President, Owu chiefs hold peace meeting
From Coffie-Gyamfie,
Abeokuta
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday described the dispute between him and some kingmakers over the succession to the royal stool in his Owu town of Ogun State, as a quarrel between members of a family.
He gave assurance that the disagreement would soon be resolved.
The President appealed to all indigenes of the town not to impede a peaceful settlement of the dispute.
Obasanjo told reporters at his Ota, Ogun State farm: "Whatever is happening within us (Owu) is a family affair which is normal in any family cir`cle and I assure you, it will soon be settled."
He spoke after a three-and-half hour meeting with a "Reconciliation Committee" raised by the Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, to find an amicable solution to the crisis.
Five of the eight Owu kingmakers had on Monday called a press conference where they accused the President of scheming to impose a particular candidate on the people as their monarch.
A meeting held that day to elect the new monarch was inconclusive as the kingmakers alleged that President Obasanjo, who is one of them, disrupted it. The President, in a letter to Governor Daniel, accused the kingmakers of bias and being compromised. He urged the governor to disband the kingmakers' body and constitute a new one.
But yesterday, the president said that no responsible family would wash its dirty linen in public, and urged all Owu indigenes to embrace peace.
He stated that when the crisis began on Monday, some people abused him but that he bore no grudge against them because such was the price he had to pay as a leader.
The five kingmakers who addressed the press on Monday were absent at yesterday's meeting in Ota. But the Bashorun of Owu, Chief Doja Adewolu, explained that they were not invited for tactical reasons. Adewolu insisted that the two sides to the dispute would meet next week after the celebration of the "Owu Day" scheduled to begin today and end tomorrow.
The five kingmakers had on Monday, during the press conference, cancelled the celebration as a way of protesting the president's alleged disruption of the election.
But Obasanjo said that the main aim of the celebration was to reconcile the Owu people, insisting that it would hold as planned.
Appealing to all Owu in the country and the diaspora to attend tomorrow's grand finale of the celebration, the president said: "What is important is that we want the best for the Owu people. We are working towards that and we will definitely get the best for the Owu people."
Chief Ogo-Oluwa Bankole, who also spoke on the dispute, said: "Thank God, we have been able to resolve the issue amicably. We are one family and Owu Day is meant for reconciliation. So we will celebrate the day as scheduled."
All the other Owu chiefs who spoke, including Doja Adewolu and Olubolahan Ijaola insisted that the celebration which begins today with a Jumat service would hold as planned.
Obasanjo said that Governor Daniel, who initiated the peace moves, would later be briefed on the outcome of the meeting.`
