The leader of the Aborigine Ogboni Fraternity, worldwide, Oba Are Saheed Olubisi Yusuf, has received a certificate of registration of the association to authenticate his leadership from Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The development has put to rest the initial crisis engineered by some members of the association following the coronation of Yusuf as the successor to late Mobolaji Naibi, the immediate past Oba- Ogboni-Agbaye, by the Supreme Council of the Aborigine Ogboni Fraternity, in line with the constitution of the association.
Enlisted as part of the reconstituted Board of Trustees of the association, as contained in the certificate dated September 18, 2014 are H.I.M. Saheed Olubisi Yusuf, Rafiu Hamzat, David Kolawole, Ifayemi Lambe, Ismaila Labosinde, Chief Mrs. Sherifat Sanusi, and Oluremi Ariwajoye Tajudeeen.
Commenting on the development, Yusuf told Saturday Independent that it was a dream come true and urged all members of Ogboni to remain united so as to protect the legacy bequeathed by the founding fathers of Ogboni for the benefit of the Yoruba race and others.
“We are traditionalists who believe in the practice of our forefathers, based on truth and sincerity. The initial minor crisis was occasioned by the mistake of my predecessor. However, I am happy the Supreme Council of Aborigine Ogboni Confraternity has corrected that with my coronation. I want to appeal to our members to let us be united.”
He debunked insinuations that Ogboni is a fetish group, claiming there was ‘nothing like fetishism.’
“We believe in Almighty God and our deities. That whenever an Ogboni member dies his or her body part must be removed is a propaganda orchestrated by other faiths aimed at discouraging people from joining us. Before Islam and Christianity, our fore fathers had their own religion. Government should compensate Ogboni with the position of Minister of Culture and commissioners of local government and chieftaincy affairs at state level because of our noble contribution to politics and nation building,” he said.
Sanusi and other members of the Ogboni Supreme Council who spoke with our correspondent at the palace of Oba-Ogboni-Agbaye Olubisi praised the monarch for his steadfastness and loyalty to the group over the years.
