
“Obasanjo was the man who supported former President Goodluck Jonathan against former President Muhammadu Buhari, but within four years, he switched gear and supported Buhari against Jonathan.
“And as he did to Jonathan, just before another four-year term, Obasanjo turned against Buhari to anoint his arch enemy, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“Again, before the expiration of another four years, Obasanjo had turned against his anointed Atiku to endorse Peter Obi of Labour Party.
“The same Obasanjo who announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party and tore his PDP Identity card publicly, severally went back to his vomit, floated Third Force and campaigned for Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
“He simply refused to play the role of an elder statesmen. No doubt, Obasanjo is the perfect example of hypocrisy.
“Is it not the same Obasanjo who goes to churches to kneel down for prayers and laying of hands? Is it not same OBJ that prostrated for Ooni of Ife and Olu of Warri that are his grandson’s mates? So what has changed?
“If he prostrated for the Obas, why should he now ask the same Obas to rise up for a governor? After all, in his incoherent speech, he said he prostrated for traditional rulers even as a sitting president. So why scolding the royal fathers for not standing up for the governor who will seize to be a chief executive officer in less than four years?
Obasanjo was right, says Yoruba group
However, another Yoruba group, Maja-Maja, defended Obasanjo and said the former president was merely correcting the Obas on protocol.
Chairman of the group, Adesina Akinpelu, said Obasanjo might appear to be too blunt as a result of his military background, those who have political scores to settle with him within the Yorubaland should not be allowed to cause unnecessary disaffection between the former President and the monarchs.
The group described Obasanjo as a Yoruba political leader of our time, who should be given his due recognition.
By Gbenga Aderanti, Toba Adedeji, Segun Showunmi, Adekunle Jimoh, Ernest Nwokolo, and AbdulGafar Alabelewe
For Advert, Event Coverage, Story/Article Publication, Change Of Name & Placement In Newspapers, PR & Other Media Services
Contact Us On: WhatsApp
Send Email To: citizennewsng@gmail.com
Visit Citizen NewsNG To Read More Latest And Interesting News