The Council of Yoruba Elders, CYE, has described as shameful, the action of the traditional rulers who obeyed the command of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, that they should rise up in his awe in Iseyin.
This is as the group also berated Obasanjo for lambasting the traditional rulers, describing his action as “dastardly.”
Obasanjo was invited by the state government as the Chief Guest of Honour at a road inauguration which took place on Friday.
Vexed that the traditional rulers did not rise up as a mark of respect when he arrived the occasion, Obasanjo, in a video that has gone viral, talked down on the monarchs.
In a manner typical of a teacher to some primary school students, he ordered the traditional rulers to “Stand up! Sit down!” which they all obeyed.
However, reacting to the development, the Council of Yoruba Elders in a statement issued on Saturday by its General Secretary, Dr. Victor Taiwo, and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lanre Ogundipe, condemned the action of Obasanjo, saying it was one propelled by arrogance.
The group therefore demanded Obasanjo to tender a public apology to all the disgraced Obas and the entire Yoruba people by extension.
The group also expressed shame and said it felt let down by the traditional rulers in attendance who “kowtowed to the command of the lesser mortal as pupil would their teacher.”
The statement by the group reads in full:
“We write with great pains of the heart and regret of immeasurable quantum to imagine the ugly incident that occurred at Iseyin, Oyo State yesterday 15th September, 2023 on the occasion of the road commissioning by the Oyo State Government where Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was invited as the Chief Guest of Honour.
“It was at this occasion that we saw, through a video which has gone viral, Chief Obasanjo acting like an adept overwhelmed by the spirit of Sango celt repugnantly vituperating and lambasting the large congregation of our Obas in attendance and commandeering them in the utmost contemptuous and denigrating manner to rise, and sit down like an Army General would his soldiers.
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“When we saw this video, it initially occurred to us as a fictional movie. But when it dawned on us that it was a reality, lo and behold, it was a scene that could burst one’s lachrymal gland into rupture. For one thing, what Obasanjo did was infradignitatem to our Yoruba culture and tradition. It was a taboo. It was an arrant display of megalomania and utter rudeness to our crowns in Yorubaland.
“The position of our Obas could be discerned from their appellation as the Igbakeji Orisa (Second in command to the deity). And so, that the desecration of our Obas has come from a person of the status of Obasanjo whose Yoruba identity is under question is a great shame and denigration of the Yoruba culture and tradition.
“We, therefore, condemn this dastardly act from Obasanjo in all totality and so, we call for his public apology to all the disgraced Obas and the entire Yoruba people by extension.
“While we condemn the arrogant act of Obasanjo, we also feel ashamed and let down as well by all the Obas in attendance who kowtowed to the command of the lesser mortal as pupil would their teacher.
“This organization – Council of Yoruba Elders – has poised itself to protect the glory and dignity of Yoruba race in all ramifications.”
