Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s stand-up order on some monarchs in Oyo State to show respect for him is an open disparagement of the Yoruba traditional institution and an unfortunate show of disdain for the culture, norms and values of the South West people. Such an order coming from an elder statesman and a two-term head of the country, incidentally of the Yoruba extraction, is regrettable and disappointing.

From time immemorial, traditional rulers in Yoruba land, like most of their counterparts in other parts of Nigeria and indeed across Africa, have earned their respect as leaders of their people. In many societies, traditional rulers are considered as representatives of God on earth. They are highly revered rulers of kingdoms and empires, many of which have metamorphosed into sovereign countries today. As the number one citizen or indigene of their respective domain, they were also the head of the traditional government, exercising executive, legislative and judicial powers, aside being the commander-in-chief of the army of their various empires. Even with the introduction of various modern forms of government that disrupted and replaced the traditional governance systems, the monarchs are still highly respected as leaders whose roles in nation building and in ensuring peaceful coexistence among the people remain vital. No matter the damage that could have been done to the traditional system of government once headed by the monarchs, the rulers still earn their respect as representatives of God on earth as well as custodians of the culture and tradition of their people. Respect for culture, which is the way of life of a people, is vital to peaceful coexistence of residents of a domain or community. If disparaged, it can have dire consequences for the society.

Obasanjo gave the controversial order at the commissioning of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology’s College of Agricultural Science and Renewable National Resources at Iseyin in Oyo State. In a video of the event that is still trending on the Internet, Obasanjo was seen ordering some people believed to be traditional rulers in Oyo State to stand up. He chided the monarchs for not standing up when Governor Seyi Makinde and he climbed the rostrum to present their addresses. “Wherever a governor or a president is sitting, traditional rulers must show their respect,” Obasanjo was seen and heard saying in the video. He termed the failure of the rulers to stand up as disrespect to what he called constituted authority.

Since the incident happened, it has drawn the ire of some prominent Yoruba leaders and groups who condemned the former president’s order as flagrant disregard and disrespect to the Yoruba traditional institution. Some of the people and groups who faulted Obasanjo’s action demanded that he apologise to the monarchs. Among them are the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdurosheed Akanbi; a socio-cultural group, Ebedi Frontliners, Iseyin (EFI); Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs; Yoruba Council of Chiefs; National Association of Public Affairs Analysts (NAPAA); Oba of Igbobi-Sabe in Lagos State, Owolabi Adeniyi; Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Yoruba Council Worldwide. They were united in their submission that Obasanjo’s action was sacrilegious, depressing, disparaging and disrespectful.

Disrespect for traditional rulers became rampant with government and politicians becoming involved in their selection, enthronement and upkeep. In the distant past, it was the subjects or the communities in their domain that fended for the monarchs who were selected and enthroned solely by their people. In most places these days, the government and some political office holders are the ultimate selectors of monarchs by way of giving approval to anyone selected by the people to be a traditional ruler. In many cases, if the person selected is not the candidate or supporter of the government, the selection process is disrupted and corrupted for the choice of the government to emerge, against the wish of the people. Also, the government often donate expensive cars and other items to traditional rulers and pay them stipends for their upkeep.

Government run by politicians now has power to depose traditional rulers and order selection of another person to occupy the vacant stool. In some communities today, the monarchs were imposed on the people. Among the questions that can be asked are: to what extent do we expect politicians or government officials to respect monarchs that were imposed on their people, given cars, and paid stipends for their upkeep? A monarch who is not the choice of his people but was forced on them may never enjoy the respect of those who helped in imposing them. Monarchs who do not have the wealth and clout and want to live a wealthy life and so beg politicians around for contracts and other forms of assistance will lose their respect.

What happened in Iseyin was a continuation of the unfortunate age-long battle between political office holders and traditional rulers.

In his reaction to the development, Oba Adeniyi said: “The case is a battle between political office holders and traditional office holders, and the course has been on since colonisation. I am sure we have not run the full cycle, and the cycle is a permanent roundabout. It is sad and bad but we made it so. When Rimi gave Emir Bayero a query in 1961, Kano city burned for days. When Bisi Onabanjo queried Awujale in 1982, Ijebuland was quiet like a cemetery. It took the Buhari coup to save Awujale his crown. There is need for a review and reform of Obaship to avert recurrence of what happened in Iseyin and to avoid the spate of denigration.”

By what happened in Iseyin, Obasanjo has exhibited his other side, which is in sharp conflict with what he had done to the admiration of many people in the past. The same elder statesman is known to have knelt down to greet the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse, both monarchs who are young enough to be his sons. Could it be that the former president is being selective in terms of which traditional ruler to respect; if that is the case, what criteria does he use and how justified? It is important to state that everybody, irrespective of the position being occupied, is a subject of one monarch or the other, and so must respect his traditional ruler, who is occupying the position for the rest of his life unlike political office holders.

Political office holders should reduce or avoid situation that makes the traditional institution prone to denigration. Why did Governor Makinde have to invite Obasanjo and many traditional rulers for the opening of the college when he could have done that by himself and also avoid payment of honorarium to the invited guests, thereby saving money for other projects? A few prominent people from Oyo State and the traditional ruler of Iseyin alone would have been okay for the event, and the monarchs would have been saved the embarrassment.

As traditional rulers are advised to avoid anything that could lead to erosion of their dignity and bring the throne to disrepute, every subject, no matter the position in government, must accord them their due respect at all times.

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