OBA OF BENIN THE MOST SUPREME TRADITIONAL KING IN NIGERIA AND MUST BE GIVEN HIS DUE:

As an Edo Nationalist,there is nothing that irks me more or provoke my negative emotions than when my Nation is spited and insulted. From strangers,I can easily let it slide and excuse their tantrums to jealousy and envy of the great Idu Empire. But,I find it difficult to bear it or hold my peace when such vilifications are done by my own people.

" STATE GOVERNMENT APPROVES THE APPOINTMENT OF A NEW OBA OF BENIN"

Yes,I read that yesterday from one of the aides to Edo state governor and agent of Anglo-Fulani imperialism. This is the greatest insult to my National pride since I know how to walk. It is not only denigrating of one of the oldest African empires and its imperial tradition but the statement itself is inherently bizarre and dubious and clearly made with the mindset of self a serving megalomaniac( here,I don't mean the messenger,I mean the man who sent the messenger to publish such abominable news item)

(1) Edo as an empire is older than any of the federating nations in Nigeria and was never a signatory to the forced merger of this contraption called Nigeria.

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(2) The Edo Nation has her traditional Head of state known as the OBA of Benin. No man and no position is higher or can be higher than the office of the OBA of Benin in the Edo Nation. It is a position that has been sacredly hereditary for over 2000 years and never subject to the whims and caprices of any known " APPOINTOR" Two instances of attempts to deviate from this tradition were vehemently resisted by the Edo people. The first one was when Ogiamen the son of the interregnum Administrator Eviam,wanted to make himself the OBA of Benin some centuries ago and was roundly rejected. Omonoyan( son of Izoduwa) and the grandson of Ogiso Owodo was eventually crowned and Ogiamen's plans were decisively thwarted. The second instance was when the British Invaders tried to shortchange Aguobasinmi the first son of OBA Ovonramwen by trying to appoint Chief Agho Obaseki as the OBA of Benin. The people of Edo Nation again rose in unison and rejected this attempt. Aguobasinmi was eventually crowned as OBA Eweka11 and chief Agho left to rue his treachery.

(3) The press release from the state government failed to factor the fact that,Edo is not Ife,Oyo,Kano or Sokoto. The state government's role in the coronation of a new Ruler of the Edo people is not more than that of an official spectator and supporter of ceremonies. It has no traditional role nor the power to determine who is crowned. Any attempt to ascribe roles beyond being a perfunctory onlooker is traditional treason and abomination and our ancestors and our people will ensured it is decisively dealt with.

I don't want to politicize this and therefore would want to cultivate a charitable approach to redress this insult to the Edo people. We should demand a public apology from Governor Oshiomhole and Edo state government for this unpardonable insult and a clear and unambiguous statement retracting the release. This is the second time in weeks that this wayward government will be insulting our most revered royal stool. The word " iconoclastic" is still reverberating on our ears and now this. What is wrong with Edo state Government and their manager?

Elderstatesman Ojealaro Friday