Why Ondo Monarchs Endorsed Aiyedatiwa, By Oba Rotimi

Oba Luyi Rotimi, the Olujigba of Ijigba in the Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State was one of the monarchs who recently endorsed the gubernatorial ambition of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa. In this interview with Babatope Okeowo, he speaks on what informed the decision of the traditional rulers

Before you were installed as a traditional ruler, what was your background?

I am Amb. Luyi Rotimi, the Olujigba of Ijigba Land. By the grace of God, I am a reverend, I mean a minister of God. Since I became a minister of God, I have been making sure that I have a good and cordial relationship with my God who I must render stewardship to someday.

Also, I became a chartered accountant in 1967. To be frank with you, I was the first son of Akure to become a chartered accountant in London. Before I became the monarch of Ijigba, I was a former managing director of National Bank and chairman of Ondo State Investment Holding Company.

I was a governorship candidate of the defunct National Democratic Party (NDP). I was the first African auditor of UAC Nigeria in 1970.

How has life been with you since you became a traditional ruler?

As you can see, I am an old man. At eighty-five. I don't allow anything to bother me. Not even the royalty and all the paraphernalia that come with it. I think that has been the secret of my life.

One hundred and thirty Crown Obas adopted Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa before the APC primary; what informed this decision?

There is no other thing that occasioned it except that we fell in love with him due to his achievements since he took the mantle of leadership in Ondo State.

Let me be personal; I didn't just play to the gallery, I decided to join my colleagues because I am convinced beyond any doubt that he will deliver. I know so because of my personal interaction with him. I saw what Yoruba would call ‘Omoluabi' in him.

I saw character in him; I saw humility and kindness in him. That was why I had no reservation in joining other Obas to raise his hands up for the position of the state governor.

As the traditional ruler of Ijigba Land, what are your targets, I mean what do you intend to achieve for your people?

As you drove into my land, Ijigba, you will see that we need government presence. There is no single tarred road in Ijigba; no functional hospital or clinic, no police post or station. Our schools need government attention.

These are all I want for my people, not just to be flowing agbada. I want my community to witness tremendous transformation in my life time, so that they will say after I join my ancestors that the old man did his best. Besides, I want industries to be sited in Ijigba and I have opened talks with my friends abroad to come and invest in Ijigba.

Don't also forget that Ijigba is not like other neighbouring communities, it is not a traditional setting, meaning that we have limited land space. But even at that, any serious industrialist who wants to site an industry here will have enough land.

If I cannot provide enough land, the father of the entire Kingdom, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade, the Deji and Paramount Ruler of Akure Kingdom, out of love for his people, will provide enough land space for them because Akure as a kingdom needs industries.

What is your relationship with Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, the Deji and Paramount Ruler of Akure Kingdom? Without him and God, I wouldn't have been here. He is a father of all.

We fell in love with him due to his achievements since he took the mantle of leadership in Ondo State

He loves everyone in his kingdom, both natives and non-natives, including those of us who are obas under him. With his disposition, you will see that he loves even his detractors. He is a king who believes in God and that is the reason we are very close and have a robust relationship.

Taking a critical look at Nigeria, one will see poverty, inflation and hunger in the land caused by the fuel subsidy removal. What is your take on that?

All you have mentioned did not start now. We have been living in poverty, inflation and hunger for decades. I lived some part of my life in United Kingdom. I came back to Nigeria 40 years ago.

That means that I can tell you categorically that I understand our system. Since I came back to Nigeria, there has never been a period we did not chorus hunger, inflation and mass poverty. I grew up to hear from my father that things were not easy.

Up till today, things are not still easy. However, I feel what ordinary Nigerians feel. I am no more living in UK, so, I feel what everyone is feeling. But in all, we need to exercise caution, we need to be patient, we need to be tolerant and more matured in our approach.

I am one of the few people who believe that if President Bola Tinubu is given more time, he is going to turn Nigeria around for better. Nigerians should be more patience because I know that at the end of the tunnel there is light.

If you have your way, what would be your advice to Mr. President?

I will tell him to be focused and listen to Nigerians. He should make sure that he puts smiles on the faces of Nigerians. It is a big illusion to underrate the people because ultimate power belongs to them. Besides, he should do everything within his powers to approve state police which should be allowed to carry sophisticated weapons.

The reason is this, the bandits who usually come to kill and kidnap our people come with heavy guns, and we who are being kidnapped cannot. That does not make sense. That section of our laws that prohibits state governments from acquiring sophisticated weapons to protect their people should be thoroughly revisited.

What that simply means is that those at the Federal Government level are in full support of the killings going on in the country. Otherwise, the Federal Government should have been the first proponent of state police.

There is no way one person will sit on a comfortable chair at Abuja, overseeing the security of a nation with over 200 million people and large expanse of land. No! It cannot work. Our security architecture should be decentralized if we must police our people genuinely with every sense of responsibility, accountability and patriotism.

As an elder statesman, what is your take on the structure of Nigeria and the clamour for restructuring?

Another thing we must not shy away from is true federalism. It is the only panacea to all we are facing in Nigeria since independence. There is the urgent need for every region to determine what it does with its resources.

Exploration oil from Ondo State or any part of the Niger Delta to develop other states with virtually no mineral resource without recourse to the original owners of those resources should be reversed. Another area of great concern is that there should be constitutional provision for traditional rulers to be given roles to play.

These traditional rulers know their people more than the local government chairmen; they understand their people more than any tier of government. They are closer to the grassroots more than any politicians and they are more accessible to the governed more than those in government. Also, government pays their salaries, for that reason, they should be given responsibility to justify their monthly take home.

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