Be patient with Buhari, Ooni of ife appeal to Nigerians.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has called on Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the traditional ruler spoke when he paid a courtesy visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.

The Ooni was quoted as saying that the leaders need the cooperation of Nigerians because they meant well for the country.

“Nigerians should be patient with our leaders. They have very good plan for us, very positive plans. If we can be patient we will all benefit from their lofty programmes,” Ogunwusi was quoted as saying.

Osinbajo was also said to have commended the traditional ruler, saying that he represents a new generation of Nigeria through his outreach efforts.

The Vice President said some of the steps Ogunwusi has so far taken especially in reaching out to other traditional rulers were symbolic.

“Some of what we have seen `Kabiyesi’ do, some of those steps he has taken, handshakes across prejudices, across traditional boundaries, a visit to the Alaafin of Oyo, and several other such important steps are not just symbolic.

“It is important to understand that they also have very deep implications for future relationships and for the way that our generation is perceived and also implications in the way that our country eventually shapes up,” Osinbajo noted.

The Vice President said leaders have to be accountable to the people adding that “one of the very important attributes of the Kabiyesi is the fact that he represents a new way of thinking, which is not just a generational way of thinking. it is a whole new concept in the way we relate to power and authority.”

He stated that this new way of thinking and style which the new Ooni represents is not just about traditional leadership, “but it is something that relates to leadership at every level.

He commended the new king for his “great insight and leadership attributes,” and prayed that Almighty God will enable him fulfill the purpose of his enthronement.

Earlier the Vice President received a delegation from the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers led by its president, Dr. Abdulkarim Kana.

Osinbajo, expressed delight at the courtesy visit, and wondered what his life would have been if he had not become a professor of law.

Recalling how difficult legal research had been in the past, he cited an instance when it took him six weeks to get an authority and other details of a particular case in the high court in the early 80s.

According to him, things have since become better now, with improved technology-aided tools that are available.

He encouraged the members of the delegation and the association made up of law professors and lecturers drawn from about four generations of law teachers to welcome practicing lawyers as university teachers.

“We should be open to those kinds of interaction, great universities of the world allow for such interactions,” he said.