Former President Olusegun Obasanjo underlined the constitutional superiority of elected officials on Friday by ordering traditional rulers to stand and greet him.
Obasanjo issued this directive during the dedication of the 34.85-kilometer Oyo-Iseyin Road and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Iseyin Campus, which contains the College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources.
The ex-president, who spoke in Yoruba, emphasized that, regardless of their status, traditional rulers must respect elders and those in positions of power.
According to him, doing so will allow the Yorubas’ Omoluabi culture to be preserved.
“Thank, you. Please, be seated. Firstly, I greet you all monarchs and royal fathers and thank you for coming,” he said. “But let me make something clear: whenever the governor or the president is present, even the royal father must stand up to honour the president (or the governor).”
“Stand up! You can have your seat. Please!!!” he ordered them.
The statesman said,
“In our (Yoruba) culture, we honour two main things: age and position. The governor’s position is higher than that of any monarch in as much as he is still the governor”.
He stated that even as president, he respected traditional rulers, and that it is critical to promote cultural and value systems.
From 1976 to 1979, the retired military officer was Nigeria’s head of state, and from 1999 to 2007, he was its president.