Interview with Dr Taye Ayorinde
“Nigeria Constitution must be harmonized for
Egalitarian Society”- DrTaye Ayorinde
With the present state of things in Nigeria; it is glaringly clear that the
present constitution being used to run governance ,have oftentimes been a
subject of controversies, hence many social critics believed it should be reviewed
to enable an enabling environment’ for
co-existence of the heterogeneous tribes in the country; Nigeria’ hence
our medium deem it behooves we sample opinions of the various schools of
thoughts o0n this, hence our editorial crew paid a visit to a distinguished
social critic, communicator and Baale in Ibadan; Dr Taye Ayorinde who we had an
interview with recently at his home-based Ibadadan, Oyo State, and here
underneath we unwinded on our interview with him, as reported below:
Sir, with due humility we would like you
introduce yourself briefly ?
Well, I am Dr. Taye Ayorinde , I happened
to be first and foremost the Baale of Ekotedo but before then I was Chairman
Oyo State Commodity Monitoring and Pricing , an Adviser to the British
Government Commonwhealth African Programmes at the Central Office of Information,
once a Manager for NTA, I Adapter Village Headmaster; I brought out the
Saturday –Square and I involved in Magazine Programme which was coined to bring
out people of note together, but I was also the head of drama department of
NTA. I was the first Chairman NTA drama Festival in Nigeria and so on and so
forth. I you ever heard of Arts Alade; He was on my programme called Bar beach
Show, by which I came out to limelight and I that is the person I am, and apart
from that I am also…..(interrupted) well apart from anything else, I happened
to be the Chairman Yoruba World Assembly, from the onset I was a member of
National Development Council of Traditional Rulers, so also I am a social
commentator.
Sir, as an industrious and notable Yoruba Son
and Baale, what is your opinion in respect of Yoruba clamouring for Yoruba
State; Odua Nation, are we ripe for it?
There
are three areas to for that, some people were clamouring for secession, some
for self-declaration, some want restructuring, they are all talking sense but
is secession right; No!, you can’t secede , no, it is negative, to plan to secede you have to fight
for it but have you got the wherewithal to fight?, No! the guns, bullets you
have not, anything you have not got, that is why secession is wrong. But again Self-declaration
requires to have fulfilled yourself from the economic, cultural, social and
international angles, then you can easily say oh! We can go, you must have
secured yourself well on that to stand on your own. But with the present
dispensation, the government , it cannot allow that, on the side of Yoruba,
why? Because most of the economic structures that are on ground they are not
only from Yo4ruba but generally at the Southern part of Nigeria hence they will
not want to allow it, but soon3er than later; “Bi o ba pe titi idi a la a to be
fe su.” So I would rather subscribe ro when we had Western Region, we would
have declared our intention to stand alone, to cater for any other things, in
this marriage that is not working. Since when we were alone, we achieved a lot
of things many things we have , like industries galore; the first Television,
Cocoa House, solidly built secretariat etc,. When Chief Awolowo took education
to them, they did not accept education, they prefer the Rankadede and Boko
Haram system, that is, they don’t need education, the repercussion of not
accepting books is what is called Book Haram; the Almajiris system, all those
young ones then have grown up to be Almajiris; BokoHaram, yet it is not the
fault of these Boko Haram but that of the system being put there then, even now
that people are going to schools there then have been tortured by Boko Haram,
Bandits, to say No!. Look at how many schools being destroyed there, if that is
the case ; “Bi apa ko ba se e san, a n ka le ori ni”. That is, if they don’t want
to accept us the way we were doing before and they don’t want to accept that we
need progressive life, then, we have to take our own decision for Self
determination. But restructuring , yes, that is the cause of the imbroglio, because
the constitution is not only worse, not working, wicked but corrupt. I can
defend that, how can you have two laws in the country , we have one law for the
North, the other for the South, instead of having one law for the whole
country, that is one, was there any national conference, was there any
collection of opinions and meetings of the States of Assembly to Federal House of Representatives or National Assembly members? No! but only few
anonymous, who wrote it. Only those few people that wrote the constitution, but
before you can say “We!” it must have involved those members of the arms of the
government I mentioned earlier, but up
till today, they cannot mention all those who wrote the constitution. How can
you write a constitution which supposed to be liberal in religion , a country
which has many Christians and Muslims and everything in that constitution has
to be of Muslim, mosque, you cannot find a single line that talk about Jesus,
Church, what kind of constitution is that? That kind of constitution cannot go
down well with the Christians, at the South, because we have intermarriages of
Christians and Muslims. We cannot accept such constitution . Must I say because
I married to a Muslim I should cut off
the head of the Muslim I married or vice versa, No way! Take for instance, in
Ibadan, the tradition in Ibadan where high Chiefs married married to top
Catholic and Muslim women, how can you
want to say you will banish that, No way !. So also I want to say this to every
Nigerian are very selfish , before the advent of both religions we had our own
religion. But why do they want to beat our own religion to the background, then
why is that when they take any rich man or public functionary or any of them to
court that they stole billions of money they will swear by bible or Quran , and
in the long run they will swear falsely and find them guilty, to say “E se mi
jeje”, but take Sango, Ayelala, Ogun for them , to swear, they find excuse to
take caution, not to swear by these, because of the immediate repercussion. Why don’t we
think, why don’t they use that as a
point of deterrence. In the
constitution, it beggars for all resources in the South belong to all but the
gold in Zamfara is only for Zamfara, No wa !, No. I shouldn’t be and that is
why we say “What goes up mustb come down”. En en incidentally I have something to
say about the Law of this country, but before this, to quell Boko Haram System,
the solution is there , they are not using it, solution is not only military. I
tell you what , let us go into the military. There are so many retired officers,
why retired them, when they are good , but we take it that you have retired
them, call all of them back because they are on the least of the country`s
earning categories. They are in the least system, because these they were
earning in office is still what they are earning at retirement, so if there is problem
then they could be recalled, lets recalled them this time, to give solution,
because some of them have been unduly retired, apologize for whatever and lets
jaw, jaw and not war, war, from that meeting retreat of the entire general ,
retreat of the entire general ; they will get solution to this thing and I tell
you another thing the issue of Boko Haram and Banditry, both try to do with the
public, the public in the banditry aspect, with information, all these banditry that have
been taking money , who has been giving
them money must be traced, what kind money,we have a system that can trace them
through phone, these people can be traced, GPS to trace them, why and what is
our security agents doing about that, there are many aspects that becloud the
whole thing, maybe some people are happy about all these negative that are
happening against us, maybe I said, we need to do something to arrest such ugly
development, millions of people have killed, through that, should we allow it
to be like that, that is about that. About the economic cost ; oh! The economic
cost of Boko Haram is enormous, how mch have we spent on pursuing them, couldn’t we pursue them into Sambisa
Forest? How much is the life of a child or a girl cost or boy cost?, all those
people that have been killed, you cant cost their lives.
“If
my suggestion is taken; you will see utmost development take place in Ibadan,
within six months, under the reign of Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland; the
designated Olubadan”- Dr Taye Ayorinde
We had a chat with Dr Taye Ayorinde; Baale Ekotedo, to express his view
on the present state of things about the issue of the installation of the new
Olubadan after the demise of the last Olubadan of Ibadan Oba Saliu Adetunji
Ogungunniso and this is how it went as reported below:
Sir, with the present imbroglio on the
installation of the new Olubadan, you as a notable and respectable Baale of
Ekotedo, could you acquaint us better of the whole situation , the cause and as
well as the solution to arrest the ugly situation and thus bring it into a
positive conclusion?
You
have just asked me about the cause of the imbroglio in Ibadan, yes, sthe last
Olubadan that passed on happened to be the Chairman of the whole Oyo State
Traditional Council, he was a good man,
he was a man versed in the aspect of peace and reconciliation, he hanled that very well.
He did not jumped into wahala. But again em, you mentioned imbroglio,
confusion, confusion has to be that unfortunately he made a tactical move not about what is causing problem now, em,
the rightful person to be Olubadan now, no other person than Senator Lekan
Balogun, the proper person to be on the throne, because Ibadan system, or
ascendancy to the throne is based on rotation, and then hierarchical rotation,
that is Ibadan system, based on that in
all circumstances present Senator Lekan Balogun is the Otun Olubadan of
Ibadanland, he is the rightful person to be there, but the hullaballoo of the
imbroglio, of the controversy or delay in announcing him to be or be installed;
though he mistakenly received crown and staff of office from the Late Gov.
Ajimobi, whereas installation or promotion of Chiefs as usually done by Olubadan of Ibadan,
who is the prescribed and consenting authority, not the governor, but Senator
Ajimiobi, the Late Governor thenalso meant well; I would tell you, usually when
Olubadan goes out, he only goes with some chiefs, but Ajimobi wanted dignity
for Olubadan, hence he installed those people as chiefs, though I think , if
you called them chiefs; if you called them Obas, why gave them staff of office,
but because you have given them crown
and staffs of office, you have made them Obas, and you declared them as Oba,
announced them as Oba, you proclaim them
Oba, whereas there are position for another Oba, to which Senator Lekan Balogun
is qualified, the question is how does he do it? Can he wears the Ajimobi
Obaship crown and the staff given to him to become Olubadan of Ibadanland, and
again pick his rightful crown and staff
of office due to him, for my position, my suggestion is that he should renounce
the temporary , decorative crown and staff of office that was given to him by Late/Governor Abiola
Ajimobi and take his rightful place as Olubadan of Ibadanland and Chairman of
Oyo State Traditional Council, bigger than Ibadan. How can you take two crowns
is the question? Senator Ajimobi said when he was to give them the crowns, he
said , “the staffs and the crowns do not erode their hierarchical positions”;
that is a loose word. Because you said it does not, how can you made them an
Oba, with a staff of office? This is the thing that caused the confusion. If
they don’t, they should wait for court to judge, if the court say that they can
wear two crowns, but where in Yoruba-land does an Oba wear two crowns, it never happens, and that is why am suggesting , with
respect to my Oba to be ; Chief Lekan Balogun, that he should mind my word, with
humility, saying to my Oba to be, to drop the crown and staff of Ajimobi,
before he can take over the leadership of both Olubadan of Ibadanland andthat
of Oyo State Traditional Council of Obas.
;Sir, regards the court case in respect of the challenge instituted
against Late/Governor Ajimobi to have given them such crowns and staffs , and
your advice to the incoming Olubadan;
Chief Lekan Balogun, how could he appeal to the rest involved in such a case to
go along with him in the relinquish of the crowns and staffs ditto his
withdrawal of their side of the defence in the court?
No!, once the head is off, if you cut off
the head of a cow, what is the body body doing, it is tantamount lifelessness .
Because he being the head that filed their defense, when relinquishes such
position, other kingmakers agreed eventually. The kingmakers who are his
colleagues given both the crowns and staffs should tread softly because whatever
happened to Senator Lekan Balogun , the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland will affect
them eventually, that is why it is good
for us all to look at it from a positive and pleasant angle, hence I’m giving
my advice that the rightful person for Olubadan position now is Senator Lekan
Balogun , the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, an educated PHD hoder, a former
lecturer, a business mogul, good, he is the rightful person to be the OlubAdan
of Ibadanland. My appeal to him, is that he should call all of his other high
chiefs , his other Obas ,please think of relinquishing that crowns and staffs
of office, they should keep them in their houses and let him take over the
mantle and management of Ibadanland .
Do you expect he compensate these his
colleagues or Obas or the high chiefs, for agreeing with him for such sterling
decision?
There is no compensation because they have all
first got compensation, when they first got the crowns and staffs. It is not
him to compensate them, everybody must be reasonable with him, to have
relinquished both staff and crowns.
Was this why you arrived at the cogent
conclusion because you believe in the mythological value and virtue of the Traditional Structure?
Yes! The traditional structure of Ibadanland
is an enviable structure, than a State
or Country, it all goes peacefully but if in the contrary it may not be
peaceful , but would denigrate the stool, they should give peace a chance , to
give priority to standing order, hierarchical promotional orderliness and allow
Lekan Balogun to be Olubadan of Ibadanland. And no Olubadan of Ibadanland has
ever got to that position , the stool, wearing two crowns. They should be kind
enough to herald the Ibadan people to hail them and not to see them as somebody
daredevil, don’t be a daredevil to the tradition, don’t be a daredevil to the
history , how, as Lekan Balogun is the most wanted to be on that stool now and
he has to get there in a good way. Unfortunately people noticed that they were
absent at the Late Olubadan of Ibadanland that burial rites that has passed on,
all the programmes for the Late Olubadan , I don’t know why but probably they
see themselves as Kings then how could they want to be another king again but
if that is not the position, mayble they are planning to see things move well, hence they did not come.
Okay, with your
right and good suggestion to bring everything to positive conclusion; what is
your projection with Senator Lekan Balogun, the Otun Olubadan of Ibadan on throne eventually; what level of
development do you see Ibadan in about two to three years to this time?
Wow!
If my suggestion is taken, you are talking of two to three years, it can’t be
more than six months , you will see Ibadan turned around for good and the utmost
development. Do you know who Senator Lekan Balogun is, Senator Lekan Balogun happens
to be a technocrat, in the area of business, Business Management and Business
Tutorial, he is a PHD holder, whose family has been in traditional status
before, he is a personal friend, very respectful and religious, so I expect fantastic
progress to be made, that is what I expected,. You see , you are talking of two
to three years, but I am talking of six months, he most relates and dines with
kings himself. Senator Lekan Balogun moves with kings and dines with them.Both
the youngs and oldswould mostly enjoy his reign, such are his feat.
So he could be the perfect bridge between the
old and young generation?
Yes,
exactly.
And this how we came to the conclusion of
our chat with Dr. Taye Ayorinde, the Bale of Ekotedo who had from his cache
enlightened, educated and informed us better, about the position of things,
regards the installation of the new Olubadan and the circumstance surrounding
the delay, but with much believe that things would be brought to normalcy, as “Aji
se bi Oyo la n ri Oyo ki n se bi baba
enikan.
NEWS:
“Oba Lekan Balogun is the man who the cap
fits.”- Comrade Kehinde Akinyemi, CEO Human Right Centre and Professional
Social Welfare Practitioner
Comrade Kehinde Akinyemi, a human right
activist has described the Olubadan designate Oba Lekan Balogun as the amn who the
cap fits to be the next Olubadan of Ibadanland.
This
he expressed, while being briefly interviewed by some crop of the journalists,
who met him at the residence of the Olubadan to be; Chief Lekan Balogun, here
the human right activist stressed that everything happens at God”s time, being
natural and thus Ibadan being known for peace, is about warming up again, to
usher in another Olubadan peacefully, as peace would continue to reign in Ibadan,
since there has never been any rancor nor issue ever, in the installation of
Olubadan because of the well arranged
and the traditional structure of the Ibadanland. Hence appraising well that Oba
Lekan Balogun is now the present Olubadan to be.
However he envisaged to see Ibadan becoming well
developed in about couples of months, with the experience and cache of a sound
person like Otun Balogun of Olubadan, being part of the egg heads, of other
professionals who are so also
industrious sons and daughters of Ibadanland, to attract much more innovation
for both economic and physical development of the Ibadan city with utmost peace
accompanying the unprecedented development.
Nevetheless, taking glimpse into the
progeny of Aliwo Family of Senator Lekan Balogun, the Otun Olubadan of
Ibadanland, Comrade Kehinde Akinyemi explained that the Oba to be progeny had once being in Obaship position; 1962 to be precise,
and the then Oba in the lineage and his rule was peaceful and now that it has
come to the turn of Oba Lekan Balogun, it is certain it would be peaceful by
God`s grace .
Therefore he concluded to advise the people
of Ibadanland that since the installation of Oba Lekan Balogun is naturalness,
without any outside influence, as premised on the agelong traditional
arrangement and structure, then the generality of Ibadan people both home and
abroad should know that now is the time Ibadan people , to give utmost support
to the new Olubadan and ensure that his reign is supreme and peaceful , to the adequate
development of Ibadanland and prosperous
livings for all and sundry.
At the
residence of the new Olubadan to be was Mrs Florence Amole aka “Mama Oyinbo
Onigele”, who came to pay the incoming Oba homage and here she too expressed her
joy at the positive development having Senator Lekan Balogun Olubadan as Olubadan
designate, while she advised the Ibadan indigenes to support thew new Olubadan
for fruitful and peaceful reign.
