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July 18, 2025
His Royal Majesty,
Oba Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu I,
The Oba of Lagos,
Iga Idunganran, Lagos Island,
Lagos State.
Your Imperial Majesty,
STEP DOWN OR BACK OUT IF YOU CAN'T KEEP TRADITIONS: A CAUTION TO KINGS AND TRADITIONAL CHIEFS WHO SHUN CUSTOMS
The Eko Consultative Forum, a body of respected elders, cultural scholars, and heritage advocates committed to the preservation of Eko traditional values, writes Your Majesty with the utmost respect and seriousness. This Open letter seeks to address an issue of grave concern that threatens the cultural integrity and spiritual authority of the traditional institution in Nigeria, and particularly within Lagos.
We respectfully urge Your Majesty to issue a firm and uncompromising warning: “any aspiring monarch or traditional chief who is not willing to uphold our customs, rites, and ancient traditions should either step down or never accept the honour in the first place”, The crown is not a decorative piece, and chieftaincy is not a mere title; it is a spiritual and cultural commitment.
It pains us deeply to observe that Nigeria’s once-venerated traditional institution is losing its mystique and potency, due not only to modernization but also to the conscious refusal of some kings and chiefs to embody and preserve the sacred customs that define their roles. These individuals do not only defile the sacredness of their positions but also compromise the institution's role in promoting social order, identity, and cultural cohesion.
Your Majesty, the diminishing sanctity of monarchs has stripped the institution of its influence in nation-building. Today, many kings and chiefs behave like politicians or businessmen, neglecting the sacred traditions of comportment, community leadership, ancestral rites, and spiritual responsibility that historically made our thrones revered.
The truth is simple: nobody is compelled to become a king or a chief. But once the path is chosen, the individual must be willing to carry the full weight of tradition, no matter how ancient or inconvenient it may appear in modern times.
“If you want to be an Oba or a Chief, be ready to live by the traditions. You can’t wear the crown and reject the customs.”
This is not negotiable. It is betrayal of our ancestors, and it weakens the spiritual foundation of the land when sacred rites for enthronement, burial, or daily conduct are reduced, ignored, or mocked.
The Eko Consultative Forum strongly believes that the time has come for a restoration of the dignity, discipline, and depth that our traditional institutions once carried. Let the Obas, High Chiefs, and Baales return to their ancestral duties. Let them embody the sacred aura, protocol, and moral rectitude expected of their position.
We urge Your Majesty to champion a collective code of conduct, rooted in Yoruba custom and enforced by the authority of the Council of Obas and Chiefs in the State, that will:
1. Ensure strict adherence to enthronement and burial rites
2. Promote respect for ancestral institutions and taboos;
3. Emphasize the spiritual essence of kingship and chieftaincy;
4. Publicly rebuke any monarch or chief who desecrates these sacred obligations.
The traditional institution remains a strategic element of community governance, even in this age. It is also relevant to state that the colonialists acknowledged and worked through these structured systems of authority. If our modern governments still recognize Obas and chiefs as custodians of culture, then we must not allow those custodians to abandon the very culture they are meant to uphold.
In conclusion, we once again call on Your Majesty to issue a royal declaration to all traditional titleholders and aspirants: step down or back out if you can’t keep tradition.
This institution is not for personal prestige but for sacred service. The time to restore the honour and sanctity of our traditional institutions is now.
With all due humility and firm hope in Your Majesty’s leadership,
Yours in Cultural Service,
Signed:
The President,
Eko Consultative Forum
For and on behalf of the Forum
Cc:
The Executive Governor
Lagos State Government,
Alausa, Secretariat
Ikeja, Lagos State
The Honourable Speaker
Lagos State House of Assembly,
Alausa, Ikeja
The Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice
Lagos State Government
Alausa, Secretariat
Ikeja, Lagos State
Hon. Commissioner,
Ministry of Local Government, Community Affairs and Rural Development,
Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The Chairman,
Committee on Chieftaincy Matters,
Lagos State House of Assembly
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