President Mahama interacts with King of Ile Ife
President John Mahama has underscored the vital role traditional rulers play in national development, arising out of the cultural and religious bonds they share with the people.
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He said that relationship helped to propel the governance system in Ghana, adding that the government would, therefore, continue to create the enabling environment to further strengthen the partnership between state institutions and traditional authorities to promote further national development.
He pointed out that the 1992 Constitution recognised the role of traditional leadership, for which reason the government would continue to partner chiefs to seek solutions to the country’s challenges.
President Mahama was speaking when he welcomed the King of Ile Ife, a Yoruba city in Nigeria, His Imperial Majesty Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi Ojaja II, to his office at the Flagstaff House yesterday.
The King is in the country to confer with some traditional authorities, including the Ga Mantse.
Receiving the King, who was accompanied by a large retinue, including drummers, the President said there were many Yorubas in Ghana, some of whom were his classmates, with several of them occupying high positions in the Public Service.
He indicated that he had some roots in the Yoruba Kingdom for the fact that his half-sister is a Yoruba and mentioned the chieftaincy title that was conferred on him by the Offa Kingdom of the Kwara State of Nigeria last year.
President Mahama described the visit by Oba Adeyeye as significant and expressed optimism that the visit would further cement the bond of friendship between Ghana and Nigeria.
History
Recalling history, the President said the Ga people migrated from Ile Ife, for which reason they had a strong kinship with the Yoruba people, coupled with language similarities.
The President expressed his appreciation to the King for the visit.
Time to unite
Responding, Oba Adeyeye said there was not much difference between Ghanaians and Nigerians.
He talked about the Berlin Conference in 1884, stating that before the conference, there were no boundaries in Africa, until after the conference when the scramble for Africa saw the continent divided along several boundaries and nations began to emerge.
He stressed that one thing Africans should not lose sight of was their common source, adding: “The greatest joy in the world is the joy of our source and our origination.”
Common heritage
Oba Adeyeye, who was accompanied by his wife, said Africans shared things in common, stressing that there were similarities of culture which should serve as the greatest bond of strength.
“The strong similarities between Ghana and Nigeria should unite our countries and project their positives,” he said.
He called for an appreciation of the good things on the continent and asked African countries to take advantage of their comparative advantages and spread them across the entire continent.
“The era of sitting within the confines of our environment is over. We are in a global village and have to stretch across one another and see how we can lift ourselves up. We Africans need to help ourselves,” he urged.
For him, the time had come for Africans to put a stop to portraying negatives about the continent and rather project the positives.
Background
The King, born on October 17, 1974, is an accountant and the 51st Ooni of Ife. He succeeded the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade who died on July 28, 2015.
On October 26, 2015, Adeyeye was selected as King out of 21 contenders to the Ọọ̀ni Stool.
