Osun Monarch, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdurosheed Akanbi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to create Chieftaincy Affairs Ministry with a view to giving traditional rulers a constitutional role in government.
This was made known in a statement issued by his spokesperson Alli Ibraheem on Thursday, saying that such a step will help address many challenges facing the country, especially insecurity.
While suggesting that a monarch should be appointed to head the Ministry on a rotational basis from each region, Oluwo charged the Federal Government to take a cue from the Western Regional Government that created the House of Chiefs with monarchs serving as non-portfolio ministers.
The statement read, “The traditional institution is an integral part of government and closest to the grassroots. The traditional rulers dedicate themselves to serving their subjects. We play a pivotal role in securing our respective domains and ensuring peaceful coexistence.
“Oba Akanbi call on the federal government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of President Ahmed Tinubu to actively and directly involve traditional rulers in his administration through the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs.
“Creating the ministry will give a constitutional role, empower the traditional institution, endears monarchs to democratic participation, reassure belongingness, and strengthen grassroots mobilization and participation with all-inclusive dividends of democracy.
“The government of the old western region involved traditional rulers effectively. The first class amongst us were appointed as Ministers without portfolios. The throne of Oluwo was one.
“The minister for the ministry should be first class monarch appointed on a rotational basis amongst the six geo-political zones of the country. The government is urged to consider the suggestion to make a change in our democratic arrangement”.
