Benin monarch, Oba Ewuare II, has said the calls seeking roles for traditional rulers in Nigeria’s constitution, is desirable.
This was just as the royal father lamented abuse of traditional titles by some individuals who, according to him, sometimes indulged in criminal activities which were constraints for stakeholders in Nigeria to resolve.
Oba Ewuare II made this known when the President of the NUJ, Comrade Chris Isiguzo and other members of the National Executive Council (NEC) paid him a courtesy visit in his palace in Benin City, Edo state.
The traditional ruler recalled how he made a personal presentation to President Muhammadu Buhari on the need for traditional rulers to be accorded protection against being deposed indiscriminately by some agents of states as it is in some developed climes.
The Oba said it was embarrassing to read on various media platforms that some monarchs in Nigeria had been arrested or arraigned perhaps for behaving in such a manner that was unbecoming of a traditional ruler.
He said that “if for any reason, it is possible to define who a traditional ruler is, as defined by my father, Oba Erediauwa, in a paper that he presented at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) years ago.”
According to him, “You have found out that the problem we have in Nigeria is that almost everybody is His Royal Majesty, His Imperial Majesty, His Royal Highness and so on and-so-forth.”
Earlier, the President of NUJ, Comrade Chris Isiguzo, appealed to governments at all level to consider allowing traditional rulers, to play their roles and assert their authorities especially in arresting the high level of insecurity in Nigeria. (Blueprint)
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