Obasanjo stripped of all Yoruba Chieftaincy title
Yoruba Council Worldwide, ‘acclaimed’ apex Yoruba indigenous organization, has stripped former Nigeria president Olusegun Obasanjo of all traditional chieftancy titles in Yoruba land.
This was unconnected with the outburst of Obasanjo against some traditional rulers who were in attendance at the inauguration of the Iseyin Campus of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) on Friday, September 15.
The outburst which is described by many as humiliation of a traditional institution, has generated anger and varied responses from Nigerians in all sections of the society.
Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba) conveyed this in a September 18 letter titled “Declaration/Non-recognition As Balogun Of Owu Kingdom and any Other Chieftaincy Titles In Yoruba Land” and addressed to the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Professor Saka Matemilola and Olusegun Obasanjo, respectively.
It reads: “The above subject matter refers.
“The Yoruba Council Worldwide being the apex Yoruba indigenous organization, having waited endlessly for your compliance to the 3 days earlier call for sober apology press conference via our widely circulated notice on 16th September, 2023, we hereby declared and seize to recognize your Chieftaincy titles conffered on you by any monarchs in Yoruba Land, including the Balogun of Owu Kingdom, consequent upon your brazen refusal to apologize, degradation and disparaging comments to the Yoruba Obas on the 15th September, 2023 at Iseyin, Oyo State: A Total Sacrilege.
“We see your disrespectful statements at the commissioning of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin campus, and had commanded kings from Oyo State to stand up and accord you respect (and subsequent defense in premium times); to the 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.
“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 earlier demand for immediate apologies within three (3) days which you deliberately ignored blatantly.
“Furthermore, we shall mobilize all market women, youths and leaders of thoughts for onward sanitization and compliance to our declaration forthwith.
“We shall further commence strict legal action at a court of competent jurisdiction for defamation and scandalous libel
“We have emphatically spoken!”
The letter was signed by the President of the Council, Aare Oba Oladotun Hassan Esq, and Secretary General of the Council, Siyanbade Adekanmbi.
On Monday, September 18, Obasanjo stated that he still stood by his “stand up, sit down” order issued to some Yoruba traditional rulers in Oyo State.
Obasanjo added that he would remain firm, unapologetically and uncompromisingly maintain the position that the governor holds the highest office in the state, which informed his remarks and the ‘edide e joko’ directive.
The elder statesman, who made this known through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in a statement, noted that the position, respect, protocol, and dignity that must be given to the office of a governor by virtue of the constitution must not be denied, stressing that to do otherwise is to deride the office and the constitution.
“….the former President has affirmed that he stood firmly, unapologetically and uncompromisingly on the position that the Governor of a State holds the highest office in the State.
“By that position, the respect, protocol and dignity that must be given to the office by virtue of the Constitution must not be denied. To do otherwise is to deride the office and the Constitution
