Obas don’t campaign for politicians, Awujale tells Jonathan

The Awujale and paramount ruler of
Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, has
told President Goodluck Jonathan,
that it is not proper in Ijebuland or
Yorubaland for an Oba to canvass
for votes for any candidates
seeking elective posts.
Rather, monarchs in Yorubaland
only encourage their subjects to
make their informed choices.
The monarch said this when
President Goodluck Jonathan paid a
private visit to him in his palace in
Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
President Jonathan, who arrived
the palace around 11.15am in a
convoy, was accompanied by the
National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Adamu Mu’azu; a
former governor of Ogun State,
Otunba Gbenga Daniel; Governors
of Bayelsa and Ondo states, Seriake
Dickson and Olusegun Mimiko
respectively, among others.
The royal father said any Oba
canvassing for votes for any
political party’s candidate would be
courting trouble. He said rather
than engaging monarchs for
campaign, each candidate must go
out and sell his or manifesto to the
electorate.
He said, “In Ijebu here, it is not
possible for any Oba, not even only
in Ijebu, in Yorubaland, to go out
and say vote for this, vote for that;
that person is looking for trouble.
“But give them the opportunity to
present their programmes so that
people can make up their minds on
what to do. I think this is a very
sound democratic principle and
that is what I have decided to do, to
give you the opportunity of
meeting with the people.”
Oba Adetona noted that it was
when the candidate would have
presented the manifesto that the
voters would decide whether or
not to vote for him or her.
He said, “One, they see you as a
person. Whether to engage with
you or not to listen to you and see
if there are areas where we can
meet is a question for individual
reason. As a result, everybody
congregating belong to different
groups.They are members of the
PDP, the All Progressives Congress,
All Progressives Grand Alliance.
They belong to various interests,
and when they come, they get to
the gate, they shed their togas.
“The PDP will remove their PDP,
the APC will remove their own.
They will remove their own. They
are going to the palace to meet
their ruler, their paramount ruler;
to receive that important august
visitor who is coming to their land
and give him all honour that is
entitled to him.”
He, however, advised the
electorates to vote for those that
had the fear of God and integrity
and not those who would
mortgage their future, after
offering them gifts.
He said, “Each time I have cause to
talk to our people, I have always
told them, in the churches and
mosques that when you’re going to
vote, make sure you back your sons
and daughters who will give
something back to you; not the
‘Ojelus’ (looters).
“Those who will be honest with
you, who know the way of God;
those are the people you should
vote for; not those who will give
you two, three spoons and
mortgage your future. It is not
right.”
The monarch, who prayed to God to
guide the country right,
acknowledged that he had never
seen any election that was full of
tension in the last 55 years like the
current one coming up in less than
two weeks.
President Jonathan had earlier in
his speech highlighted his
achievements to the monarch,
which he said, cut across party,
ethnic and religious lines in the last
four years.
He said, “In the road infrastructure,
we have tried. Railway is back, we
are trying to improve our terminal
buildings and security environment
in our airports.
“The Health sector, we have tried
both in the tertiary level, or what
we call health tourism. Some of our
hospitals are now open for kidney
transplant and at the primary level
we are able to eradicate guinea
worm and we are on the way of
eradicating polio completely from
this country.”
President Jonathan explained that
his administration’s focal activities
when re-elected would be the
implementation of the report of
the National Confab as well as
facilitate the construction of four
deep sea port projects which
include the Olokola in Ijebuland,
that of Badagry, Akwa Ibom and the
Age in Bayelsa State.
Speaking earlier on behalf of Ijebu
Traditional Council, the Dagburewe
of Idowa, Oba Yinusa Adekoya, had
drawn the attention of the
President to the non-appointment
of indigenes of Ijebuland to any
prominent position at the federal
level.
President Jonathan who promised
to correct this if re-elected,
described Ijebuland “as a great
land and there’s no government
that will neglect the people of
Ijebuland, I have to take that very
very seriously.”