By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, Alltimepost.com Abuja Correspondent
The Palace of the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II has reacted to the insult that a cross-dresser, Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju, aka Bobrisky heaped on the revered King of Benin, and described it as the height of madness and a joke taken too far.
Bobrisky is a Nigerian transgender woman and an advocate for gay rights in Nigeria.
Reaction from the Palace of the Oba of Benin has been measured, dignified and firm. In a telephone interview with Alltimepost.com Abuja correspondent, secretary to the Benin Traditional Council, Frank Irabor, said the Bobrisky insult on the Omo N’Oba “is the height of madness, a joke taken too far.”
According to Irabor, it is difficult to decide which pronoun or gender to use to describe Bobrisky. “When you come into a city and show disrespect to the highest traditional institution, and you call that a joke, I tell you, the maker of that joke needs to be taken to the nearest psychiatric hospital for a test,” Mr. Irabor said.
“It simply means that that hybrid known as Bobrisky does not have regard for constituted authority. No matter how high on drugs or how drunk certain people get, there are some things they never let out of their mouth.
“Instead of the video apology, a normal person would have looked for the traditional ruler in their domain to make an apology on their behalf. From traditional ruler to another revered traditional ruler, the language of that apology gets better understood and appreciated.”
Last week, the cross dresser had visited the ancient city of Benin to attend a burial ceremony of Edo-born fashion designer Ehi Ogbebor’s grandmother. Before the burial ceremony, Bobrisky, while making disparaging gestures invited the Oba of Benin to come marry him/her.
The comment from Bobrisky produced an outrage from Benin people worldwide, and prompted the cross dresser to tender an apology to the Benin Monarch via a video recording circulated on social media. The cross dresser said that his invitation to the revered king of Benin was ‘a joke’.
The said apology on video by Bobrisky came almost in the same manner that he or she disparaged the Oba of Benin, and prompted further outrage among the Benin people, many of whom have come out to denounce the cross dresser and his host, Ehi Ogbebor.
A Benin man unwilling to disclose his name told Alltimepost.com that he considered the apology a very demeaning one, done as an afterthought and unconvincing.
“If he knew the magnitude of what he or she has uttered, I think he should do better than making an apology as if to a fellow addict,” the Benin man said to Alltimepost.com.
Apparently because of outrage from his or her disrespectful gesture to the revered Benin Monarch, there are reports that he or she has run away and is in hiding away from the ancient kingdom of Benin.
At the time of filing this report, Alltimepost.com was unable to reach Ehi Ogbebor to get his reaction, but a video purportedly from the family has surfaced on social media, denouncing the abominable act. Benin people are outraged that he has invited Bobrisky to insult the revered King and royal father.
This would not be the first time that Bobrisky has been in the eye of the storm. According to Wikipedia, on a notable occasion, a Nigerian presidential aide walked out of premises on sighting Bobrisky within the residence.
In 2019, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director General of Nigeria’s National Council for Arts and Culture, called Bobrisky “a national disgrace.”
