By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The Benin socio-cultural group, the Ogbakha-Edo Indigenous Peoples Welfare Foundation, has vehemently rejected the bill seeking to make the Ooni of Ife and the Sultan of Sokoto permanent co-chairmen of the Nigerian Council of Traditional Rulers.
Newstracktoday reports that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, had earlier kicked against such proposal, saying that it doesn’t reflect Nigeria’s ethnic and cultural diversity.
Recall that the bill was sponsored by senator Simon Bako Lalong, representing Plateau South in the National Assembly.
At a press briefing in Benin City, the group on behalf of the revered and culturally conscious people of Benin, expresses in the strongest terms its deep-silted disapproval and profound indignation at the widely circulated reports of a proposed bill before the National Assembly.
The chairman of Ogbakha-Edo, Prof. Sam Guobadia, observed that the ill-conceived and historically unjustifiable proposal is not only logically flawed but also provocative, divisive, and culturally offensive.
According to him, the document represents a blatant attempt to institutionalize supremacy where none exists and to exploit past protocols of convenience—wherein these rulers merely led delegations for the sake of political expediency—as a basis for permanent constitutional recognition.
“The Benin people, anchored in centuries of cultural pride and historical sovereignty, vehemently reject any move that seeks to subordinate the imperial and highly revered throne of the Oba of Benin to any other traditional or religious authority under the guise of national unity or representational balance.
“While the Oba of Benin is currently categorized among the highest-ranking traditional rulers in Nigeria, it is absolutely unacceptable—indeed, an affront to justice and history—to diminish his stature through such unwarranted and biased constitutional manipulation,” he stated.
Continuing, Prof. Guobadia, who is a former Vice Chancellor of Benson Idahosa University recalled that for more than 600 years before the colonial incursion, the Benin Kingdom stood as a formidable empire – an organized, expansive and diplomatically sophisticated polity.
“Let it be known that more than 600 years before British colonial incursion, the Benin Kingdom stood as a formidable empire—an organized, expansive, and diplomatically sophisticated polity.
Consequently, Prof. Guobadia maintained that it was very obvious that in arriving at the conclusion that only the Ooni of Ife and the Sultan of Sokoto should be permanent co-chairmen, ostensibly to represent the geopolitical north and south regions, historical, territorial, and cultural pedigree in determining leadership within the Council of Traditional Rulers were not taken into account.
The Benin people therefore categorically reject in totality, any attempt to undermine or diminish the authority of the Oba of Benin.
According to the chairman of Ogbakha-Edo, it highly inappropriate to perpetually subjugate the Oba of Benin by way of an illogical constitutional enactment.
The group therefore demands immediate withdrawal of the proposed bill in its entirety or that the position of chairmanship of the Nigeria Council of Traditional Rulers be made non-permanent and rotational among the first-class traditional rulers.
It urged the National Assembly to tread cautiously and not to allow political maneuvering to destroy the dignity, balance, and integrity of Nigeria’s traditional institutions.
