There was a mild drama at the commissioning of a road in Oyo State on Friday, September 16, 2023, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered traditional rulers to stand up and greet the elected officials present.
Obasanjo gave the order while attending the commissioning of a 34.85 km Oyo-Iseyin Road and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Iseyin Campus, which houses the College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources
The former President, who spoke in Yoruba, stated that despite the status of the traditional rulers, they needed to respect elders and those in positions of power.
The statesman specifically mentioned governors and presidents as those whom traditional rulers must always accord due respect, adding that doing this will enable the preservation of the Omoluabi culture of the Yorubas.
“Thank you. Please, be seated. Firstly, I greet you all monarchs and royal fathers and thank you for coming,” he said.
“But let me make something clear: whenever the governor or the president is present, even the royal father must stand up to honour the president (or the governor).”
“Stand up! You can have your seat. Please!!!” he ordered them.
The retired military general noted that “In our (Yoruba) culture, we honour two main things: age and position. The governor’s position is higher than that of any monarch in as much as he is still the governor.”
Obasanjo disclosed that, even when he was president, he prostrated for kings in public even though they returned the gesture in private. He emphasised the need for traditional rulers to promote the culture and value systems.
The statesman had two stints as the leader of Nigeria, first as a military head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as a democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007.
