TINUBU AND OJAJA (II) : WHO SHOULD TAKE THE BOW?

There tend to be opposing opinions among some Yorubas over the action of the national leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC,  Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was pictured sitting while greeting the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) during a coronation ceremony of Oba Oniru at the Iru Palace, Victoria Island, on Sunday, 6 September 2020.

It was gathered that the Ooni came in and was walking to his seat when he stopped to greet Tinubu who was sitting on the same table with Oniru of Iru-land, Oba Abdul-Wasiu Omogbolahan Lawal (Abisogun II)

Some of the Yorubas on Twitter who kicked against Asiwaju Tinubu’s action say they were expecting him to rise up even though he couldn’t prostrate as he is welcoming kings in the Yoruba tradition: men prostrate while the women kneel down and he’s called ‘Kabiyesi.’

But before we consider the divided views of the masses, mostly of Yoruba extraction, it’s imperative to assert that the superiority complex between political authorities and those of traditional authorities is that of  deciding which is older between the hen and the chick; there seems to be a conundrum.

The above scenario not withstanding, life and politics must be lived and played within the social milieu and so, it goes that politics in Africa must go with traditional African coloration. It therefore suffices that, when a political office holder meets a traditional office holder, the former must pay homage to the latter.

This practice will certainly give credence to our roots and strengthen our traditional institutions over the individual. No matter how Mr Asiwaju Tinubu has become influential in the present political dispensation, no matter how highly he is thought of, the ancestral title of Oba rises above him  and he must not desecrate it. Apart from the ambit of traditionalism, it is generally unethical to sit and shake others, meaning, we must stand as a show of courtesy and etiquette.

Our African culture has come a long way surviving the repression and degradation. We can’t afford to rubbish it the more in the pretext of modernism and globalization. I totally throw my weight behind those condemning the derisive act of Mr Asiwaju Tinubu.