Prince Charles’ Meeting with Nigerian Traditional Rulers a Cultural Disaster- Adegboruwa

Ebun Olu Adegboruwa, a lawyer, has criticised the way Nigerian traditional rulers were treated during their meeting with Prince Charles who is on a three-day visit to Nigeria, calling it a “cultural disaster in Abuja.”

The lawyer argued that Charles is still a Prince as of today, saying that all royal fathers “were summoned to Abuja to meet with him. It should be the other way round. Obas, Obis, Emirs and Kings are to be honoured in their kingdoms and domains, and not to be lined up in Abuja to meet foreign visitors.”

He added: “Even at that, since there is no particular order of hierarchy for royal fathers in Nigeria, a round table sitting arrangement would have been better than this “pupil arrangement of sitting very revered and respected royal fathers like people seated for examinations,” adding that the “desperation for recognition and endorsement as 2019 approaches may backfire, if not properly handled. Our royal fathers should preserve the honour and dignity of their thrones.

“I remember that the immediate past Oba of Benin dignified his office and refused to pay any visit to Abuja for whatever reason. It was his courage and boldness that caused the Jonathan regime to hurriedly effect the reconstruction of the Benin-Ore Expressway. We need leaders like him in our present day Nigeria.”