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Olubadan talks tough, okays new head for Igbo community

By Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan
25 April 2016   |   1:03 am
The prolonged leadership crisis rocking the Igbo community in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital may have finally been laid to rest as the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, has endorsed....
Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji       PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

•Monarch deplores herdsmen’s activities
The prolonged leadership crisis rocking the Igbo community in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital may have finally been laid to rest as the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, has endorsed Chief Alloy Obi as the Balogun Ndigbo of Ibadanland.

The traditional ruler, who made his stance known at the weekend in Ibadan, warned that nobody should, henceforth, parade himself as Eze Ndigbo in the state capital.

While threatening to arrest anyone who flouts the order, Oba Adetunji urged the Igbos in the state to support their leader, emphasizing that “there is no more room for Eze Ndigbo title in Ibadanland.”

The monarch stressed that the endorsement of the Balogun Ndigbo should not come as a surprise given his contributions to the development of Ibadan, adding that he was presented by stakeholders.

“With my blessing, from today Alloy Obi has become the leader of all the Igbos in Ibadanland, thus putting an end to the leadership crisis which has been raging for sometime now. What I am doing today is just to give approval to what my predecessors did by conferring the title of Balogun Ndigbo on him.

“Let me however say that it has now become an offence for any other person to parade himself as the leader of the Igbos in Ibadanland. Whoever dares to do this will be going against my authority and I promise that such a person will face the full wrath of the law,” the monarch warned.

He urged Obi to extend a hand of fellowship to all Igbos in Ibadanland, adding that it was only through an open door policy that he could succeed as a leader to all.

Meanwhile, Oba Adetunji yesterday charged Nigerians on peaceful and harmonious living irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations.

The monarch, who spoke while receiving representatives of Fulani community from Oja Ibadan led Alhaji Yunusa Wakili, condemned the unwholesome activities of some herdsmen in the state who were destroying crops through grazing, and at the same time, attacking their hosts.

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