By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Apparently disturbed by the recent tension in the South West part of Nigeria occasioned by the spate of clashes, kidnappings and killings, the revered traditional ruler of Ile-Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja 2 of Ife in Osun state, Wednesday stormed the Presidential Villa, Abuja to parley with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ooni Adeyeye who is Co-Chairman of National Council of Traditional Rulers told State House Correspondents shortly after meeting with President Buhari behind closed doors that he came to seek for the blessing of the President on behalf of the traditional rulers to fish out the bad eggs among the marauding herdsmen.
In Ooni of Ife’s words:
“Well to the glory of God I am here (State House, Abuja) particularly because of all the issues of security threat here and there and to get the blessing of Mr. President, it won’t turn out to be very political because political parties might probably want to hijack it and to the glory of God as the co-chairman of National Council of Traditional Rulers, it is our responsibility and our duty to make sure that everything is right, all and sundry is in good shape.
So the take home here is the President has assured that it is not going to be a political thing because we all know the problem all over the country, we have a lot of bad eggs that mix across the entire country and we are having that issue again in the South West. So I am here as the co-chairman of National Council of Traditional Rulers to get the assurance of Mr. President that either of the parties won’t turn it to be a political funfair for us to just risk the lives of our people, our innocent citizens not only in the South West but the entire country.
I am happy he has told me that I should assure other traditional rulers that we must work with them now. It is very important for us to work very closely with the government so that we can separate the good, the bad and the ugly. It is very important for us to separate the corn from the chaff because a lot of them are actually being the porous border that we have but to the glory of God they are doing what is called e-border now in Nigeria and it is very efficient and we all need to work with them.
Even our governors and other political rulers in different states, Mr. President has assured that they must work with the traditional rulers so that we can actually separate the good from the bad and get the right society in proper perspective . So here the objective is politics shouldn’t be mixed with the safety and the security concerns of our people. Politics should be completely taken out of it and to the glory of God Mr. President said he is fully on board with us as traditional rulers.
Asked for his take on the sack of the former Service Chiefs since he is the first monarch to meet with Mr. President after their sack?
Ooni Adeyeye said: “It is a very positive coincidence for me, it’s a good refreshment, there is a new blood, a new intake, fresh ideas will come on board and we have actually given very positive encouragement to Mr. President that he should keep it up. It is a very couragous move for fresh minds. At least there has been a lot of hue and cry of security issues in Nigeria now, we are not all safe but with what Mr. President has done and providentially I am experiencing it at the seat of power, it is a welcome development, everybody in Nigeria will be very happy about it and we expect more of refreshments within the confines of this government because it is a legacy that he is building for himself and we will continue to support that legacy for the betterment of our country so it is a good thing that Mr. President has done.
