By Oladele Ogunsola,Correspondent, Ibadan
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola
Adeyemi 111, has expressed worries
over the spate of insecurity in the
country occasioned by the Boko
Haram insurgency and its attendant
consequences on the existing bond of
brotherhood in the country.
Oba Adeyemi spoke in London,
United Kingdom (UK), during his visit
to the country’s High Commissioner,
Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, at the Nigerian
House.

The monarch, the first Nigerian
monarch to be so received at the
High Commission, spoke through a
statement made available to
journalists by his media aide,
Fehintola Azeez.
He asked: “What went wrong in
Nigeria today that brothers are
killing one another?
“Nigeria was not like this before,
what went wrong? Where did we miss
it as a nation?
“In the past, Nigerians were not
afraid of engaging in inter-tribal
marriages and there are numerous
examples of so many successful
marriages across the Niger.
“But, that is fastly fading away
because of lack of trust, tolerance and
other mundane things at the
detriment of a united Nigeria”.
While reiterating the negative effects
of the current insurgency on the
corporate existence of the country,
Adeyemi maintained that there was
no way Nigeria could move forward in
her march to greatness in an
atmosphere of crisis and wanton
destruction of lives and properties of
fellow beings.
The monarch commended Tafida,
saying, “I read a lot about Your
Excellency’s activities here to ensure
peaceful co-existence between
Nigerians and their host.
”Not only that, I’m conversant with
how serious you are about the image
of our dear country, Nigeria, and how
you always ensure that we are
globally projected in good light.
“I can only say you keep it up while I
congratulate Mr. President for having
a man of your calibre here”, Adeyami
posited.
While welcoming the monarch and his
entourage, Tafida described the visit
as historic, saying, “today is
memorable for us.
“This is going to be the first time a
paramount ruler will visit us, an
outstanding and outspoken traditional
ruler in Yorubaland”.
He recalled his first encounter with
Oba Adeyemi some decades ago when
the Alaafin was appointed Amirul
Hajj by the late Head of State,
General Murtala Mohammed, noting
that the monarch was the first
traditional ruler to be so appointed in
the history of the country by any
government, and his tenure in that
capacity had become a reference
point since then.
Tafida, who said he came to office as
High Commissioner in the UK in
2008, underscored the visit as
historic, noting, “Kabiyesi, we are
your children.
“We are here to serve you; we only
receive Presidents/Heads of State
here, not traditional rulers. But,
yours is different.
”Your Majesty, you are first among
equals. I have not officially welcomed
any traditional ruler from Nigeria;
this is first of its kind”, he said.