Friday, September 15, 2023, was a special day in Iseyin, Oyo State, as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former President, hugged the cameras once again. He is not new to that and though his hot-short command to traditional rulers at the commissioning of the Iseyin Campus of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), has gone viral and needs no refreshing here, it’s good to note that the Edide! (stand up) Ejoko!! (sit down) the command has easily crept into our lingo just now.
As someone a bit familiar with state protocol, I had refrained from commenting on General Obasanjo’s nostalgic regress into his days in the uniform. I knew, however, that he had chosen a strange troop to command this time as we have seen in how the ground is vibrating at his feet in the aftermath. Though not many saw what Obasanjo’s eyes showed him, everybody saw what Obasanjo did. The Ota farmer spoke angrily to traditional rulers for allegedly refusing to give honor to constituted authority.
At state events, the protocol is not in any way complicated. Once the governor and his entourage enter the arena, all will remain standing until after national and state anthems. The director of the ceremony will duly announce ‘You may be seated’. He or she will also be required to notify the crowd at any point they are required to honor His Excellency by rising on their feet.
As usual, when an elephant usually surfaces in the village square, differing accounts would rent the air. Obasanjo alleged that the traditional rulers refused to give due honor to the governor. Some of the monarchs on hand denied this, by claiming that they gave the governor his due respect. An account had it that Governor Seyi Makinde had gone around to greet the traditional rulers before making his way to his seat to kickstart the program at Oyo.
My investigations further revealed that some of the monarchs were almost famished at the time the event in Iseyin started. There were claims that the program at Oyo-the commissioning of Oyo-Iseyin Road had dragged and possibly tired out many of the monarchs even before they got to LAUTECH Campus, Iseyin, the venue of the second phase, where OBJ rushed his commands.
While Obasanjo had defended his actions, insisting that he intended to show the monarchs the difference between tradition and the Constitution, the monarchs have been taciturn so far. Accounts from one or two of them, however, vary from Obasanjo’s disposition.
One of the monarchs has this to say: “It is not true that we failed to observe protocol. We stood up when the governor arrived at the venue in Oyo and the governor also went round to give us our normal courtesy. We also stood up when the governor made it to the podium to speak and when he invited Obasanjo.
“Assuming, without conceding that we did what Obasanjo accused us of, the way he scolded us in public, is that the best way to address custodians of tradition? Two wrongs don’t make a right. But since he (Obasanjo) has turned himself into Adagba ma see Bawl (one who has grown beyond training), we will be looking at him.
“Some have said we should not have obeyed his command. True, we might have done that, but we felt that the person who invited us (the governor) was our host and we would be disgracing him if we caused any commotion.”
Whatever it was, Obasanjo saw a mirage and mistook it to be a solid object. As far as I know, traditional rulers and the political system in Oyo State are not known to compete. The measure of cordiality has been unmistakable in recent years.
Somehow, the infamous OBJ Iseyin command has opened our eyes to see one or two hitherto overlooked issues about our monarchy and the constitutional order. In the first instance, it shows that Obasanjo’s acclaimed respect for the Yoruba tradition all along is a matter of convenience. And that when we see him prostrating for the Ooni of Ife, a man old enough to be his fourth child, it’s mostly for the camera. Again, it has exposed the hypocrisy of the British colonialists, who set up the apparent conflict between our tradition and the Constitution. I will add that our monarchs should jealously guide the import of this proverb in relating to constitutional order: two ilu mate, won ara e lo mo, (he who would avoid being disgraced on entering a town, must mind himself).
Having observed that the British, who set up the confusing system in Nigeria fervently venerated the same monarchy in their land, why would they enter Africa and indeed Nigeria and do the exact opposite? The Queen or King of England is the head of state. No matter how titular that is seen in a constantly modernized world, the Prime Minister, who heads the government does not have any conflicting role with the monarchy.
When the British colonialists entered these shores, they met very powerful traditional institutions in the Western Region and the North. They created a system they believed would work for the “stateless” societies of the East. They diluted the powers of the monarchs such that their appointees who later evolved the government structure, were placed ahead of the alase ekeji orisas in Yorubaland. Today, the traditional rulers are placed under the supervision of local governments.
By making orders that poke the eyes of the monarchs, Obasanjo, a General of the Nigerian Army, which was originally known as the Queens Own Nigerian Regiments (QONR), can be seen as defending the legacy of the British, without which he might not have risen to prominence.
Incidentally, the hands of Obasanjo were also evident in the adoption of the presidential system of government, which eroded the House of Chiefs in Western Nigeria and finally nailed the coffin of incapacitation of the monarchy.
If our traditional rulers must get their mojo back, they must push for constitutional reforms, ensure defined roles for the institution, and equally ensure that ugly persons don’t mount the throne of their forbears, even if they are princes.
