Dr Doyin Odebowale, a former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties and Strategy to the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has dared the Oyo state House of Assembly to meet him in court over the remarks he made against the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, during a recent broadcast on Lagelu FM, Ibadan.
The lawmakers had last week called on the Office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to seek legal remedy against Odebowale for making defamatory and inciting remarks against the Soun of Ogbomosoland.
However, speaking with TheScrutiny on Sunday, Odebowale insisted that he never made abused or made any derogatory remarks against the Soun but merely cautioned against desecrating the norms and values of Yorubaland.
He said frowned at the action of the monarch where he knelt before the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye and allowed the cleric to place the crown on his head.
“I was startled when people started calling me concerning a non-issue. This shows how unserious these people parading themselves as lawmakers are. They are not busy with what they are elected to do. A lot of senior lawyers called when the news came out that they are taking me to court over the interview”.
“In fact, many people who didn’t listen to the interview were now forced to search for the interview and listened to it. Many of them called me back and said I stated the fact and there was nothing wrong in what I said”.
“Now, it is a notorious fact that I am a traditionalist which I have been since birth and I have never been pretentious about it. I was invited by that radio station to talk about the appointment of the new Alaafin of Oyo by the governor due to the controversy it generated. I said clearly in the interview that Governor Seyi Makinde did what was right by appointing Oba Abimbola Owoade as the new Alaafin”.
“The presenter now made reference to the consultation of Ifa by Baba Wande Abimbola Awise and said, take for instance, In Ogbomoso today, the way the people abuse the Soun in the name of religion is alarming. Some people are saying they are not going to listen to him because he is a Christian.
“I then said, we shouldn’t pretend not to know that we have really lost it as a people. Obaship should be about service and Ogbomoso, which is a town of warriors started as an enclave of traditionalists. But now we now have a pastor who claimed he has been drinking tea with God having our own Oba kneeling before him”.
“He (the pastor) now crowned him in full public glare. Jesus did not wear any crown and Adeboye aspires to a dubious theocracy. I listened to one of his tapes where he said a pastor is greater than the head of your family and whatever the pastor says is final. That is subversion of our creed and destruction of our land”.
“When the man who occupies the stool of Soun of Ogbomoso went to kneel before Pastor Adeboye, he lost my respect. I am not an enemy of Ogbomoso and I respect every part of Yorubaland. But my position is that we must stop desecrating and our land and I have no apology about that”.
“I never abused the Soun of Ogbomoso. I only said if I meet him anywhere, I will never prostrate to him but stretch my hand to shake him. He cannot ask me to respect him because he has disrespected my land and he has desecrated the the things that will make us want to prostrate and greet him. He has forfeited that right”.
“If I meet Ooni of Ife today, I will be rolling on the floor even before I meet him to prostrate because he is like the chief priest of our source. If I meet the new Alaafin, I will prostrate because no pastor will crown the Alaafin. But I will not prostrate for Soun of Ogbomoso. In fact, the Soun should apologise to the people of Ogbomoso for disgracing them by kneeling down for a mortal who equates himself to God”.
Odebowale who said he has tremendous respect for the people of Ogbomoso urged them to rise up against the Soun and insisted that he must do the right thing as culture demands.
“The people of Ogbomoso should rise against Soun. He should leave the throne if he is not ready to do what is right. It is insulting for the Soun to say he allows the traditionalists to practice their religion. It should be your religion as Soun if you want to remain on that throne.”
“As for the Oyo lawmakers, let us fight if they can. I am waiting for them. They will get more than what they bargained for this time” he said.
