CHIEF OBASANJO HAS COMMITTED ABOMINATION UNDER CUSTOMARY LAW AND MUST BE PUNISHED- Emeka Emekesiri
MOBIN MEDIA has obtained a report that on 15 September 2023, Chief Obasanjo ordered the Obas of Yorubaland to stand up and sit down like school children to welcome Governor Seyi Makinde at a function in Oyo State. The Traditional Rulers were taken aback and obeyed him like little children under the command of a Military General. Now, Afenifere, has asked Chief Obasanjo to apologise to the Traditional Rulers but he has not apologised at the time of filing this report.
As the controversy continued in the country, Mobin Media sought the opinion of Barr Emeka Emekesiri, an expert in Customary Law who holds the Traditional Leadership Office in his Community as the Nzeobi II of Okwara-Unegbu in Amucha Ancient Kingdom.
NZEOBI ll of OKWARA-UNEGBU AMUCHA
He answered our questions and brought clarity into the apparent confusion and conflict between Customary Government and Statutory Government under the Nigerian Constitution. Below is the explanation as given by Nzeobi II of Okwara-Unegbu Village in Amucha.
I have heard about it and read from the Nation Newspaper where Chief Obasanjo said that he maintained his action of ordering the Obas to stand up and sit down to honour the Governor by virtue of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He said that he would never apologise to the Traditional Rulers. This is where there seems to be a conflict or confusion arising from the people’s understanding of protocols and Constitutional provisions.
There is nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution where the law provides that the Traditional Rulers should stand up or sit down to honour the Governor of a State or the President of the country. The protocols were created by politicians.
Now, let me tell you that the problem started when Traditional Governance of Autonomous Communities was brought under the control of the State Governments which created the Department of Chieftaincy Affairs. The Governor was empowered to recognise the Community and its Traditional Ruler and give him the Staff of Office.
Some politicians turned themselves into Obas, Igwes, Obis, Ezes, Emirs, etc, and were given their Staff of Office by the Governors.
This is not the original Customary Government of our ancestors before the coming of the whitemen and the creation of Nigeria. It is common sense that whoever gives you a certificate or Staff of Office has the power to withdraw it. This is similar to the Warrant Chieftaincy introduced by the British Government to control us which did not succeed in Igboland.
It is a simple logic that whoever gives you a certificate or staff of office to occupy any Office will require your loyalty otherwise he will withdraw and cancel your certificate. The Traditional Rulers who were given certificates by the Governors have therefore found themselves in this problem.
When the British people came into Igboland, they met with our Traditional Rulers who they regarded as Sovereign Kings and signed Treaties with them as Equals. I have copies of some of the Treaties they signed from 1882 to 1889. I obtained the documents from the British Government when I was making research for my book and for the case I filed in the Federal High Court Owerri in 2012 between Indigenous People of Biafra (represented by Bilie Human Rights Initiative) and Federal Republic of Nigeria and Attorney General of the Federation. This is the original IPOB which I founded under the authority of the Elders before it was hijacked and destroyed by some overzealous Biafran youths who were full of zeal but without wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
These Treaty Kings of Igbo land did not receive their Staff of Office from the Governors of their States but from their ancestors. Their successors on the throne enjoy the same power and privilege. In fact, it is the Governor that should pay homage to these Traditional Rulers.
I am the Nzeobi II of Okwara-Unegbu in Amucha, Imo State. It is a Traditional Leadership Office in Customary Governance. I am sitting on my father’s throne.
My staff of office was by inheritance. It was given to me by my ancestors and not by the Governor. My father, Emekesiri Igbokwe, born in 1897, was not a Nigerian by birth because when he was born, there was no Nigeria. The British were still trying to create the new country they called Nigeria. He begot me at his old age. My office as the Nzeobi II of Okwara-Unegbu in Amucha is not contestable.
I think that Chief Obasanjo misunderstood the place of Customary Law within the Nigerian Constitution. Section 315 of the Nigerian Constitution recognises Customary Government under the Customary Law as well as Sharia Government under the Sharia Law. Both statutory governance and customary governance exist side by side. The problem is that our Traditional Rulers seem to be confused in matters of Customary Law Governance. They receive salaries from the State Governments. How can they be bold in the presence of the person who pays their salaries? That’s the problem.
Nevertheless, the Traditional Institution must be respected even if the person occupying the throne is not showing good examples. He represents the throne of his ancestors, assuming the throne was not created by the Governors. The throne is sacred and must not be desecrated.
Therefore, for disrespecting and desecrating the ancient thrones of the Obas set up by their ancestors, Chief Obasanjo must be punished in accordance with the Customary Law applicable in Yorubaland whether by way of providing 100 cows and 100 tubers of yam to appease the Obas or whatever their custom demands. When we say that nobody is above the law, it includes Customary Law.