Senate’s move to elevate Ooni, Sultan divides Nigerians

Ordinarily, the proposed bill to create the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria should be a welcome development, as it seeks to constitutionally recognize the roles and importance of traditional rulers for the overall peace and development of the country.

However, the clause that empowers the Ooni of Ife and the Sultan of Sokoto to be over and above other traditional rulers in the country has subjected it to widespread criticisms, attacks and rejection, particularly from the Middle Belt Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Middle Belt Forum, among others.

These groups, as well as several individuals from across Nigeria, have described the move as divisive, undemocratic, and a threat to Nigeria’s federal character.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Simon Bako Lalong (Plateau South), passed its second reading in March and is currently before the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service. Although it is intended to formalise the structure of the country’s traditional leadership, its provision assigning permanent leadership roles to the two monarchs has ignited outrage across Nigeria’s multi-ethnic landscape.

A statement by the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, rejected the proposal out rightly, describing it as unjust, ethnocentric and a direct affront to the principles of equity, fairness, and federal character enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, the clause threatens to marginalise other prominent traditional institutions in the South-East, South-South, and Middle Belt, undermining inclusiveness and national cohesion.

We are profoundly astounded by the rationale behind such an asymmetric bill by the Senate, with its utter disregard for fairness, equity, justice and the principle of federal character.

“The Senate, in this vein, has failed in its capacity as the highest legislative carrier and custodian of the nation’s democratic mandate,” Chukwu said.

Further describing the bill as inequitable, ethnocentric and objectionable, the Igbo group insisted that such a law has no place in a pluralistic nation like Nigeria.