Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun
State, yesterday, met with the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, and
the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in a bid to broker peace between
the two top Yoruba traditional rulers.
The two monarchs have been at
loggerheads since Alake was alleged to have listed five top traditional rulers
which put Awujale at the rear. Alake placed Ooni of Ife as number one, followed
by Alaafin of Oyo, Oba of Benin, himself as number four and Awujale last.
He had based his grading on the
classification provided by the colonial masters based on their remuneration.
But Awujale responded at an event in Lagos where he described Alake as a junior
traditional ruler in Yorubaland. The governor and the two monarchs emerged from
the meeting held at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan at 3:45 pm.
The meeting, which was reportedly at
the instance of the governor lasted for three hours. The closed door meeting
was held by the governor, Awujale and Alake while those who accompanied them
were not allowed at the meeting.
It was reliably gathered that the
meeting was stormy as the Awujale reportedly came with some newspapers which
carried the latest Alake’s vituperation to express his anger. It was further
gathered that the Alake also expressed his disappointment over the Awujale’s
comment on the ranking and the allegations levelled against him.
A top government official said that
the Awujale brought out a copy of a newspaper which carried the recent Alake
reaction to his comment in Lagos. Fielding questions from newsmen, the governor
said the presence of the two monarchs had nothing to do with the current crisis
between them.
The governor when asked about the
outcome of the meeting with the Obas, said; “I don’t want you to go and write
anything out of context. Yes, we are here, our fathers are here to see me. Of
course, we deliberated on so many things. I’m sure you want to say what is
happening.
Indeed nothing is happening. “They
came here to see the possibility of how to make sure we have peace in the
state, among so many other things that we discussed. When asked about what
transpired at the meeting, he said; “Don’t just sit somewhere and write. But
for this matter, there is nothing like ranking of Obas.
We know ourselves.” When asked why
he was at the governor’s office, Awujale said “I want to say hello to
you….there is no problem gentlemen, please. Thank you.
There is no crisis between us, thank
you.” In his response, Alake said he was at the Government’s House to brief him
on the ongoing strike action by the state workers.
Our fathers have ways, even before
the advent of the colonial masters and we have ways of living in harmony and I
think we will continue to do that. “Don’t forget, and I’m saying this again
with all sense of responsibility, that in the context of we Yorubas, we know
our pre-eminence status. ‘’Those of us from Ogun State want to keep up with
that tradition. We are not going to fan any ember of disunity.
What we are known for in Ogun State
is that we are one and we are still one. Indeed, in the comity of the Yorubas,
we know what we do, we know what we stand for and we will continue to do that”.
Attempt by newsmen to get the governor talking on the crisis failed as he was
evasive, denying intervening in the crisis by asking; “Intervene in what?”
FOR MORE
STORIES VISIT CKN NEWS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: Twitter: @CKNNigeria
Facebook: CKNNigeria
CKN NEWS Hotline: 08080054001
Whatsapp: 08099677755
BBM : 2BE329DF
Website: www.cknnigeria.com
Tags
Society