Posted by Niyi Odebode and olaolu oladipo on
President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday blamed what he described as bad belle for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, won by his kinsman, the Chief Moshood Abiola.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday blamed what he described as bad belle for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, won by his kinsman, the Chief Moshood Abiola.
The President spoke at the coronation of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo at Ake, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
He had enthused that their Alma Mater, Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta and Egbaland had produced great people for the country.
He said the bad belle, in an apparent reference to the annulment, deprived the Egba from producing at least three presidents in the history of Nigeria.
Obasanjo said BBHS had produced great men such as the new Alake; the Olowu of Owu, Oba Olusanya Dosunmu; a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola and the Olubara of Ibara, Oba Jacob Omolade.
Amidst thunderous applause, Obasanjo, who extolled the virtues of BBHS on have the singular feat of producing high caliber of personnel for the country.
He said, 'The point is this, if you see the caliber of people that have passed through this school, some of those are here, the school that have produced two past presidents, governors, obas. If not for bad belle sef, that school would have produced three presidents.
Obasanjo, an Egba man, commended traditional system of administration in Egbaland.
According to him, federalism has been in existence in the area before colonial period.
He, therefore, urged other Nigerians to learn from the Egba, who had perfected federalism in their administration.
Urging the new monarchs to address the poor quality of leadership in his area, Abeokuta South Local Government, Daniel said, 'Over the years a worrisome pattern of low quality of leadership seems to have emerged in this local government, which all Egba sons and daughters should view with concern because it does not tally with the antecedents of the Egba or the impressive stature of their monarchs."
The governor said it was remarkable that all the Presidents from South-West were Egba, adding that the doyen of the civil service, Chief Simon Adebo was an Egba man.
Daniel further said, 'The Egba have also significantly impacted the prosperity of many of their neighbors, notably Lagos.
According to him, the selection of Gbadebo continued the tradition of choosing high caliber personalities as the Alake.
He, urged the new monarch to use the advantage of overwhelming support he had got to develop Egbaland.
The new Alake, in his acceptance speech, said the Egba should strive to build on the legacies of their ancestors, saying they must not live on past glory.
The Alake urged other obas in Egbaland to cooperate with him in promoting peace and unity in Egbaland.
According to him, the Egba have been enjoying peace and political co-existence."
The monarch further said, 'No society exists without friction, conflict and occasional disagreements.
Egbaland cannot be an exception.
'But the beauty of leadership is to manage and control societal frictions. Let us therefore dwell on things that unite us and deemphasize those things that are capable of dividing us."
SUNDAY PUNCH, November 20, 2005