Obasanjo’s Wife Apologizes To Oyo Monarchs For Alleged Insult, Seeks Forgiveness On Behalf Of Obasanjo’s Family

Mrs. Taiwo Obasanjo, the wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding her husband’s statement during the commissioning of projects by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in Iseyin, Oyo state, on Friday, September 15, 2023.

In a statement released on Sunday, September 17, 2023, titled “Oyo Kings: A Plea for Forgiveness,” Mrs. Obasanjo, who shares two children, Olujonwo and Olubunmi, with the former president, earnestly seeks “permanent and eternal forgiveness and pardon from all Yoruba sons and daughters worldwide, fathers and mothers, youths, teenagers and children, Christians, Muslims, traditional worshippers, all leaders in Yorubaland, and the Council of Kings in Yorubaland.”

With a heart filled with humility as a mother, she implores the aforementioned not to “retaliate against any of us for the misdeeds of Daddy Obasanjo.”

Part of her statement reads, “This is my personal stance on the manner Chief Olusegun Obasanjo addressed the Kings at Iseyin during the road commissioning by Governor Makinde of Oyo State on Friday, September 15, 2023.

“As a legitimate member of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s family, I would like to state publicly, worldwide and privately, that the manner in which Daddy Obasanjo addressed the monarchs is not acceptable to God, to the Yoruba race, and to the throne of Kingship, and it must not be repeated by any leader in Yoruba land.

“Daddy Obasanjo should not have treated the kings with open contempt and humiliation to correct them and reveal their secrets. It is too humiliating. Protocols could have corrected them privately and respectfully, humbly with love and friendliness.

“I am a full Yoruba woman married to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for over 40 years, and I have two children for him. I am a grandmother. I do not support the humiliating treatment of the kings of Oyo State by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Let history record that I came out to apologize to the Oyo kings and Yorubaland on behalf of the family of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.”

It would be recalled that Chief Obasanjo, who was the special guest of honor at the event, reprimanded some Yoruba traditional rulers for not showing him respect as a former president and ordered them to stand up and acknowledge his presence.

This incident has generated strong reactions from stakeholders, including the Yoruba Council Worldwide, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdurosheed Akanbi, and others, who have demanded an apology from Obasanjo within three days or warned of potential consequences.