‘We Know Why Obasanjo Commanded Us To Stand Up, It Is Senility’ – Council Of Obas, Group React To Obasanjo’s Humiliation Of Oyo Monarchs

The Oyo State Council of Obas, Yoruba Council of Elders and other various groups have reacted to the controversial action of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, asking monarchs to stand up at an event in Oyo State over the weekend.

The former President, who was a guest of Governor Seyi Makinde, commanded traditional rulers to stand up and after they complied, he then ordered them to sit down.

In his reaction, the Vice Chairman, Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, the Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Oba Francis Alao said: “We respect protocols. We will not explain what happened last Friday, it is unfortunate what happened. Members of the Oyo State Council of Obas are law-abiding citizens and we respect constituted authority. We are also leaders; we will respond at a later time but not now.”

But one of the kings, who attended the event, the Onipetu of Ijeru Kingdom, Oba Sunday Oyediran, on Sunday, said the former president should not be taken seriously adding that senility is affecting him.

Reacting to the incident, Oba Oyediran said: “Why should we bother ourselves with what he said? Age is catching up with him and it appears senility is affecting him. Don’t let us misinterpret what happened.

“It wasn’t Obasanjo that invited us to the event but Governor Seyi Makinde. If it was Obasanjo who invited us and he said what he said, we would not have obeyed him. Since it wasn’t Governor Seyi Makinde that humiliated us, why then should we walk out on him?

“That’s what people didn’t understand. Governor Makinde gives us our due respect and we respect him too. Even we respect Obasanjo too, but if you respect someone and he betrays that trust, it is left for him and his creator. We don’t see it the way people see it. We did what was expected of us. Obasanjo lied against us. We were standing before he mounted the podium. It was when he got the microphone that we sat down. Did he expect us to remain standing while he was talking?”

Reacting to the alleged ridicule, the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, and the National Association of Public Affairs Analysts, NAPAA, told the former President to tender an unreserved public apology to the traditional rulers saying his action has desecrated the core value of the South West.

The YCE, in a statement by its Secretary-General, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, berated Obasanjo, describing his action as an open disdain for the stools.

YCE’s scribe said: “It is a denigration of the status of Yoruba traditional leaders, our Royal Fathers and a direct affront to the people’s culture, norms and values.

“Baba, we are unhappy with the way our Royal Fathers were treated by you. We feel sure that Yoruba gods’ traditional stools have been desecrated for commanding Oyo monarchs to stand up.

“This denigration of Yoruba traditional leaders, and royal fathers is a direct affront to the people’s culture, norms and values. The imperious outburst of the former president is disparaging, dispiriting and disrespectful to the entire Yoruba people.

“It is sacrilegious to brazenly and unabashedly ridicule the second-in-command to the deity (Igbakeji Orisha).

“The highly cherished heritage and cultural values of the Yoruba people (Iwa Omoluwabi) must be respected by all and sundry.

“It is a desecration of the revered Yoruba stools and open opprobrium of progenitors of Oduduwa. It is demeaning.

“As elders of the respected people of Yoruba, we have the sacred duty to protect our culture, values, norms and traditions. We, therefore, caution the Owu Chief to weigh his utterances. Accordingly, we demand an apology from the former president.”

Also faulting Obasanjo’s actions, the NAPAA in a statement by its President and General Secretary, Prince Seun Adelore and Mr Jare Ajayi said the former President allowed his ego to take the better part of him on Friday.

NAPAA said: “The desecration of our core values and tradition has contributed and is still contributing in no small measure to the under-development that we have been experiencing even after we gained independence.

“Chief Obasanjo, who always likes to flaunt his espousal of culture by prostrating himself before some monarchs, by wearing native dresses and even speaks Yoruba language, allowed his ego to take the better part of him on Friday. “