Gombe Emir traces long-standing relationship with Ogbomosho, hails Soun
The Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar, has highlighted the long-standing relationship between Gombe and the Yoruba people, particularly those from Ogbomosho.
Arewa PUNCH reports that the Emir made the disclosure at the Gombe Government House during the visit of the Soun of Ogbomosho, Obama Ghandi Olaoye to the state.
According to Abubakar, “This visit is in order to reaffirm the bond of friendship that existed between Yoruba people from Ogbomosho kingdom and people of Gombe State.”
Abubakar noted that the relationship dated back to over a century, with the Yoruba people playing an integral part in the early 21st century during the reign of his grandfather, Emir Haruna.
He described the relationship as ‘mutually benefitting’, adding, “it is one that has stood the test of time over the years.”
On his part, the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Olaoye, harped the importance of justice and equity in maintaining peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.
Olaoye praised the state’s peaceful atmosphere, attributing it to the Emir of Gombe’s approach to seeing everyone as one big family, regardless of their background.
“I learnt a lot from the Emir of Gombe as to why there is peace in the state. He said we don’t see people in terms of who they are. We are all one big family, whether you are Yoruba or Hausa,” Olaoye said.
The Soun also hailed the governor’s development
efforts, saying, “I was told that all that is seen here is a product of the leadership of this place. What is going on here is one of the best kept secret, and it needs to be said that Gombe is a peaceful place; the streets are neat. We don’t have these streetlights in Ogbomosho.”
While explaining that his visit would yield more developments, he disclosed that following false tales about the state, his contract with the Federal Inland Revenue Service was almost stalled, “I have a contract to do a training for FIRS. We couldn’t get people who wanted to come to Gombe to facilitate the programme be ayss they said no they are not going to Gombe but I said but I’m going to Gombe but they said when I go and come back then they will go. I called one of the people that I felt safe in Gombe.
“One of our challenges in Ogbomosho is that we don’t have light at night, so it’s dangerous to walk at night but for a state I have never been, I can walk at night at 11pm,” he added
On his part, Governor Muhammadu Yahaya assured his guest, Olaoye, that he would work to preserve the peace in Gombe.
“There is no tribe that is not found or represented here. We are one big family, maybe with different rooms sharing one compound, with different mothers with one father, which Nigeria. We are one Nigeria. If all the states were like Gombe, Nigeria would have been a different country,” Yahaya posited.
