Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has warned Nigerians against making unbecoming comments against the paramount ruler of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu and warned that all those involved should desist from such unbecoming acts forthwith.
In a statement issued by the National Coordinating Council of OPC, Comrade Monsuru Akande, it stated that the “Yoruba institutions are not meant to be trampled upon”.
Read Full Statement Below:
The attention of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has been drawn to some unruly and unbecoming comments purportedly in reaction to alleged comments by the paramount ruler of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu and warn all those involved to desist from such unbecoming acts forthwith.
The institution of the oba is one the Yoruba race hold in high esteem, and the OPC as irredentist defenders of Yoruba culture and heritage would therefore not tolerate anybody -irrespective of their places of birth of conviction- to denigrate what their hosts (Yorubas) hold sacred.
While we accept that that institution should remain non-partisan, it must also be acknowledged that the Palace of the Oba of Lagos has already claimed that the royal father was misrepresented in the press and pleaded for understanding.
Be that as it may, the Yoruba’s accommodating and loving nature should not be misconstrued as timidity. As hosts, we have given all our visitors enough space and opportunity to bloom and flourish without molestations, and of all the tribes and visitors in Lagos, none has enjoyed the benevolence of Lagos and indeed all of Yorubaland as much as the Igboman and nation.
The evidence of the claim above can be found in the fact that Yorubaland as a whole is the most cosmopolitan area in Nigeria. We Yoruba have allowed other tribes to own businesses, properties and even contest and hold political positions on Yoruba soil in a manner unreciprocated anywhere else in Nigeria.
Using the same Lagos as an example, the fact that the likes of Pastor Ben. Akabueze and Joe Igbokwe have become an integral part of the political frame work of Lagos State for years now is proof enough that Lagos and indeed the Yoruba are excellent hosts. Akabueze has for the last ten years been directing and coordinating the economic direction of the state from his enviable position as the honorable commissioner for budget and planning while Igbokwe has held sways general manager at LASIMRA and head, UFRU.
Others such as Ngozi Nwosu the popular actress from Imo State who got N6million for overseas surgery, the late comrade Chima Ubani whose family got cash and a gift of 3bedroom accommodation at Marwa Gardens as well as First Consultant Hospital that got N50 million as compensation for involvement in the Ebola case are evidence that the Igbos are not despised in Lagos.
Nowhere in Nigeria -east of the Niger- is the Yoruba or any other tribe accorded the kind of gesture the Igbos have been enjoying in Lagos in the last 12 or so years since these bonafide Igbo men entered into the Lagos political scene.
As for the likes of Bode George, Fani-Kayode, Musiliu Obanikoro and their party the PDP, their outcry is the reaction of a person or group without shame and critical thinking (arojinle). Is it that they have a case of memory dysfunction or are they just plain mischievous. Have they so quickly forgotten that it is their party that started the politicization of the institution and monarchy with the president’s visit to the same Oba of Lagos earlier this January as the forerunner to visits to many other obas in Yorubaland. None of the PDP members complaining now saw any thing wrong with the attempts to involve our obas in partisan politics until it backfired against them and their party.
This brings us to the warning we issued earlier, when Gani Adams in his treacherous, sycophantic and reactionary move turned on the good people of Lagos unleashing violence and threat of violence against the perceived enemies of his paymasters.
If Adams had not behaved like an omo ojuorolari, he should by now be defending the sacredness of the stool of the Oba of Lagos or any other one in Yorubaland for that matter.
If Adams had not collected the billions he did, along with MASSOB and other ethnic groups, his co-travellers would now be degenerating and abusing our hospitality the way no one can replicate in their homelands.
In closing, we enjoin all members of the OPC and indeed the Yoruba nation to beware of the enemies within like Gani Adams and with one voice condemn all fifth columnist within our fold. And with the foregoing it is abundantly clear that Gani Adams who brought this odium upon us must quit the OPC.
OPC your Oba is not God, let him apologise and retract the comments.
This press release credited to arm of the Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) is a welcome development and should revibrate into the ears of all callously and mischievously using the somewhat outburst of the Oba of Lagos on Igbo to denigrate the exalted throne and desecrate the nobility of the palace. That the Oba allowed his the better part of his emotions to make his utter some comments that tend to reflect partisanship and by extension, threat to some sects/sections of people within his domain to align themselves with his preference is bad enough in view of the neutrality expected of the traditional father. But resorting to verbal assault, written and virtual onslaught, continuous bashing and battering of the Oba, the throne, the palace and the traditional institution of the Yoruba people by aggrieved sets/sections of people as occasioned by Oba’s comments, particularly when virtually all sons and elders of the land have come out to scold the Oba and plead for better understanding from and among the somewhat offended sets/sections of the people, is worse enough. The Oba may have erred but the untoward reactions of these sets and sections of the people with many of their accomplice that are sons of the soil is getting practically unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated. This uncultured disposition and lack of respect for an exalted throne and traditional institution of the Yoruba by this sets/sections of the people under whatever guise and grievance cannot be accepted as such unguided outburst smear on the sensibility of the peace loving people of the Yorubas. We and I join the OPC to say: NO MORE!! Enough is Enough!! Civilization and modernisation under the guise of social and cultural integrations cannot and will not be allowed to desecrate and denigrate the core and age-long traditions and heritage of the Yorubas. We hold dear our Oba’s. We expect and demand high level of moral decorum, social civility, and mental sagacity from our Obas. However, we embrace and at any time, will excuse their human frailties and failings. To us the Yorubas, our Obas are not just mere mortals or humans, they are ‘divinity personified’ and the bridge between the celestial (spiritual) realms and the terrestrial (physical) space. Hence and in principle, our Obas are held to be both infallible and invincible. Our Obas are ‘gods’ and are and should be treated like ‘gods’!!! That is why we say in Yoruba land and that is why we call them: KABIYESI!!! The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof is a scriptural truth that reinforces itself in our Obas who are placed and indeed hold the land and the people thereof in trust and custody for the Most High. Yes, Oba lo ni Le, Oba lo lere ko. It should be noted at this juncture especially in our political evolution that the stage is now set for a ‘tipping point’ to occur in the way the political actors and social crusaders use politics and power (plus money) to covertly undermine, arm-twist, coerce, corner and denigrate our traditional institutions. May I use this platform to state and restate the fact that were it not for the statement allegedly credited to the governorship candidate of a party that he would extol and exalt the person and office of the leader of the set/section of a group of well entrenched and rooted but in reality are Strangers, Foreigners and Guests in the land, to the ‘ same status’ with and as that of paramount Oba in Lagos, maybe we wouldn’t have found and get ourselves at this rancorous crossroads. In this alleged statement credited to Mr. Jimi Agbaje lies the root of the rancour. This is the remote cause of the Oba’s reaction and threat. This statement is both reckless and ridiculous – entirely provocative when dissected in proper context. It is both an affront on the exalted throne of the Oba of Lagos and the entire traditional institution of the Yorubas. As pointed out in one of my brief commentaries on this unfortunate development as we now have it between the Oba/Yorubas of Lagos and the PDP/Igbos in Lagos, this sad incident will have both immediate and future backlash on some individuals and groups of people. And I dare say that Mr. Jimi Agbaje and other political hawks and zealots will bare the larger brunch of the severity of this current impasse at the Oba, the sacred throne, and the Yorubas. I dare say that it is Mr. Jimi Agbaje and not the Oba that should be compelled to APOLOGISE to the Oba and the Yorubas for allegedly making such provocative and grossly insensitive statement that fuels this ugly scenario. JK and PDP in Lagos are the ‘igi woroko to fe da ina ru nilu Eko’. JK and other political hawks are the ‘omo osan to nko ponpo ba iya e’. Even if the Oba had goofed in his reaction to the provocative statement allegedly credited to Mr. Agbaje on the later’s plan to reduce the former to the level of the Eze N’digbo – because that is exactly what it is when the Eze is elevated to be at the same status with the paramount ruler of Lagos -, it is totally uncalled for and unacceptable to call for the Oba’s head up to the point that some tribal bigots and political Zeals are unleashing a campaign of calumny against the throne. I read and even heard that such unscrupulous elements are calling for the resignation, dethroning, banishment, arrest, prosecution and even imprisonment of the Oba, yes our own very Oba. OMG!!! What an obscenity, absurdity and irrationality. Such will not and cannot happen. Kaka ki ile ku, ile asa ni. The path being toll by these sets and sections of people who are so loud-mouthed and unbridledly so is a dangerous path to tread. The land that favours the prosperity of strangers and guests within and upon it has a (super)natural way of spuing such strangers and guests out of and from it when such guests and strangers step and march on it without normal respect and moral considerations.Mon bo…mo ti de tan…!!! Word wisely expressed should be enough for the fools and the discerning alike.
I am proud to be a Yoruba man. OPC is now living to people’s expectation. The institution of Oba should not be desecrated under any guise. Bi egungun ba jo o re, bi ko jo o re, a a fi ona igbale jin ni.
Now that OPC has woken up from its slumber, our traditional institution will earn desired respect. The likes of Hani Adams should be shown the way out. He has proved to be a disgrace to the leadership of a pan-Yoruba organisation like OPC.
But who is Gani Adams without Asiwaju. It was Asiwaju who brought him, a local boy from an obscure Akokoland, to limelight through sponsorship of OPC activities. I just pray that Asiwaju will not allow the ungrateful attitude of Gani Adams to deter him from maintaining his kind-heartedness. It’s only God almighty that can reward him. Look at how He has rewarded his efforts in rescuing the nation from the vicious grip of PDP.
Enough is enough; the traditional institution of Yorubas should never be put to odium. Well done OPC!