The Yoruba Leaders of Thought (Egbe Ilosiwaju Yoruba) have appealed to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, to put an immediate end to the recent misunderstanding between them.

The hostilities between the two traditional rulers reopened last week when the Alaafin faulted Ooni over the decision to confer a title on a businessman, Dotun Sanusi.

The group’s National Leader, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, called on Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, “to initiate an immediate ceasefire between our revered royal fathers and their supporters.”

Olusi spoke in a statement, titled “Time to sheath the sword,” which was made available in Ado Ekiti on Sunday by the National Secretary, Bayo Aina.

He stated, “We appeal to the South-West Council of Obas to have a standing committee that will act to nip similar schism in the bud in future before they detract from the honour and awe that we hold our traditional rulers. If such protocols already exist, this channel should be utilised more in the future to prevent a repeat of this current embarrassment.”

The Yoruba leaders said, “We are distraught that at a time when every hand should be on deck to support and ensure unquestionable success of one of the most illustrious Yoruba leaders and son, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, some of our foremost leaders at various levels are more or less fuelling this fire.”

They lamented the painful damage that the current distraction, characterised by the digging up of centuries-old accounts to ridicule or lionise one party or the other, is causing Yoruba people globally.

Olusi said, “Rather than using such narratives for the purpose of forging unity and a sense of pride among our people, narratives that can help us in fulfilling our manifest destiny as a leading group among the black race, historical narratives have been weaponised into a tool to promote discord and resentment.

“It is saddening that many of our leaders are taking sides in a narrative that has no capacity to transform the current struggles of our people in Nigeria into a resounding victory over the existing technological and developmental gap between us and the rest of the world.”

The Yoruba leaders, however, lauded Tinubu for the choice of Chief Opeyemi Agbaje as the Chairman of the Pension Commission of Nigeria, with the onerous task “to drastically reduce the incidence of old age poverty, which is ruthlessly rampaging pensioners across the world, including Nigeria.

“We believe that prudent and profitable management of pension funds and easy access without compromising the integrity of the system will ensure that pensioners have a more comfortable retirement,” the group stated. (The PUNCH)