Alaafin harps on sanctity of lives, as UNIMAID VC visits monarch

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi
111, has called on Nigerians to stand together against blood guzzlers and enemies of state, nature and sound reasoning, who take solace in mindless killings of innocent souls.
This, he said would reinforce collective will, to completely snatch the country and destiny from the jaws of insanity and barbarism, just as our socio-cultural orientations that uphold the sanctity of life and the intrinsic dignity in the human person must never be surrendered to the ungodly.
The paramount ruler gave the admonition when he received the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Professor Abubakar Ibrahim Njodi, and his entourage who paid him a courtesy visit.
Alaafin regretted the rising disregard for human life and insisted that only a multi-level policing could secure the country adequately.
According to him, ‘’life is a gift from God, and if God were to withdraw his breath from humans, they would perish. Since life belongs to God, humans do not have absolute autonomy over their own lives but are stewards of the life given to them by God. The lives of all humans, both their own and others’, are to be cherished and guarded. The value of human life is intrinsic, for it derives from God, who made human beings in his own image. Consequently, the person who takes the life of another will be held accountable and punishable by God
through his human representatives’’.
Oba Adeyemi described masterminds of the bomb blasts that killed some people at the university as ’’heartless, and human types who engaged in mindless killings under the guise of religion’’.
Said he, ‘’Kanem Borno Empire was not only a large one and a centre of Islamic learning, but one of the places in Africa that first took to Islamic learning. I also express my condolence and sympathy to the bomb blasts deceased, their families, the university community and the Borno State Government’’.
Alaafin, who lauded the Vice Chancellor for what referred to as ‘’his measure of courage, determination and commitment’’ not to be deterred by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, said the recent conferment of national merit award on him did not come as a surprise.
While commending the Federal Government for deeming it fit to honour the Vice Chancellor, the paramount ruler assured the university community of his unflinching support towards its lofty heights.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor noted that since the appointment of the Alaafin as the university’s Chancellor, the institution had benefitted tremendously from his wealth of experience and intellectual sagacity.
“His Imperial Majesty, the Alaafin, means everything to us in the university. A royal father par excellence,Motivator, Father, Lover of peace and a Pathfinder’’.
Professor Njodi stated that as a result of long distance and
exigencies of the office of the Alaafin, he considered it expedient to come down to the ancient palace and intimate the royal father of progressive reports about the university.
The VC also hinted the Alaafin about his recommendation to the President by the National Universities Commission [NUC] for the award of National Merit Award, which he said made him the first university administrator in the country to bag the unique award.
He also informed the monarch about the spectacular which he said happened to him at the occasion.
‘’Kabiyesi, on the occasion presided over by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who represented the President, all other recipients were called for the awards in groups, while I was singled out for the award conferment by the Vice President. I felt elated and hereby dedicate the award to his Imperial Majesty, as father of the university, which operates as a family’’.
Professor Njodi, thereafter, presented packaged documents containing reports about the activities of the university.