A group, Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association, has said the installation of some individuals as Yoruba Obas in the Diaspora by the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, should be reversed immediately.
The group, in a statement on Saturday by its National President, Mr Olalekan Hammed, said Olugbo lacked the authority to confer chieftain titles on people outside his domain.
The YYSA leader said Olugbo’s action was not in consonance with the Yoruba tradition and it could disrupt the peaceful relationship among Yoruba traditional rulers.
Hammed said the so-called holders of the three chieftaincy titles which the Olugbo conferred—Oba Yoruba of the Republic of Georgia; Oba Liberia and the Oba Yoruba of Ireland —were illegal because the titles were not approved by any of the two consenting authorities, stressing that they should be reversed.
The statement read, “There is already an agreement made by all traditional rulers in Western Nigeria that, nobody should install people as Yoruba Oba outside the shores of Nigeria.
“The pronouncement made by Oba Frederick Obateru Akinruntan is sacrilegious, it lack genuineness.
“Most of our traditional leaders are guilty of abusing their positions including the Aare Ona Kakanfo himself, Otunba Gani Adams, truth must be told.
“In Yorubaland, only two Obas (the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife) have the historical power to confer chieftain titles that cut across Yoruba nation on individuals.”
“The position of Aare Onakakanfo has nothing to do with conferring chieftain titles on anybody. He can only constitute team of warriors to fight whenever there is distress. So, except the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ile Ife, no Oba has the privilege to award a traditional title beyond their domain.’’
Source: https://punchng.com/yoruba-youths-fault-olugbos-appointment-of-diasporan-monarchs/