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Monrovia – The Nigerian traditional state, Iwo Kingdom’s king known as the “Oluwo of Iwo”, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi Ilufemiloye Telu, has referenced the bloody civil war in Liberia that spanned more than two decades, as a way of sounding a caveat to his countrymen in Yoruba land to shun conflict amid calls for war currently being occasioned by insecurity in Nigeria’s southwest.
Liberia went up in flames for over a decade, resulting to the wanton destruction of lives and properties, including the death of approximately 250,000 people and the displacement of thousands others, when a bloody civil war engulfed the country on Christmas Eve in 1989 – after rebel forces under the command of jailed former Liberian president Charles Taylor shot their way into the country through Buutuo, in Nimba County.
In Oba Akanbi’s mention of the Liberian war, he told his kinsmen that the lesson he learned during Liberia’s internecine war is still fresh in his memory.
The Nigerian online publication, The Nation, reports that in a statement, reacting to a widely publicized letter sent to President Muhammadu Buhari by Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Oba Akanbi said he found himself in the thick of the horrific war in Liberia, indicating that he even formed a part of the ragtag rebel force, the defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) of jailed former president Charles Taylor.
The “Oluwo of Iwo” acknowledged the concern expressed by Oba Adeyemi in his communication to Nigerian President Buhari, but The Nation reports that he however, stressed that self-help or self-defence is not the solution to the insecurity in Nigeria, pointing out that no zone of the West African nation is exempted from the ongoing menace.
Inaugurated as the Yoruba kingdom’s monarch since 9 November 2015, Oba Akanbi, stated that war is easy to invite but difficult to chase away, adding that during war, there is no law, except law of self-preservation which reduces social status to nothing as everybody would be struggling to remain alive.
“Parents would run for safety abandoning their children and property. Women and female children would be subjected to rape before their husbands and fathers with the fathers watching helplessly,” he emphasized.
He recalled: “I know what I passed through during Liberian war fighting on the side of Charles Taylor. That is more reason I would not subscribe to any call which encourages taking up arm to settle the insecurity problem which the entire country is currently facing.”
He continued: “I am not undermining the intention of the Alaafin but as a war veteran, I am in the best position to offer appropriate advice.
If I keep quiet over it and something untoward happens tomorrow, I would be irresponsible traditional ruler.”
“I am repeating it that the cost of war is usually heavier than the cost of settlement,” Oba Akanbi maintained.
According to Nation Times, the Oluwo insisted that Yoruba and Fulani had enjoyed a good relationship for over 100 years, calling on President Buhari to be more pro-active in his nation-building efforts.
