By DAN AMOR
It is unbelievable that five years have passed since His Imperial Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ojaja ll, the Ooni of Ife, ascended the throne of his ancestors. But it is five years of remarkable achievements, clear-headed and astute leadership, robust and ground-breaking royal interventions on the unity and peace of the Yoruba race and physical transformation of the Yoruba ancient kingdom. Kabiyesi, as you celebrate your fifth coronation anniversary, this writer rejoices with you on this joyous and auspicious occasion.
In just five years on the throne of your fore-fathers, you have shown that you possess the missing link in the ability of the traditional institution to effect a change and leave an enduring legacy worthy of emulation for our people. Given your age, education and enlightenment, this is a generational proof of your exemplary leadership and indubitable characteristics. May you live long, Kabiyesi!
There can be no doubt about the attendant relevance of the role the traditional institutions could play in the development and uplift of modern society. Despite the enormous odds and gargantuan assaults against thrones and stools by both the colonial masters and the deluded foster elites that succeeded them, the institution has survived to be the most enduring legacy of African history, culture and civilization. For any society with a sense of history to survive, there is always a need to bring the past to bear on the present and then provide a template for future development, the past being the bridge across time in the inestimable gamut of human experience.
The totality of the Ooni's achievements within just five years shows that civilizations are built on solid foundations of progressive traditions with transformative content and character. It demonstrates that traditional institutions in Africa have built-in mechanisms for survival and transformation. By offering the olive branch to his fellow Obas across kingdoms in Yorubaland when he visited the Alaafin of Oyo and other heavy weight kings even a week after his coronation campaigning for peace and unity, His Imperial Majesty Oba Ogunwusi had aptly demonstrated that the traditional institutions can adjust and readjust to changing social, political and economic realities.
It would be recalled that before his ascension to the exalted throne, the traditional rulers in the South western part of the country who are highly revered by their people could hardly speak with one voice. Matters of merit and traditional order of seniority were stretched to breaking points. Hardly could a traditional ruler pay a courtesy call on any of his colleagues so that his subjects would not read meanings to it. Even their order of seniority was a subject of constant litigations.
But, as soon as he was coronated, despite his legendary financial strength due to his enviable business empire and despite the much acclaimed allure of his antecedent as scion of the origin and source of Yoruba cosmology and civilization, he preferred to be the one to visit other Kabiyesis. The outcome of his fecund leadership qualities is peace and progress not only in Ife kingdom but also across the length and breadth of the Yoruba nation. He has shown within a very short time that wholly indigenous African traditional institutions have wonderful capacities to accommodate change and interestingly too, without losing their grandeur.
Yet, it is hoped that the traditional institutions in Nigeria would come together to extricate the country from the maze of violence and insecurity threatening to consume it even under a democratic dispensation. From north, south, east and west, the wave of insecurity and violence in the country is unprecedented in our annals. Therefore, anyone who thinks that the custodians of our heritage and the symbols of our tradition and culture should not have a role to play in the scheme of things in the country is simply a daydreamer.
If anyone should have a role to play in dousing the tension in the land, it is the traditional ruler who is even closer to the people than even the local government chairman. Traditional rulers, far from remaining as impartial arbiters in the tussle for political power must break the secure fence of traditionalism and reverence to help in brokering peace and unity in the country. The Land Use Act has to be amended in order for traditional rulers in the country to be given some measure of control over land in the locality rather than giving governors power over all lands.
Traditional rulers across the country, must come together irrespective of creed to preach tolerance and accommodation among their subjects. The Ooni, the Sultan, the Oba of Benin, the Obi of Onitsha and some of their colleagues are already intervening in the intricate political crises that are tasking the corporate entity called Nigeria. But we want all the royal fathers to close ranks and advise the Federal Government on the need for justice and fairness in all the affairs of the country.
For, without justice, peace would remain a receding mirage in the country. Modernity alone cannot succeed without a symbiotic marriage with tradition. Consequently, government must accord some measure of role to our royal fathers not just in ceremonial pantomimes but in reality.
Despite
obvious challenges, the monarchy has managed to coexist with modernity in
several countries of the world, in somewhat modernized way. Some of these
countries include England, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the
Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. As the revered Ooni marks his fifth anniversary
on the throne of his ancestors, the column wishes him many more years of a
prosperous reign in peace and good health.
*Amor, critic and journalist, lives in Abuja. Email: danamor641@icloud.com; 08063246289
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