The Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi and Bob Dewar Chair of the Lecture at Chatham House London

London, Nov. 24, 2017 (AltAfrika)-The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi has called for an all inclusive government in Nigeria and the the entire African continent with a special constitutional role for the traditional institutions because of their closeness to the people

The monarch who spoke on “The role of traditional leaders in Nigeria and the importance of community engagement in governance” at an audience packed Chatham House in London also wants the leadership in Africa to borrow a leaf from China and India who have successfully integrated and modernise their traditional beliefs to maximum advantage of their people

He said as the custodian of tradition and customs of the people as well as the closest institution to the grassroots, it was imperative that they have a role to play particularly in conflict resolution and peaceful co- existence. “At some point in time  things were going on fine in Africa, those days when the traditional leaders were at the forefront. Let us go back to those times and blend it properly. Let’s infuse our traditional culture back into our ways of life”

Oba ogunwusi said it was high time Leadership in Africa stopped blaming colonialism for their prolonged problems saying “it was not only Africa that was colonised, China and India were also colonised but what is sustaining them is that they are still holding on to their culture and heritage in everything they do but we in Africa we are loosing our heritage, culture and traditions”