Group disowns appointment of Yoruba Oba in Diaspora, says it’s alien

The Coordinator, Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) in Europe, Chief Victor Adewale Mobolaji has condemned the purported statement made available to the press by the Council of Yoruba Obas in the Diaspora, and signed by one Olukunle Akanbi, claiming to be its secretary, describing the idea of having a Yoruba Oba outside the shores of Nigeria as an aberration and unknown to Yoruba culture and tradition.

Mobolaji said that though he would not have loved to join issues with anyone on such issues with a group he described as faceless, but that he “considered it necessary to react to their reactionary move, even as it will make a lot of sense to correct the wrong impression they might have about our group, the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) and our amiable leader, and global convener, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, who is the 15th Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland.”

According to him, the OPU, a group of prominent and successful sons and daughters of Yoruba descent in the Diaspora, at the end of the just concluded 2018 edition of the European Summit held in Germany, issued a communiqué, expressing their stand against the idea of having a Yoruba Oba in the Diaspora.

“The reason for this is obvious. It is as a result of the ugly trend that is gradually creeping into the system of our traditional institutions.

“We reacted against this because we would not allow any faceless individual, group or council to desecrate our traditional institutions.

“Let it be stated also that as the 15th Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, has an avowed responsibility to promote the image of the race wherever he founds himself .

And it is his duty to also protect the sanctity of our traditional institutions and in doing his sacred job, he respects and accommodates, as always, different opinions of individuals, groups or associations that are based on truth, sound judgment, verifications and proofs.

Aare Gani Adams also takes cognizance of relevant issues, especially, those that have to do with peace and unity of the entire Yoruba race, as well as the sanctity of our traditional institutions.

He noted that there are 195 countries in the world, 193 of those countries are members of the United Nation. In all these countries, Yoruba sons and daughters have distinguished themselves as most cultured race, with over 250 million people that spread across all the continents of the world.

“We have Yorubas in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote D’Voire, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Brazil, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago.

“For instance, Yoruba descendants in the US are well over 30 million people, including North and South American.

With all sense of modesty, as the coordinator of OPU in Europe, I have travelled to some of these countries and one of the things I cherish most about the Yorubas in those countries is that, despite our huge populations and popularity as a race, I am proud to say that the Yorubas are still one big and united family with our roots in Ile Ife, and Oduduwa being our great ancestor.

“Yoruba history, no doubt, is rich on the sanctity of our Obas. Therefore, the appointment of a Yoruba Oba in the Diaspora is alien to our culture and tradition.

“In history, Yoruba Obas are always men of noble birth. They are men of characters and courage. Not people of no means, or people who are bent on foisting their overbearing attitudes on a group or association. That is the truth about the respect the Yorubas have for their Obas.

It must be noted also that an individual can be honoured with a chieftaincy title in a foreign land, however, it is nobody’s business. But it is pertinent to say it clearly that no group, association or council has the right to appoint an Oba outside the shores of Nigeria,” he said.