Yoruba Does Not Have A Leader – Obasanjo

Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the South-west region does not have a single individual who can be regarded as their leader.

Obasanjo’s opinion was written this in his book, titled, “My Watch: Political and Public Affairs,” where he wrote about, in his own words, “Nigerianness and Yorubanness.”

In chapter 31 of the book titled, “Campaigns and Elections,” Obasanjo opined that Nigeria did not need tribal barons as leaders, adding that there was nothing like Yoruba leadership in the South-west region.

Obasanjo wrote, “Just as there was no single oba having sovereignty over the whole of Yorubaland, there was no individual as leader of the Yorubas in Yorubaland. As it was then, it remains till now.”

According to him, even among the Yoruba obas “there is equality, but mutual respect.” adding that, “no crown is subordinate to another.”

Recalling history, Obasanjo said, in the past, obas never saw one another, but sent messages to each other through emissaries. He further revealed that it was the colonialists that made the obas to see one another face-to-face and went further to rank Yoruba traditional rulers.

“The Yorubas did not have such a clear-cut and accepted hierarchy. Every oba maintains sovereignty over his domain,‘baales’ (chiefs) were appointed by obas within their domains,” he added.

According to Punch, he also wrote that the supporters of the first Premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “fixed” the title of Yoruba leader on him during the civil war.

According to him, Awolowo presided over the meeting of the Yorubas in Ibadan. “In the course (of the meeting), Chief Awolowo presided. His supporters then fixed the title of Yoruba leader upon him,” he stated.

He also said that some people, including Chief Adisa Akinloye, did not accept Awolowo as the leader of the Yoruba, saying after he contributed to the end of the civil war, some people began to extol his “Yorubanness.”

“I did not encourage this. ‘My Yorubaness’ and ‘my Nigerianness’ must go pari passu, and one must not stand in the way of the other,” he stated.

Obasanjo  recently recommended a way forward for Buhari’s administration in governing what he termed, “a new Nigeria.”