Ooni of Ife and Oba of Benin Urges Traditional Rulers to Support Buhari to Fight Insurgency

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) and the Oba of Benin Kingdom, Omo N’edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare Ogidigan on Saturday in Ile-Ife tasked traditional rulers, across the country to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts at ending the spate of killings and violence in the country.

He maintained that monarchs and heads of communities at the grassroots level should not sit on the fence by collaborating effectively with nation’s leaders to find a permanent end to incessant killings by suspected herdsmen and other militant groups, threatening the peace and tranquillity in Nigeria.

Receiving the Oba of Benin at his palace, located in Ile Oodua, in Ile-Ife, Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi said “we must come together to support our politicians and our leaders in their efforts to tackle the current insecurity challenges, confronting our nation. This is our country and we are one big family”.

According to him, “if you mention the security challenges we are having in Nigeria, the way forward is community policing. It is very important that we traditional rulers should support the efforts of our government. We should not leave them to do everything. This country is ours and security is of high paramount. We need to work towards how our subjects’ welfare will be intact”.

“It is indeed a great honour to have you in Ife today, we are very excited and our excitement has been in the air since 24th of this month. We are so interrelated and we also have the common ancestral background. We are so linked by virtue of blood and our two kingdoms have a very common ancestral history. I am very happy for the amiable love you have extended to Ife and the entire Oduduwa House

“On this note, I am extending hands of fellowship to you. I am extending love, peace, good relationship, long life and more prosperity from the throne. Your coming to Ife today is significant”, Oba Ogunwusi posited.

In his remark, Oba Ewuare called on Buhari to intensify efforts aimed at a proferring lasting solution to incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the country, stressing that concrete steps must be taken urgently to halt mass killings by herders in the North East and parts of the Middle Belt region.

He stated that “we should explore what unites us rather than what divides us for the advancement of our cultural heritage and socio-economic development. I want to use this occasion to raise three major issues that are of national concern. These include herdsmen and farmers’ clashes and their attendant criminal activities in the country, human trafficking and illegal migration”.

“Suffice to say that these problems, plaguing the nation are unacceptable. These problems are further complicated by our porous borders, particularly in the North Eastern parts of Nigeria and dire need to improve our security infrastructure”, Oba Ewuare asserted.

While commending the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in tackling the insurgency in the North, the monarch said: “I want to on behalf of all traditional rulers appealed to Mr President to as a matter of urgency intervene in these problems, considering the unity of our country”.