Club 66 Idanre has cautioned the Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN for the unguarded words used to denigrate the person and the throne of Owa of Idanre Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Adegunle Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, following a peaceful protest by the community over the alleged taking over of the forest reserve in the area by some companies.
The Club, in a statement by its President, Dr. Anthony Omolola, urged the Governor to apologise for the invective words reported to have been used on the revered traditional ruler.
According to him, the reports of the Governor’s insult and threat on the 96-year old Monarch during a phone conversation over the issue of Idanre forest reserve forcefully harnessed and allegedly sold to some companies and people by the state government was an affront to all peace loving people in the community.
Omolola said the Governor, as a Yoruba son, ought to have been modest and diplomatic while talking to elders and traditional rulers who are the custodian of the people’s culture, heritage and values.
“An insult on the Kabiyesi, the Owa of Idanre Kingdom, is an insult on Idanre people and we will, in all its entirety, reject such”.
“We believe that the ancestral land/forest of the people cannot be shared or allocated to groups or companies without the proper discussion and agreement with Kabiyesi, Community leaders and the people who are the custodian of the land/forest, considering the socio, cultural, moral and economic implications”.
“We demand from His Excellency, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, unreserved apology to our Kabiyesi”, he stated.
