Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the late Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, was a man that loved his people, demonstrated genuine commitment to the progress of society and lived an accomplished life.
Osinbajo said this on Sunday during a condolence visit to the Palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan where he was received by the palace chiefs and wife of the late monarch, Olori Rashidat Adetunji, among other members of the royal family.
This is according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday.
Describing the late Olubadan as a caring and honest leader, the Vice President, who spoke in Yoruba, said, “It is very necessary for me to come here because our father who departed was someone who was deeply kind; he loved people and everyone.
“All through his lifetime, when we visited, even when we spoke with him during phone calls, he always showed his love and kept praying for us.”
Testifying to the late paramount ruler’s forthrightness, Osinbajo said, “It was President Buhari who mentioned it first that when we were campaigning, Olubadan was someone who would speak his true mind with you on what he had decided to do, he wasn’t a betrayer who would tell you one thing and do the other.”
He observed that “there are different types of people; but for Olubadan, he was a straightforward leader.”
On the late monarch’s virtues and legacy, the VP noted that “all through his lifetime, he fulfilled all his set goals, beginning from when he was a tailor, to starting a record label and the rest of his plans.”
“Even his ambition to become the Olubadan became successful; just as we know that it is God who crowns a king. For anyone to be crowned a king, it is only by God’s will, and we thank God; it aligned with His will for our father to be crowned a king.
“God willed it, and he made him a king. Besides this, our father also left an inheritance for his children, which, in this sense, are not the money, houses and cars, because all these will still perish; but the heritage I’m talking about is the good name and legacy he left behind, which all of us will continue to speak about and stay with.
“We thank God for the good name he left behind as a mark of honour and goodwill for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and all of us will benefit from it,” he added.
He assured the royal family and guests present during the visit that the legacy and efforts of the late monarch for a progressive Nigeria shall be fulfilled.
“I wish to thank you all here gathered, everything our father did for Ibadan, and even, our nation, Nigeria, we know all. And we will continue to speak about them. We can’t tell it all about someone who was that outstanding in his lifetime.
Giving assurance about the future of the country, the VP said, “I assure you that our country, Nigeria, will be better than this. It will be a very comfortable place for all of us to live in, and we shall all be alive to eat the good of this land. We shall all see how good it will be, and it is very soon.
“It may look as if there are challenges now, but God will solve them all.”
