Edge's News: I don’t want to see fourth coronation – Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Sunday prayed not to see the coronation of another Olu of Warri. During the visit, the ex-president bowed in homage to the newly-crowned monarch.

The 84-year-old statesman, himself a prominent Egba chief, was captured kneeling before the youthful Ogiame, who, though seated on his throne, deferred to the aged ex-president as he paid the youthful monarch due respect.

The former President media aid Mr. Akinyemi said: Obasanjo travelled to the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which is the ancestral home of the Itsekiri in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, to pay homage to the new monarch.

Akinyemi described his boss as the “Baba (Father) of Africa” who can pay homage to all exalted traditional seats.

He said that Obasanjo did not kneel before the monarch but before the ancient Iwere Kingdom, which dates back to over five centuries.

“He (Obasanjo) went to Warri this (Sunday) morning to pay homage to the new king. It is a traditional institution; he (Ogiame Atuwatse III) is not the one sitting down, it is the institution that is on the throne.

“Obasanjo is the Baba of Africa and he can pay homage to every exalted traditional seat,” Akinyemi told our correspondent on Sunday.

Continuing, the aide said, “It was not Baba’s first time; he also once prostrated before Gbagura.”

The former President, who is the Jagunmolu of Egbaland, had, in August 2019, attended the coronation of Oba Saburee Bakre as the Agura of Gbagura in Ago-Oka, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he also paid homage to the then-new king.

Obasanjo said he wishes not to see the fourth coronation of Olu of Warri because he has seen three in his lifetime. The former president spoke during the thanksgiving service of the newly-installed Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, at the Palace of the Olu of Warri, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State. He called on the newly installed king and people of Itsekiri to work with the new monarch to work together towards achieving greater development in the kingdom.

“I am one of the happiest on your installation because God has especially favoured me to see three Olus and I don’t pray to see the fourth one. “I want to emphasise that the position you occupy today is given to you by God but with your own people surrounding you and you must always remember that.

“If God has given you a role to perform you will be offending God if you fail to perform that task,” he said.

Source: Punch

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