About

Inaugural Speech of the SNTRC Chairman, His Royal Majesty Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II

Your Excellency, the President of our dear nation, our own very astute leader, the father of our country, President Bola Tinubu, is duly represented here by the Secretary to the Federation of our dear country, Your Excellency, the host governor, his excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma.

On behalf of all traditional rulers from Southern Nigeria, we want to show appreciation to you for your commitment, for your steadfastness, for your forward-looking approach to bring unionism to the Southern protectorate of our dear country.

This is an initiative that you’ve been nurturing for it to be a better platform for us to uphold our heritage, our culture, and our tradition. I remember vividly ever since you were a senator, it’s been something that has been at the top of your mind and your agenda for you to see how we all come together. Today, I know your dream and your vision have finally been achieved.

My very own Governor, my very amiable, very handsome governor, the current Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum of our dear Country, indeed my brother, traditional rulers can confirm that indeed he is very handsome.

For him to have emerged out of a very transparent voting across the board for the Southern Governors, the chosen one to lead every affair that has to do with the Southern protectorate of our dear country. Your Excellency, a Prince himself, a prince per excellence and a Governor too, Prince Dapo Abiodun, you are welcome, Your Excellency, from the Northern part of our dear country, the Governor of Yobe State, we can see indeed the proper blend of what the traditional rulers’ Council stands for. Nigeria first, before Southern Nigeria.

We can truly see from the inauguration what we are doing today. It is not by providence that we have our other ones from the Northern part of the country to observe and see what we are doing here today. Your Excellency, you are welcome, and on behalf of all the traditional rulers from the southern part of the country, we give you a resounding round of applause.

The already established protocol, I will observe, but what is crucial for me is to show a sign of appreciation to our royal fathers who are here.

Like I mentioned yesterday, as a student of history, the Southern protectorate and Northern protectorate came to be in 1914. This is the very first gathering, I repeat, the very first gathering that will be all encompassing for the entire Southern protectorate of our dear country, it has never happened before.

And if you are a student of history too, you can challenge what I’ve said today. Your Excellency, the host governor, you have made another indelible mark. Please, let us all give the host Governor a resounding round of applause.

We thank you very much for what you have done for us, particularly the country that we all belong to; we do not have any other country, this is our country, Nigeria first before our other local communities. It is very important for us to know that all of us coming together, with over 95% success today, it has never happened before.

We have the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum of our dear country, he is a prince, as I mentioned earlier, but our very first meeting. I haven’t consulted him, but I am actually using royal veto to tell him that our first and next meeting that we will hold, will actually happen in Ogun State, and it will be bigger, wider and broader more than this by the very special grace of God, on behalf of all traditional rulers, Your Excellency, we are challenging you.

We want all Southern Governors’ Forum to be present, we want your full commitment to it, we want your full dedication to it, and we know you will do it. Thank you in advance for making it happen. Your Excellency, are you giving us a nod for it? Please let’s give His Excellency a resounding round of applause.

On this note, I want to read and read very carefully our mission and our aim for the Southern Monarchs Gathering, and what we stand for. We southern traditional rulers of Nigeria, are coming together, and our mission statement is to work in synergy for the peace of Nigeria and the furtherance of the unity of southern traditional institutions.

It is about time for all of us to come together as Southern Nigeria Monarchs Forum for us to uphold our rich heritage, we are not religious rulers, we are not religious leaders, we are traditional rulers, we are there to uphold our heritage, we are there to uphold our tradition and culture, we shouldn’t mix the two.

We are way and above anything that has to do with religion, anything that has to do with politics, we are father to all, and we should be all-embracing. It is very important for you to know that this is our aim as Southern Nigerian monarchs, as we are all coming together, may God almighty and the spirit of our ancestors continue to be with us.

The aim for the creation of a Southern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Council is to for the creation of a Southern Nigerian traditional rulers Council is to for the better understanding and respect for our diverse cultures in creation of Southern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Council is to work for better understanding and respect for our diverse culture in Southern Nigeria. It is very important for us to know that this gathering is very important for us all

In unity, there is a lot of strength in it; in unity, we can achieve so much; in unity, we can actually work towards how the country can be better. We all know the challenges that we have in our dear nation. We know that by virtue patience, a lot of things would be better, let us work together as a country to actually be this bonded together and be stronger, and not as an individual monarch leaders or political leaders, it is very important for us to know that we occupy the throne that is very selfless, we occupy the throne that we should put our people first, we occupy the throne that everything that has to do with our people, either good or bad we should take responsibility for it, other than waiting for our political leaders, we are the closest to our people and we must stand for them, and we must work towards the betterment of our people and we must work together on how our country can be better. God bless Southern Nigeria, Traditional councils, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and God bless all of us.