Osun Monarch tasks Nigerians on moral lessons
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Akire of Ikire-Ile in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area of Osun State, HRM Oba Abdulazeez Olatunbosun Adebamiji, has urged Nigerians to take moral lessons and not be engrossed in arrogance.
The Yoruba monarch, whose post via his verified Facebook social media network implied this on Friday May 17, 2024, started with an analytical whereby he sighted a scholar word on marble.
“A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction,” said Leo Tolstoy, the king, himself an academic, quoted.
Oba Abdulazeez listed out moral lessons derivable from the quote saying, “Lower your ego (Yéé gbé’ra ga – meaning to ‘stop being arogant’).
“Pride reduces the doer to nothingness (Ìgbéraga ni ìgbé’ra sán’lẹ̀).”
The prominent Osun State traditional ruler, known for encouraging and enboldening the Nigerian youths to be ready to take up leadership positions in securing the future of tge country, has been more in using the word of God to admonish people of his kingdom and beyond as that is the best way of ensuring society security, peace, harmony and development.
Recall that as the 2023 general elections were fast approaching, the youthful looking monarch, while counselling the Nigerian youths in his positio as royal father, cautioned them against allowing politicians to use them as agents of destruction before and during the elections, saying that they should see themselves as agents of positive change not the other way round.
He gave that admonition in his address to participants at a political summit organized by the Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Youths Congress (NYC), held on Thursday January 19, 2023 at the Osogbo Holiday Inn, adding that the roles played by youths in the political stability of the country were commendable.
Although the statement by tge monarch is over one year old, it continues to resonate as the country continues to need such an admonition to nurture its people including the teaming youths, among who today some have derailed to take acts of non-state actors as guides and the now prevailing thugs in affluence as role models.
Describing the youths as leaders of tomorrow, the monarch had said the fact ”that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow is undeniable, but our society needs to take cognisance of the type of youths we produce or train, that would be capable of facing future challenges.”
He said, “We have examples of many of our past leaders who held various positions of authorities during their youthful days. A good example is General Yakubu Gowon who was Head of State at a very young age and served the nation creditably. There are so many other examples and we can borrow a leaf from these great men of history.
“Today, do we have youths that can be entrusted with positions of authorities? Do we have youths with integrity and conscientious ready to serve with the fear of God? These are pertinent questions which we should all answer in the anals of our minds,.
“It is quite impossible to give what you don’t have. Only the youths with proper orientation, native intelligence and incorruptible minds will be able to face and overcome the challenges and invariably turn things around for good. It is on this note that I enjoin you to dine and wine with responsible leaders, so as for you to also emerge as good leaders in the nearest future. You should also be focused and start to think of what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for you,” he added.
However, over a year after on Friday May 17, 2024, Oba Abdulazeez Olatunbosun Adebamiji, the Akire of Ikire-Ile, characteristic of him took to his Facebook page to urge people being power or pride drunk to learn howvto calm down because’igba ko lo bi orere’ a Yoruba parlance that means ‘no condition is permanent in English.
