Governor Seyi Makinde’s Inaugural Address 2023

God will be with you Gomina Olorire

This speech is impressive. I am amazed by the Governor’s performance record during his first term and his plan for the new term. I was also surprised that his team had already uploaded the speech he delivered yesterday on his website! This type of efficiency is rare in Nigeria, especially in the public sector. Although I am not from Oyo State, it is clear that I have so much to learn from the Governor’s style of governance. May the Almighty God continue to ease the Governor’s affairs and make it easy for him to achieve his lofty goals for his people. Amin.

Very concise and impressive speech, keep the good work continuing in Omituntun 2.0.You have returned the lost glory of Oyo State during Omituntun 1.0. Stay healthy,wealthy,cool and prepare yourself for National assignment…In Seyi we trust…accept my Congratulations sir!

*10 Possible Official Strategic,Tactical & Operational Roles And Functions Our Various Categories Of Traditional Rulers Could Play In Building Egalitarian Communities & Societies Within Our Nation, Under Democracy:*

By:

Olajide Thompson Olaopa

Email: [email protected]

*Introduction, Justification & Synopsis:*

Traditional Rulers in their various classes, categories and classifications, irrespective of the titles and the royal appellations they uniquely bear differently, after having been rightly qualitatively traditionally and modernly elected or/and selected, with citizens’ interests factored in robustly; all stakeholders interests inclusively, supportively, endorsely and tactically won; before being installed and coronated; and then if the winner beneficiaries have been strategically comprehensively well inducted also, before been competently fully knowledgeably enthroned for royal deployments; they could expectedly then have far more reaching useful contributive and stabilizing roles and functions to play, as critical value creating and value adding leadership stakeholders, to building and sustaining any egalitarian society, within the context of civilian democracy and the ambience of rule of law, in modern political public governance leadership system of a nation.

Traditional Rulers as Local Leaders, Nativity Champions and Ethnic Custodians of our native customs and cultures, in their various domains and in our various cities, towns and villages; are not meant to be mere native figureheads, but indispensable eggheads, to be officially involved in strategically synthesizing their subject citizens and residents wishes, needs and wants; and then leveraging the VIP strategic contacts and relationships of their subject citizens, residents and that of the political public governance leadership, for innovative and creative contributions to the growth and development of their people and enclaves.

They are also as well rightly, possibly, positively and strategically positioned, to be fully involved in idealizing and contributing “on- the- ground” native inputs and Royal intelligence, into the directions of political public governance policies and plans; as they may or will affect their citizens; satisfactorily, cooperatively, collaboratively, impactfully and sustainably.

These ways thay could have optimal valuable contributions, into meeting their people’s legitimate entitlements, social and demographic needs; as well as their preferences and their priorities; which they may selectively, preferably and presumably wish to seek due government interventions for in their enclaves, for the benefits of all their citizens and residents, in their various royal cities, towns and villages.

Our ideally competently solid character imbued Kings, as Obas, Emirs, or Ezes; or even as Baales or Local Chiefs, etc; are supposed to be the closest to their own people, and are therefore normally expectedly supposed to be the most competently strigently undersandable of their people’s mindsets, mentalities, needs, wants, preferences, desires and demands; from the ruling and reigning political public governance leadership; even more than the politicians, the public governance leaders and the civil servants.

Unfortunately, these may not be the exact cases for now, at least not in all cases; or not at all in many of the times; because, as usual of any system, “garbage in should only be expected to produce garbage out”!

That is to affirm the truism, that when the potentially impactful functions and roles of an institution are not well articulated ingestedly understood and comprehensively comprehended, by either the creators, or even the occupiers; the mutual abuses by the occupiers and even the creators of such institution, or/and positions within such institution, can not but be inevitably mutually recorded; sometimes accidentally, or frequently ignoramously.

Assumptions are the mothers of frustrations. Everything and everyone in every institution that must work sustainably optimally well, must work based on known applied principles by all the stakeholders.

Like the politicians themselves in our nation Nigeria, as a case study, recruitments, selections, appointments and deployments of people as native leaders, are fluidly structured and not solidly structured; in terms of many times not being cast in steel, or following unbendable defined rigid reasonable meritocracy or qualitative minimum requirements and bespoked specifications, beyond ascendancy validation; unlike as may be demanded to operate sustainably successfully as leaders of the people, in a global village internetworked socioeconomy, where competent people provided with ample sustainable training and development opportunities, could be expected to optimally fulfill their demanding tasks and roles sustainably, which no doubt critically includes that of thinking globally before acting locally these days, to remain generally, globally, acceptably and sustainably enviable.

We quite often don’t take sufficient critical cognizance of the fact that for ethically excellent peak performances to be initiated and sustained, among all types or categories of appointees to all kinds of key strategic leadership roles and positions in all sane societies, their mental intelligences requirements, must be complimented equally by their social intelligence, spiritual intelligence and emotional intelligence competencies; all of which are further sustainably developable, by concerted exposures to continous multidisciplinary trainings and developments, as well as mentoring and coaching interventions.

How frequently and how much of qualitative multifaceted 21st century leadership training exposures, do our various local, state and federal governments, deliberately providing for our native rulers intermittently regularly, to robustly frequently reempower and reenlighten them, to understand how their expectedly well articulated importance roles and functions for this century, fit in sustainably collaboratively and cooperatively, with those of the political public governance leadership, as synergistic partners in desirable all citizens-and residents-inclusive progress, for our realistic building of sustainable egalitarian societies and the deliberate engineering of progressively sustainably peaceful cities, towns, and villages in our contemporay times; in our attempts to fulfill the sustainable building of an enviable egalitarian nation?

Common sense and native intelligence deployment alone, can’t produce more than common results from our Traditional Rulers, using only their existing knowledge, experiences, common discretions and rule of thumbs!.

For desirable impactful sustainable peak performances and superlative contributions and results to be garnered from our native Traditional Rulers of all classes and categories, they too must leverage on relevant bespoke 21st century peak performance multidisciplinary training and development programs, frequenly and deliberately.

That should be the States’ responsibility. Or what else more critically impactfully relevant role, can proactively informed and resources equipped Ministries of Chieftaincy Affairs in collaboration with Training & Development Units in our various States, performed better than that?!

Equally, our many Ivory Towers full of the “Gowns” like “Satchet Pure Water Products in Nigeria”, should do much more, with multidisciplinary researched knowledge inputs possibilities and potentialities, in creatively and innovatively imparting knowledge and skillfuness, values and virtues to all categories of our leaders in our nation.

I can’t agree less to the obvious fact that we aren’t getting their best for now in Nigeria, but I can’t equally deny in the least that Nigeria isn’t giving them the best of enabling environments and motivations, to inspire their best of contributions to our nation.

Not in our nation Nigeria, where yesterday students taught at undergrads, could after national youth service, daringly venture into the wild world of electoral politics, and have their first individual salaries and allowances big enough to pay ten Nigerian Universities Professors annual salaries in one swoop!

All thesame, the “Gowns” should wakeup more dynamically usefully, in their administration and extension of practical applied useful relevant knowledge, skills and wisdom to the “Towns”, where the real actors and influencers shaping and shaking our cities, towns and villages for good or otherwise, are domiciled.

If our traditional rulers must contribute optimally to our nation’s building than being ceremonial leaders, they must be given clear cut roles, functions, responsibilities and ” proactive inclusivity, in ample life contributions to the nuturing, the directions and the contents of public policies, programs, projects, procedures and protocols, which will ultimately affect or demand the contributions of their citizens and subjects, in their respective domains; to succeed optimally cooperatively and sustainably, when rolled out.

What’s the point of a responsible government spending wastefully mispriotizedly, to building a Gulf Course in a village dying to have sufficient bore hole water installations and the renovations of their many dilapidated primary schools, as their priorities?!

Yet, the Political Public Governance Leadership and officials will be aggrieved and likely ultimately punitive, if the Traditional Rulers in such location in subtle protesed didn’t showup in all their Royalties on the commissioning day of the Gulf Course!

Politicians and public governance officials and leaders, must learn to seek and take the contributions and the collaborations of our Royal Fathers and Native Chiefs, as pivotally important; respectably, considerably, usefully, responsibly and proactively.

Executive Political Time-Tenured Governors, could remain also more maturely temperate, disciplinedly educated and enlightened enough, with responsible respectable discretions, devoid of not deliberately abusively politically harassing to oppressive submissions, our Royal Fathers, who are in fact life heritage tenured, but often times treated sometimes by some political leaders, with such infantile disdains, disregards and disrespects, not unfortunately ingloriously short sometimes of nothing but like treating beggars, whom they erroneously sometimes impliedly perceived and processed as like: “he who pays the pipers, must always dictates the tunes to them.”!

Our Royal Fathers in gaining, maintaining and sustaining their desirable consultations, respect and decorum, must equally also be updatedly knowledgeable of their ancient and modern roles and functions, as well as the limits of their authorities and discretions, under the rule of law.

An Emir who gave a well known Boko Haram/Bandit kingpin a Traditional Chieftaincy Title, was rightly recently suspended from office by the Executive Governor of a State in the Northern part of Nigeria!

How many more other Traditional Rulers can pass the forensic auditing tests of not once selling Chieftaincy Titles to the highest bidders, some of whom may be known or unknown undesirable quel human beings and sometimes known criminal elements?

Yet not withstanding, we thought it rightly advocating that our Traditional Rulers should be respected by our politicians and our political public governance leaders?!

Our Royal Fathers must firstly learn to attract their respectability, by their great senses of responsibility in judgments and high senses of ethical discretions in decisions.

More so that unlike the sitting Executive Governors, Traditional Leaders no matter their grades or statuses, do not enjoy prosecutable immunity, for any action challengeable in a court of law that may involve them with their aggrieved subject citizens or any of their other stakeholders.

To prevent unnecessary frictions, unruly treatments, and avoid idle unproductive and non-imaginative contributions in their life tenure of offices, which may often encourage the brewing of toxic spirits and polluted relationships with constituted government authorities and political public governance leadership, just like building the devil’s workshops; let’s attempt to clarify ten possible desirable roles and functions, which could optimally productively and contributively engage our Traditional Rulers mutually advantageously, in better win-win collaborations and cooperations with the State.

*10 roles and functions, our Traditional Rulers could serve strategically, tactically and operationally, in their various enclaves and geographical spheres of influences, and by extention towards serving the entire nation- Nigeria and Nigerians optimally, as a possible case consideration:*

*1. Our Traditional Rulers Should Be Inclusively Allowed To Operate An Actively Dynamic House Of The Royals And The Chiefs, To Compliment Our Houses Of Assemblies And The State Executive Committees In Our Various States:*

Critical relevant matters that could leverage the robust democratic free contributions and debates of our representative respectable Traditional Rulers as Leaders, should be encouraged, formally, frequenly and structurally.

What the political leaders, as children and actors, will climb the mountains to see, could oftentimes be insightfully seen and deciphered in reflective seated positions, by our apolitical native Elders, Leaders, Rulers and Fathers, especially our Traditional Rulers so competently conversant with their own people, their own enclaves and their own heritages and cultures.

Not tapping structurally, sytematically, stylishly, democratically and permanently, into the native intelligences, insights, experiences, and expectations of our Traditional Rulers presently optimally inclusively, is like short changing the potential of optimal political public governance leadership input options, for better quantitative and qualitative superlative public good. Especially in better policies shaping, through vital native inputs, which could make for better optimal political public governance leadership deliveries, and more so, for citizenships preferred bespoked deliverables.

*2. House of The Royals And The Chiefs Could Provide Ample Opportunities For Collegiate Brainstorming, Coaching, Mentoring And Understudying, For Further Individual Upskilling, Mental Growths And Developments, Of All Categories Of Our Traditional Rulers Who Will Be Present; And For More Robust Royal & Native Leadership Competencies Developments:*

Only irons can sharpen irons. In so far that ascendancy to royalty and traditional rulership stools are more hereditary than subject to open meritocratic recruitments, all kinds and all forms of beneficiaries come unto their stools with varied life experiences and diversified trained leadership acumens.

Those not so fortunately imbued could leverage on the gross combined intelligences and exceeding exuding wisdoms of the house, to sharpen their multidisciplinary innate leadership skill sets; and that could become a veritable source of better value adding opportunities, for better value creating leadership acumens To Whom It May Concerned Beneficiaries; and also for their citizens and their subject’s advantages. The same holds for the accrueable benefits to their geographical sphere of influences; in their advantage of seeing and acting better for their enclave’s knowledge driven growth and development engineering, faster and swifter.

*3. Our Traditional Rulers Could Play More Critical Peak Performances Roles, By Harnessing Their Mutually Beneficial Strategic Contacts And Relationships With Their Prominent High Networked, High Networth, Or More Experienced Colleagues In The House, For Deliberate Value Creating And Value Adding Inputs Into Their Enclaves’ Sustainable Growths And Developments:*

The quality of important strategic physical and virtual contacts and highnetworth relationships, which our Traditional Rulers enjoy within and outside their royal constituencies, could determine how easily they could leverage them into tangible sustainable benefits, for their people and their domains respectively.

Strategic Favours are never granted on merits, they are granted on the quality and the intensity of intentional networking, which are deliberately desired for building networth.

E.g. Abeokuta got her University of Agriculture, on the strategic favour asking request of their prominent Son, late Bola Ajibola, SAN, who solicited this favour singlehandedly then from his boss, The Head of State he served, General IBB- Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, whom he had served without taking salary as a Minister of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

When the “Military President /Head Of State” muted the idea of creating a number of specialized universities of Agriculture in Nigeria as reported, it was easier to request for one as a favour for his home town of Abeokuta, before it could possibly have become a subject of AFRC (Armed Forces Ruling Council) Executives’ debates at the Federal Ruling Council meeting.

The then but now late Alake of Egbaland, Oba Oyebade Lipede, was equally said to have been more than excitedly willing to work with other relevantly strategically notable citizens of Egbaland, to ensure the new University took off as soon as approved within Abeokuta, even in a temporary site.

The rest is now the history of the valuable varied contributions of this institution has added and will continue to add to the sustainable socioeconomic growth and development of Abeokuta City, asides intellectual dividends.

Similarly, but more recently, was also the reported case of the strategic motion in the past Senate, which Senator Dr. Olanrewaju Adeyemi Tejuoso; the Son of the Oba Oshile of Oke Ona in Abeokuta, Oba Dr. Adedapo Tejuoso; was instrumental to, on the need for the creation of Medical Universities in Nigeria.

One of such University has now just been announced to be located eventually at Abeokuta again, by ex-PMB- (ex-President Muhammadu Buhari), in the twilight of his regime in early May, 2023.

This was despite the fact that Lanre Tejuoso had left the Senate years ago; his subsequent successors continually coordinated and followed up and followed through actively selflessly beneficially, to actualize the reality one now for Abeokuta!

If our Traditional Rulers like Obas, don’t cooperate and collaborate healthily with politicians for instance, to provide land sites for laudable desirable public projects in their domains; or they are slow in, or low in, intensifying strategic lobbies for scarce public institution infrastructures and projects preferential location in their domains, their enclaves may miss a lot of strategic developmental projects; because political project supplies, are oftentimes less than the numbers of preferential royal demands for them in all domains!

*4. Our Traditional Rulers And Royal Fathers As Leaders Of Their Own People & Custodians Of Their Unique Customs, Traditions & Cultures, Should Work Out Programs & Interventions For Better Healthier Dynamic Citizenship Of Their Population:*

They should actively, systematically, programmably, sustainably discourage vices and crimes, vulnerabilities and self-inflicted destructive and disruptive weaknesses, which are now so common with our youths.

As an illustrative example, what justifications, businesses or excuses, should our modern Northern Nigeria Emirs and politicians still have again, in this global knowledge age of an open global village, in abrogating, eradicating and outlawing The Almanjiri youth disempowering system, still under their watch in 2023; when we all can see what UAE had done with their own children, and yet none of us the elites will pray to have our own children so dangerously denigratedly abused by nature and nuture, with all the resources Nigeria has at her disposal, as a supposedly oil rich nation, just like the UAE?!

Same goes for other Traditional Leaders and Politicians living larger than life disproportionately, in all of Africa, in the midst of multitudes of traumatized youths, who are living from hands to mouths in our nations, Nigeria being a classical case, as the unfortunate Global Headquarters of Poverty for the masses, many of whom destinies are being wasted by our grossly irresponsible *_”State and Lootership Systems”, instead of “Impactful Authentic Leadership and Ethical Political Public Governance Innovative & Creative Values Deliverability & Responsibility Systems*”.

We had all more or less jointly created avoidable intentionally institutionalized and engineered perennial poverty and despondency for our citizens for too long; more unfortunately in the midst of innate natural prosperity possibility for all citizens, just as in the UAE- United Arab Emirates!

Our leaders should therefore urgently enforce and motivate positive changes via right budgeting discretions, education, persuasion, moral suasion, role modelling, socio working and advocacy; as well as instituting healthy competitions, socioeconomic empowerments and sponsorships that reward legitimately sustainable ethical citizenships of our people; and more especially of our youths, in our various cities, towns and villages..

Our youths should be channelled away, by all ethically sensible role modelling leadership means, from engaging in:

*Cultism Memberships & Violent Cultism,
*Hooliganism,
*Drug Abuses,
*Random Indscriminate Impregnations & Procurement Of Unwanted Early Age Pregnancies & Children Giving Birth To Children Syndrome,
*Frivolous Abortions, *Prostitutions,
*Aversions To Western Education & Learning Of Entrepreneurial Crafts & Vocational Jobs,
* Street Begging,
*Political Thuggery,
*Illegal Illicit Use Of Arms & Ammunitions,
*Violent Ethnic & Religious Fundamentalism & Bigotry,
*Theft & Armed Robbery,
*Arson & Vandalism,
*Street Fighting,
*Physical Abuses,
*Substances Abuses,
*Gender Based Violence Against Women By Men, & Women Against Men,
*Character & Physical Assassination Crimes,
*Human Hostages Taking & Abduction For Money Ransom Payments Crimes,
* Discrimination Based On Genders, Tribes, Clans, Religions, Social Statuses,
* Underage Parenting & Poor Parenting,
*Reckless Driving, *Reckless Living, *Disrespect For Laws & Orders, Authorities,
Teachers, & The Elderly;
*Sport Competition Violence & Hooliganisms,
*Petroleum Products Thefts & Oil Pipelines Vandalizations;
*Public Amenities Thefts,
*Almanjiri Menace,
*Boko Haram Menace,
*Violent Religious Radicalizations,
*Ethnic Armed Struggles,
*Illegal Migrations,
*Human Trafficking,
*Internet Frauds & Human Sacrifices ( Yahoo-Yahoo Plus Crimes),
*Hard Drugs Trafficking,
*Human Organs Harvesting Trading,
*Herdsmen Violence & Farm Destructions, Etc.

Each and a combination of these and more others, as uniquely prevalent social ills peculiarly perpetrated by bad guys and girls in each domain, should attract the deliberate funded active advocacy of our Royal Fathers & Traditional Rulers, for positive change management programs, targeted at building more ethical citizenships by our traditional rulers in their respective domains.

Such deserved interventions and responsibilities like these, should also encourage robust State subvention budgets or grants from the States to the Palaces, asides creatively innovatively raising charitable donors funds, from various legit sources as well.

For an illustrative example, more recently, the Olu of Igboora Land, in Ibarapa Central Local Government of Oyo State, in Nigeria, Oba Alhaji Jimoh Olajide TITILOYE, provided good case example others could benchmark or emulate, by actively, serially and robustly focusing on well organized and attended Advocacy & Training Programs Against Drug Abuses & Violent Crimes, by youths in his domain; leveraging the impactful robust collaborations with all the relevant regulatory agencies of Government saddled with such interventions- NDLEA, NAFDAC, Nigerian Police, EFCC, etc.

The rich will also cry regrettably eventually, if they do nothing dynamically empathetically reconstructive, to checkmate bad citizenship actively, asides they themselves also becoming predorminanly exemplary in ethics and morals, in sustainably living moderately and non-oppressively, by their good citizenship and leadership conducts in our societies.

*5. Our Traditional Rulers As Leaders Of All Citizens And Residents In Their Traditional Domains, Should Strive To Remain Maturely Apolitical And Not Be Unheathily Discriminatory:*

Traditional Rulers that loathe the discipline and the discretion to remain and be seen as “Equitably Reasonable Father To All”, irrespective of political parties differences, religious differences, gender differences, or socialclass differences of their citizens, residents and subjects; will court humiliations by discriminations in no time.

It is wisdom for “The Leader Of All People In His Traditional Domain”, to be seen and perceived as hospitable, humane, proactive, reasonable, charitable, disciplined, selfless, accessible, and non-wantonly prefrentially discriminatory to any of his citizens and residents as subjects; irrespective of their various narrow differences.

Only folks with proven criminality propensities and brazen unethicality tendencies, should incur the traditional wroth and prosecutable sanctions of lawful Traditional Rulers, as Authentic Native Leaders of their people.

All people that respect and regard laws and customs, hospitality and mutual respectability, civic responsibility and responsible humanity, as peaceable citizens or residents, should have no ground to feel discriminated against, or treated inhumanely, by anyone in their domains.

The unfortunate contentious past removal of a sitting first class Emir of Kano by a sitting Executive Governor successfully, and the murder of a young female student of a college of education in Sokoto by religion fanatics sometimes ago in Nigeria; are both controversial issues of same shades of different colours; which no Traditional Ruler or Politician should be proud of in a modern state, worse still if done without sufficient due legal processes followed.

Dictatorship breeds anarchy. Anarchy destroys tranquility. Progress is not sustainable without guaranteed peace and fair trials of prosecutions, before legal sanctions of proven offenders.

Both leaders and ordinary citizens in our nation, must individually develop robust emotional intelligence, to compliment their mental intelligence, spiritual intelligence and social intelligence, to manage differences peacefully, civilizedly, enviably, acceptably and sustainably; or else, jungle justices will prevail to scare “the shit” out of potential foreigners, knowledge workers and foreign investors to our enclaves.

*6. Our Traditional Rulers Should Remain Loyal To Civilian Civilized Legality And Ethicality, Despite Their Allegiance Sometimes To Antiquity Of Traditions, Cultures And Customs:*

A traditional ruler was caught as the ringleader of a syndicate into abduction of people for ransom payment, sometimes ago in the Eastern part of Nigeria.

Another was caught in a Northern Nigerian State, as the Ringleader of thesame similar offenders against his own people.

In the Western part, we have read of a custodian of tradition getting involved in heinous criminal murder.

A one time celebrated High Chief, as The Maye of Ile Ife, and in fact a formal active contender at a time, to the revered stool of Ooni of Ife; Dr. Ramon Adegoke Atobatele Adedoyin, a business entrepreneur as an hotelier and a private university owner, has just few days ago now been sentenced to death by a Court of Law in Osun State of Nigeria, for his established complicity in what looked like criminally masterminding the murder of a post graduate MBA student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Mr. Timothy Oluwadare Adegoke, a native of Eruwa in Ibarapa Area of Oyo State, who lodged in his hotel sometimes ago.

Also, recently in Tapa Town, in the Ibarapa geographical area of Oyo State of Nigeria, a High Chief and more or less a Regent to the Royal Throne, who admitted to having been terrorizing the people with spiritual deaths, and even admitted to being responsible for inflicting debilitating sickness on his Oba, so he could remain in the acting capacity, was dethroned and forced into exile, by forceful abdication into the forest, led by the traditionalists of the town.

What inglorious ways to end from grace to grass, for these two custodian of culture of their people, as Traditional Chiefs?

All of these are nothing but disgraces to the institution of Royalty and the stardom of Chiefdoms in our traditional societies.

How enviable is putting handcuffs on the royal hands either Kings or Chiefs used to hitherto wearing hand beards?!

Royal Fathers and Traditional Chiefs must stay far from anything that could project them criminally, or for potential prosecutions as rogue models and traitors to civility and legality; instead of being role models of laudable and enviable behaviors and champions of healthy growth and development for their respective domains and enclaves.

As much as even Kings can’t be perfect though, as to err sometimes is human; Kings and Traditional Chiefs all thesame must not be full of iniquities either; because, just like impurities corrupt gold, so can the lack of integrity, ethicality, legality and humanity, corrupt leaders of the people into public disgraces.

They easily evaporate leadership impactful positive influences, to make leaders become subject of gossips and laughing stocks from their subjects.

*7. Traditional Rulers Should Take Active Interest In The Strategic Placements & Developments Of Their Worthy Citizens & Subjects Without Bribery:*

As a good illustrative example: The Northern Emirs played critical strategic roles in the recruitments of their citizens into the Nigeria Military so freely, and many of them became Military Generals, who shaped Nigeria for many years, strategically, tactically and operationally, during our military rule.

Now that we are in the civilian democracy, Traditional Rulers should
still work equally and helpfully sustainably, hands in hands and hands in gloves but heathily with the politicians, to advantageously positively influence the strategic recruitments, placements and deployments of their credibly worthy citizens and subjects. These they should do freely and excitingly, as much as they fall within their power of ethical highnetworth networking leverages.

Our Traditional Rulers should be strategically interested, in ethically and lawfully protecting the interests of their own people and their own enclaves.

They could in fact work deliberately with other crucial stakeholders also, at attracting investors and bigtime entrepreneurs, to invest and set up various businesses and industries in their domains, for the qualitative employment benefits of their citizens and subjects.

They should ethically lobby and persuade their citizens and high-networth kinsmen and women of substance in diaspora, to sponsor the establushment of industries or bring home some of their industries and businesses, for deliberate empowerment and employment opportunities creation for their natives.

Why should any Traditional Leader folds his hands unconcerned, while foreigners come to take up posts and positions his citizens and subjects who are equally qualified or unemployed can hold in his domain, either in public or private establishments domiciled in his own domain?

It’s normal and expected of Traditional Rulers to be natively ethnocentric, and be the vocal champions of their people’s interests first of all, above other foreigners interests in their own domains.

What’s only abnormal and unbecoming of a responsible Traditional Ruler as a Leader, is to loathe or selfishly missed having foreigners setting up businesses that could be of overall major commercial benefits and employability advantages to his citizens and subjects, and for no good cogent reason more than because he was subtly greedy and selfish, in his demands on the potential entrepreneurs.

It is worthlessly totally unethically selfish, of any Traditional Leader, attempting to trade off any government or private allocated infrastructure or developmental project meant for his enclave, to other areas for personal gains and illicit benefits.

Any strategically positioned native citizen that does that also, should be equally investigated, castigated, sanctioned, or even ostracized, by worthy Tradional Rulers, as an unworthy native citizen.

Tribal leaders as traitors to the legitimate interests and benefits of their own people, either secretly or openly, are like cursed grains left in the open markets, they will soon be food for freely roaming goats!

What you make happen for your own people, nature makes equivalent happen for you on the long run.

The Law of Karma must find expression sooner or later!

*8. Our Traditional Rulers As Leaders Of The People, Must Actively Play Major Roles And Parts In Reducing The Menace Of Unemployments, Especially For The Youths:*

Traditional Rulers as native leaders, can’t run away successfully from living among their natives at home, unlike our Abuja domiciled legislators, or as our “away-political- league- playing- politicians” could often do.

A city, a town, or a village with more unemployed youths, could easily become a workshop for the devil, where criminal gangs and hoodlums may soon emerge to terrorize even the Royalties.

We saw The Oba of Lagos’s palace looted and vandalized by hoodlums during the Covid- pandemic era of 2020. While there may be various interpretations to this by the various a nb analysts and stakeholders, what is certain is that ethically gainfully employed responsible youths, can’t easily be recruited into inglorious looting and vandalization of Royal Palaces.

Royalty must be seen to speak out boldly and clearly to political powers that be, against their people’s inflicted sufferings, lest they soon become their violent reactionary scape goats.

The 51st and current Ooni of Ife, the revered Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, once spoke so audacious and boldly to the creme de la creme of the political and power brokers of Nigeria, at a gathering at Abuja sometimes ago, calling for quick government interventions at reducing the hungers, angers and frustrations of ordinary Nigerians, especially in the rural and local areas.

He empathetically challenged many of the V.I.P.s at the gathering, on behalf of the ordinary suffering Nigerian masses, as recorded on video; he said many of them staying put permanently more or less at Abuja, should go and live for some months in their native local enclaves, and test their popularity against the peaceability of their native places, to see whether they will suffer or not youthful attacks and vandalism, from many of the native frustrated folks, especially youths, who currently see and perceive many of their leaders more or less as selfishly uncaring leeches and looters, than their authentic empathetic leaders, unfortunately.

It won’t be out of place indeed, for our palaces to syndicate and mobilize investors and resources helpfully collaboratively, to make having more industries, businesses and jobs created in their enclaves, to reduce the menace of joblessness and unemployment for our teeming youths in all parts of our nation.

Idle youthful minds and hands, will ever remain the veritable workshops for the devil and his scriptural ministries of stealing, killing and destroying!

In all our rural areas, there are ample and abundant raw agricultural products, waiting to enjoy further processing value additions, to enhance their premium marketability, if only relevant cottage commercial industries can spring up to come to their rescues locally.

Let our Kings challenged our politicians and public governance leadership, to follow in the deliberate enviable footsteps of Ghana, with their activated policy of one Industry per Constituency!

Let our Royalties also invest deliberately, to creating industries in their enclaves, as Business Entreprenurial Role Models to be emulated, by other native rich businessmen and women native citizens.

*9. Let Our Traditional Rulers Try To Have Definite Regular Schedules To Interact And Talk To Our School Children And Their Teachers:*

Catch them young Sirs!
If our native leaders and Royal Fathers are so far removed from positively influencing our school children, all they thought they knew and believed about Royalty may be deceptively wrong and grossly stereotypically misleading.

Let our Royal Palaces become actively scheduled places of excusions and knowledge visitations for our various schools, and for our children and student’s rightful native culturization sake, to learn more about our native histories, essences, heritages and cultures.

Let our Royal Fathers create time to interact directly, structurally and personally with them, to motivate these lads into deep learning, deep thinking, and deep reflections of their native essence, ethnical uniqueness; native etiquettes and African humanity; to gain rare unforgettable life insights and nativity experiences, as they are encouraged into building themselves up for ethically sustainable responsible citizenships, as leaders of tomorrow.

The Yorubas may described that as “The Omoluabi” positive ethnic humanity nobility syndrome impartation.

Palaces shouldn’t be all about being percervied as hallowed residences of our Royal Fathers, they should also now become more actively involved as centres of cultural illumination and nativity enlightenments for our children and students, many of whom are these days so ignorant about their native history, ethical culture and heritages, but so brainwashed and verse on “Big Brother Africa, Big Brother Naija, Telemundo and the English League”!

A Portuguese boy whose mother was a cultural ambassador to the Alaafin’s palace in Oyo, was actively mentored by the revered late Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi in his great time and days for years; and today, that “white boy” has become an entertainment social media and mass media Yoruba Star, who knows more about the richness of the Yoruba Culture in language, foods, clothing, and traditions enviably, much more than many Yoruba boys and girls, whose parents are “Psychedelic Yorubas”, suffering from “Colo Mentality” in the words of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. They are those who rated foreign Western cultures than their own native cultures, and had so poorly unfortunately culturally parented their own children, in sort of disempowering ways, that many of them can’t speak the rich Yoruba language, which is now fortunately fast becoming an enviably global language.

They forgot to help their Yoruba chidren as a case study, “to think like Yorubas unfortunately”!

Surely, many are now aware Yoruba Language has been adopted as one of the national languages for the nation of Brazil, and more Yoruba teachers are now being globally actively recruited by even the UK and especially the USA!

Yet here we are, some of us as the original native Yorubas in Nigeria and in diaspora, fast losing our connectivity and communicability with our language as vital part of our transmittable culture!

If we denied our children the richness and the best parts of our native culture as originally Nigerians in particular, and as Africans in genrral, we have simply reduced their future propensity and chance option of leading their own native people.

It’s nothing so enviably glorious of any modern day Traditional Ruler in Nigeria particular and in Africa in general, who can’t tell the history of his ancestors with audacity and authority, not to talk of being able to locally eulogize them in poetic melodious recitations, especially as common with the Yorubas.

A culturally shallow and nativity and customs uncultured Traditional Ruler, can’t be a veritably impactful excellent resource person to visitors on knowledge excusions to his palace.

Let our Royal Fathers go after deep knowledge of their histories, cultures, heritages, and their ethical ways of life and their evolution from crudity into modernity.

Civilization isn’t losing our tribal nativity essence, but projecting our tribal nativity essence civilizedly attractively to the world, in ways and manners that could cultivate us global reasonable respects and possible gradual gobal acceptances.

Let our Traditional Rulers actively strive to become verse in globally attractively communicating their ethical native value propositions, as leaders of their own unique people with unique histories and cultures.

Black is neither synonymous to lacks, nor do our dark skins as Africans signify black grey matter!

*10. Let Our Traditional Rulers As Our Native Leaders, Take Special Interests In How We Can Profitably Commercialize Our Heritage Sites And Historical Native Festivities Into Tourists Attractions:*

Every city, town and village, has uniquely attractively marketable histories, heritages, sites, stories, myths, and festivities, etc.

Marketing starts with packaging rightly and attractively, what we have to offer visitors as tourists.

This must be professionally done, to command the targeted audience’s attractions, those with the right tourism disposable income and social visitors’ purchasing power.

We must have multidisciplinary commercial committees activated in our various royal cities, towns and villages, to see how each enclave with compellingly attractive sites for commercial tourists, could be packaged, advertised, positioned favorably competitively, in the minds of the potential holiday makers and tourists, who could be found from all around the world, depending on how well we could magnetize them to our destinations, as cities, towns or villages.

Every human settlement with historical narrations, heritages and artifacts, could build commercial tourism cases. Those without originally, could also even build modern compelling attractions, just like Dubai in the UAE had done, which commercially magnetize millions of visitors yearly into that city.

Nigeria has great tourism potentials that could be developed, and professional hospitality businesses robustly sustainably built around them.

Almost all cities, towns and villages in Nigeria, have awesome inspiring strange sites that could be packaged for commercial tourism.

We also have all manners of unique local festivals, which could become uncommonly attractive and exciting sight seeing service products to foreigners, if only we could have them well packaged, marketed and managed.

Our Traditional Rulers should take charge and pick up more unique commercial interests in this aspect of our underutilized commercial potentials as an African nation.

Nations like Egypt, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychehils, among others; are making reasonable annual income from tourism; and Nigerians unfortunately are among the major visitors to most of these other nations, yet we haven’t done enough to establish and promote our own destination as a Global Tourism Nation, despite our rich natural diversities that are second to none in Africa.

We have many configuration possibilities options to leverage, such as; health tourism, personal shopping tourism, entertainment tourism, sporting tourism, ict tourism, zoological tourism, natural scenaries tourism, human made attractions tourism, higher education tourism, religious tourism, agriculture tourism, cultural arts & festivals tourism, etc.

There is none of these we can’t work on gobally comparatively competitively and attractively, if we are desperately serious as a nation in search of socioeconomic diversification and opening up of our sustainable multiple streams of income nationwide.

In my home town of Igboora, in Ibarapa Central Local Government of Oyo State in Nigeria, the renowned Global Headquarters of Twins Births, we have an annual *Twins Festival*, and it has been attracting many visitors in the past; but much more could still be done and achieved with better supports from more national and global investors.

We do also have many other historical sites and awesome inspiring mountains begging for more tourism explorations.

Governments at all levels should look more critically at creating major industries and massive youth employments, leveraging the tourism potentials of our cities, towns and villages.

Our Traditional Rulers if empowered with better budgets and relevant trainings and technical assistances for them and their team, from the hospitality expert teams from the States and the Federal Governments, they could make us more money than crude oil revenue possibly, ultimately, from their respective enclaves and domains, where global tourism attractions are currently in many cases lying fallow, awaiting world class developments and global marketing.

Our various governments critically need to sustainably fix Nigeria’s real and perceived insecurity menace against lives and properties, if we are to be taken serious for global tourism.

Tourism can’t flourish under anarchy, just like fishes can’t flourish outside waters!

“The 5A’s of tourism destinations are: *Attraction, Accessibiity, Accommodation, Amenities and Activities*.”

We can see that governments have much more to do, for the private investors to join in jumpstarting tourism seriously and sustainably in Nigeria.

“Tourism made up 10% of the global GDP, as far back as
2019; and this stood then at $9 trillion.

Tourism unfortunately made up only 3.6% of Nigeria GDP, as at 2023; but 25.74% of Seychelles GDP.”

“Revenue in the Travel & Tourism market in Nigeria for 2023 is projected at $2,953.00 million.”

Travel and Tourism industry could therefore be one of such optional massive diversification possibility leverage our national economy could enjoy, as a matter of fact.

That could now even become more critically necessary and compulsorily timely, as we await petroleum products going out of vogue globally soon; with hybrid automobiles that will soon be using more of electricity, solar energy, lithium batteries, etc., in anticipation of Green Mobility for Green Environment, and its many other ecological advantages.

Let’s start making our hays now, while our sun is still shining.

Let’s engage, let’s deploy and let’s utilize our Traditional Rulers, as our native leaders, the custodians of our cultures, heritages and closest leadership to their own respective people; more actively, more deliberately, more proactively, more dynamically, more creatively, more innovatively, more enterprisingly and more sustainably; beyond figureheads to eggheads.

They are major undertapped leadership resource pool we are currently seeing and treating as mere cost centers, when they could be converted sustainably into impactful profit centers to the States.

A word is enough for the wise.

If we haven’t trained them, you can’t blame them!

Olajide Thompson Olaopa

Principal Peak Performance Leadership & Management Trainer/ Consultant:

Tel/WhatsApp No: +2348020629241