President John Dramani Mahama has been awarded a prestigious chieftaincy title as Aare Atayeto Oodua of the Source by Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife, Nigeria.
The Yoruba title is interpreted as ‘l”A President or a Leader who Reorganizes the Global Space for Humanity”.
Receiving the award, President Mahama expressed gratitude to the Ooni for the honour done to him.
The President said, he was receiving the award on behalf of his late step mother Hajia Nusrat Balogun of blessed memory.
He reiterated that there was a historic bond between the people of Ghana and the people of Nigeria.
“When Nigeria prospers, Ghana prospers. When Ghana prospers, Nigeria prospers. God brought two of us together. We are like twins of the same mother,” he said.
“Except when we are playing football. And then when we are cooking jollof.”
He said, he was receiving the chieftaincy title on behalf of all the people of Ghana; stating that it would further cement the relations between Ghana and Nigeria.
“I do not take this honour lightly, I know that there is a historical bond between the people of Ghana and Nigeria,” President Mahama said.
He recalled how his late father, Mr EA Mahama, a Minister under Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah during the First Republic of Ghana, went into exile in Nigeria following the overthrow of the regime in the 1966 military coup d’état.
“At a point in time when my father had to come into exile, I had just finished university. And it was decided that one of us should come and stay with him. And so I was dispatched to come and keep him company,” he said.
“And so for several years I lived in Nigeria. I was in Lagos, I was in Ofa, and I was even in Kano with our late brother Sharaf Balogun. May he rest in peace.”
He recounted that he was received very warmly, like family; saying “You couldn’t tell that I was not originally born here. Almost everybody in Ofa knew me”.
“I used to go to different relatives’ houses. And wherever I go and food is ready, I’ll sit and I’ll eat amala or eba and egusi. And so I believe that that created the bond that I share with the country of Nigeria.”
He noted that he had an empathy with Nigeria and he believes that as long as he was President, he was going to continue to work to bring their two people even closer together; saying “indeed, historically we are the same people”.
President Mahama said the Ga people of Greater Accra, trace their origins to Ile-Ife in Nigeria.
President Mahama thanked his Nigerian counterpart, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the friendship that they share.
“I have known President Tinubu for many years, he has been like an elder brother to me. He’s being a source of inspiration. Even when times were hard and I was in opposition, he never broke his friendship with me,” President Mahama said.
“And so on this occasion, I want to thank him and also dedicate this conferment of chieftainancy to him.”
The Ooni of Ife said President Mahama did magic that had never been done before; saying “immediately you ascended the throne the second time, the entire Ghanaian economy turned around completely”.