The appointment of Solomon Dele Owoniyi from Odolu family as the new Obaro of Kabba by the Kogi State Government has created tension in Kabba community as three ruling houses in Ilajo family rejected his appointment.
The state government last week announced Owoniyi from as the new Obaro of Kabba following the demise of Oba Micheal Olabayo last year.
This was contained in a press statement issue yesterday by three ruling houses jointly signed by Chief Mark Olowosayo of Ajinuhi Ruling House, Chief Stephen Ojo Bebeyi of Ajibohokun Ruling House and Chief Paul Toluhi of Mokelu Ruling House in Ilajo family a copy of which was made available to Thisday.
The statement said that the Ilajo royal descendants of Kabba made up of the three ruling houses vehemently denounce, condemn and reject the choice of the said Chief Solomon Dele Owoniyi.
It added that the said Solomon was from the suburban village of Odolu which was a separate settlement outside Kabba with its own ruler, a Second Class Chief, as the Obaro and traditional ruler of Kabba.
“It is like a ruler of Ageva from Obehira, Olu of Ogori from Magongo, Ooni of Ife from Modakeke or Olu Adde from Egbeda-Egga. We reject the choice of the said Owoniyi because it is not in consonance with the tradition and culture of Kabba/Oweland and it is an aberration in the Kabba/Oweland traditional setup and administration and an offensive embarrassment to the entire Okun traditional setup by making a commoner in Odolu the Head of Okun Traditional Council,” the statement said.
It stressed further that when the late Chief Daniel Aka was wrongly and maliciously appointed as the Obaro of Kabba by the Northern Nigerian Chieftaincy Law 1960, the Ilajo Royal Family challenged the appointment and persisted until the title was restored to the Ilajo Royal Family by the Justice Sule Aremu Olagunju Tribunal of Inquiry which affirmed the findings of other previous tribunals on the Obaro of Kabba issue and appointed His Royal Majesty Oba Michael Olobayo, Obaro Ero II to the throne of his forefathers in 1985.
“The wrong appointment of Chief Daniel Aka who hailed from the Idogba family of Kabba and which made for political gains was challenged and opposed, because it was made from outside the traditional home of the throne and stool of the Obaro of Kabba which is in the Ilajo Royal Family.
“It must be clear therefore that this present appointment cannot pass without appropriate challenge. For even if we go by the Kogi State Edict No. 12 of 1995 which seeks to impose a new tradition/formula of rotation on the Stool of Obaro of Kabba, the said stool has only been taken away from Kabba and donated to Odolu as a bonus to that community leaving Kabba with nothing! The Ilajo family therefore called on the Kogi State government and the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello not to accept the temptation of playing politics with the sensitive traditional, cultural and spiritual sentiments and values of the people of Kabba and Oweland.
“It is clear that those who prompt Governor Yahaya Bello to take wrong steps and carry out wrong decisions, be they priests, bishops (or other so-called “men of God”), business moguls, financial giants or, senior civil servants, have no roots to cherish, no traditions to preserve, no cultures to protect, no histories to admire and certainly no legacies to bequeath. They are nothing but wayward opportunists and despicable societal charlatans,” the statement added.
They stressed firmly that chieftaincy is an issue and an element of history and not politics, adding that to suggest therefore that because the
Ilajo Royal Family is a “small percentage” and should hence be denied their divine inheritance is to commit racial murder and rob the entire Kabba/Oweland community of its generational essence. “Whoever attempts, for instance, to stamp out the “numerically insignificant” British Royal Family, certainly destroys the soul and the historical essence of Great Britain. “We hope that the entire royalty in Nigeria will grasp the kernel of this press release and stand up to this affront by protecting its own kind, mindful of the saying that “what goes round comes round,” the statement noted.
Credit: Thisday
