Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that no individual can be regarded as the leader of the Yoruba.
Obasanjo stated this in his book, titled, “My Watch: Political and Public Affairs,” where he addressed what he called his “Nigerianness and Yorubanness.”
As transcribed by Punch, In chapter 31, titled, “Campaigns and Elections,” Obasanjo said Nigeria did not need tribal barons as leaders.
He added that there was nothing like Yoruba leadership in Yoruba land.
The former President said, “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.”
He noted that even among the Yoruba obas “there is equality, but mutual respect.”
Backing his claim with a saying, “no crown is subordinate to another,” the former President said cities and areas were normally of different sizes.
He recalled that in the past, obas never saw one another, but sent messages through emissaries.
According to him, it was the colonialists that made the obas to see one another face-to-face. The colonialists, he said, went further to rank Yoruba traditional rulers.
Obasanjo noted that in the North, the majority of emirs accepted the Sultan of Sokoto as the direct descendant of Usman Dan Fodio.
He said the Sultan was accepted as the leader among Hausa/Fulani traditional rulers.
“The Yorubas did not have such a clear-cut and accepted hierarchy. Every oba maintains sovereignty over his domain,” he added.
Obasanjo explained that ‘baales’ (chiefs) were appointed by obas within their domains.
The former president said the supporters of the first Premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “fixed” the title of Yoruba leader on the late sage during the Civil War.
He recalled that during the war, different ethnic groups met separately to consider positions and issues for the future of Nigeria.
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.
Obasanjo said that some people, including Chief Adisa Akinloye, did not accept Awolowo as the leader of the Yoruba.
Obasanjo said that after he successfully ended 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.
