The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has called on politicians to be pragmatic in finding solution to myriads of problems confronting the country.
Oba Owoade said national growth and development depend largely on the good sense of justice, moral worth and responsibility; conscientiousness, devotion to duty, selflessness, probity and honesty by the leaders and citizens.
The monarch, speaking through his Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye stated this in his 65th independence anniversary message to Nigerians.
He called for maximisation of the benefits of diversity to save the country from the precipice of disintegration .
Oba Owoade said, “As a people, we must also judge our fellow Nigerians, not by their ethnic origins but by the content of their characters”.
According to him, politicians must close ranks, logically brainstorm to arriving at understanding of the contending state-building issues in the country.
The Alaafin stressed that, “Nigeria’s ethnic, sectional and religious diversities ought to serve as source of national unity, cohesion and integration but unfortunately, this has over the years constituted serious threat to peace, security and national development”.
He added that all nations were supposed to be proud of their value systems, “Basic values are traditional and historic, reflecting aspects of the experience that each nation went through since its inception as a nation.
‘’Where were those legacies today? Why are things falling apart today? Why is it that public funds spent for successful running of regional governments by our founding fathers were sourced internally without any external borrowings?
“Why is it that despite whooping amount of money being borrowed externally by the present day governments, lives of citizens are still miserable? Where did we get it wrong? Are our problems, including insecurity and socio economic duoldrums defied solutions?’’, he queried.
The monarch who noted that the Old Oyo Empire was the first longest reigning empire to operate cabinet system of government, said different ethnic groups and religious groups co-existed peacefully under societal interests.
‘’If we are honest with ourselves we would mostly agree that all is not well with our nation and that the values we once held dearly had gone into oblivion. Where are values like honesty, integrity, good neighbourliness, religious tolerance and so on that once defined our society?‘’, he said.
Alaafin cautioned against greedy and selfish political class who has continued to exploit the people’s differences to plunder the nation’s resources.
The royal father charged parents to always inculcate in their wards, an enduring lesson in the inherent goodness of ordinary Nigerians.
Oba Owoade also advised the youths not to lose grip on their ties with their tradition and custom, describing a nation or tribe without custom as a horde of “gorillas ravaging the deep forests.”
