Royal rumble looms in Oyo State …

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Royal rumble looms in Oyo State … As royal fathers jostle for supremacy
By SOLA ANIMASHAUN, Oyo and AKEEB ALARAPE, Ibadan
Monday, January 24, 2005



• Oba Lamidi Adeyemi
Photo: Sun News Publishing

National Index

An earthquake of unprecedented magnitude is likely soon in the royal households in Oyo State, as the contending forces in the fight for supremacy within the state Council of Obas and Chiefs continue their war of words, ahead of the release of the state government’s position on the dissolved traditional rulers council.

One and a half years after the old council was dissolved by Governor Rasheed Ladoja, barely two weeks after he assumed office in May 2003, the administration is now ready to reconstitute the body and this shall be done soon, according to Prince Ade Adekambi, Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the governor. The shape of what is to come is, however, a big source of concern to those interested in traditional matters in the state.

While indigenes of Ibadan, the state capital are canvassing the rotation of the chairmanship of the council between their Oba, the Olubadan of Ibadanland and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oyo indigenes are vehement in their opposition to this arrangement, insisting that the Oyo monarch remains the permanent and life chairman of the body.

And in-between them lie the people of Ogbomosho, the second largest town in the state after Ibadan, who are also believed to be interested in having a piece of the chairmanship action and would very much like to be freed of Alaafin’s domination and lordship.

Daily Sun investigation revealed that the jostling for the chairmanship, especially between Ibadan and Oyo is at the heart of the seeming reluctance of the state government to reconstitute the council since 2003. Governor Ladoja, an indigene of Ibadan, it was learnt, is under intense pressure from his kith and kin in the largest city in Africa south of the Sahara, to bring the Olubadan at par with the Alaafin by rotating the council’s chairmanship between the two of them. But if this becomes impossible, they would like the government to break the council into at least three zones; Ibadan/Ibarapa, Oyo and Ogbomosho, with the three traditional rulers presiding as permanent chairmen in the respective zones.

The former position was recently canvassed by the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), while the former is being given prominence by some influential Ibadan indigenes through media reports, interviews and write ups. Chief Bode Amao, a prominent Ibadan indigene and a leader of CCII recently addressed a press conference on this matter, while one Omo Oba Tajudeen Aderemi Abass Aleshinloye has been advocating the divisional council of Obas and chiefs option.

Though all efforts by Daily Sun to track down these men and even the Olubadan himself, Oba Yinusa Ogundipe, Arapasowu 1 for an interview have not been successful, their positions, we gathered are widely shared among Ibadans. Sources close to Olubadan palace said the Kabiyesi shares the positions of his subjects. But the Oyos would have none of these.

Indigenes of the ancient town, the seat of the famous old Oyo empire, in various associations and political groups have expressed vehement opposition to the CCII’s call and have, therefore advised Governor Ladoja to see the matter as an explosive issue that should be handled with historical antecedents rather than mere wishful thinking based on tribal sentiments.

In particular, members of Egbe Omo Oyo Parapo described the CCII’s formula for rotational chairmanship as baseless and lacking in authentic historical backing. In a statement signed by Alhaji Tiamiyu Salawu (Ajiroba) and Alhaji Mohammed Raji Bolarinwa, its chairman and secretary respectively, the group described any strict adherence to the CCII’s suggestion as tantamount to rewriting the history of Yoruba.

Going back into history, the group explained to Governor Ladoja that the present Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111 made the wearing of beaded crowns by both the Olubadan and Soun possible 25 years ago by prevailing on the other members of the old Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, to grant the two Obas that traditional honour.

They demanded to know from the governor and indeed the people of Ibadan why the Alaafin of Oyo who in the olden days, used to send his messenger (Eru Oba) to install the Baale (as he then was) of Ibadan (now Olubadan) could now be demoted as to be on the same category with the Olubadan. “We are now praying very fervently that the tribal jingoist demand of Chief Bode Amao should not be pushed to a stage where the Oyo indigenes would be forced to exhume all the hidden historical facts which would eventually separate the wheat from the chaff”, they warned.

In a similar vein, members of the Oyo Youth Vanguard have made a strong appeal to Governor Ladoja to ignore the demand of the CCII for the rotation of the chairmanship of the Council of Obas and Chiefs so as not to disrupt the relative peace and harmony in the state. Honourable Goke Azeez and Chief Josiah Olakunle, chairman and secretary of the group respectively, said in a statement that the position of the Alaafin among the traditional rulers in Yorubaland is not hidden, not to talk of his status in Oyo State, which is just a part of the six states in south west Nigeria, where Yoruba are predominant.
The youths expressed the hope that the governor would not allow himself to be misled “ over a delicate traditional issue that needs no dispute to verify its true position based on historical data.”

Oyos vehemence to any plan to rotate the council’s chairmanship is not restricted to groups and associations alone as politicians have equally joined the fray. A chieftain of the main opposition Alliance for Democracy (AD), the party that was in power in the state in the last dispensation and which literally fought the Alaafin, who wished to remain anonymous told Daily Sun that the issue of demoting the Oyo monarch to the level where he will rotate the chairmanship of the council of Obas and Chiefs with the Olubadan or any other traditional ruler in the state should be seen as a disgrace to the entire indigenes of Alaafin’s domain. In a sheer display of anger, the politician advised Governor Ladoja to “learn from the mistake of his predecessor who met his waterloo by mere tampering with the issue of the consenting authority of the Alaafin”

In a clear show of opposition to any change in the status of Obas in the soon to be reconstituted council, Oyo indigenes had the opportunity to say their minds on the issue recently when Governor Ladoja visited the Alaafin’s domain. At a prayer session to commence the programme of the short visit, Alhaji Mudashiru Ayesebolatan who led the prayer, prayed God to demote any government that plans to demote the Alaafin. He said the Alaafin is the most paramount traditional ruler in Yorubaland based on historical facts and those ganging up to challenge his leadership over the issue of paramount chairmanship of the council of Obas will see the wrath of God.

The prayer was accompanied by a thunderous chorus of Amen by Oyo indigenes who were in the majority inside the historic Atiba hall where the governor met with the Alaafin and the people. They equally hailed the monarch, shouting Iku Baba Yeye, Alase Ekeji Orisa, an open show of support that did convey to Governor Ladoja, the magnitude of the issue at stake.

This open show of support for the Alaafin by his people may have forced Governor Ladoja to beat a retreat and take a second look at the whole issue with regards to the position of Ibadans in particular.
Government House sources in Ibadan told Daily Sun that Governor Ladoja who hitherto had been thought to be sympathetic to the CCII’s position has suddenly turned his back on the suggestion of rotating the chairmanship between the Alaafin, Olubadan and Soun, saying exponents of such a rotational system are enemies of his administration who do not wish him well.

The sources say the governor is basing his opposition to the rotational idea on the massive support and constant official assistance which Oba Adeyemi has been rendering to his administration in terms of valuable advice backed up with prompt action. Governor Ladoja reportedly tongue-lashed those behind the demand, telling them to look for a peaceful way of resolving the problem in the traditional rulers council instead of fanning the embers of disunity.

But if the Oyos think they are having the upper hand, they might be in for a shocker as the Ibadans are not relenting in the pressure on Governor Ladoja. Among prominent Ibadan indigenes, most of whom also claim to have the ear of the governor, rotational chairmanship of the council is a done deal and if the worst comes to the worst, they would work for the enthronement of the divisional traditional ruler council where none of the three foremost Obas would be under the other.

They expressed surprise at the Alaafin’s opposition to the rotational chairmanship idea, reminding the monarch of his position in old Oyo state when he (Alaafin) led the group that opposed the making of Ooni of Ife the permanent chairman of the state council of Obas and Chiefs. “The Alaafin seems to have forgotten. In his battle with the Ooni that time in old Oyo State, he led us to fight the Ooni over the permanent chairmanship of the council, now he doesn’t want to share the chairmanship with other first class Obas in the state, he wants to be life chairman. You see human beings now”, one of the Ibadan indigenes said.

The Ibadans are laying claim to the chairmanship based on some historical facts, which the Oyos have dismissed as unfounded, as well as the size and population of Ibadan and the fact of the city being the state capital. Prominent Yoruba historians are, however, keeping quiet for now, waiting for the official position of the Oyo State government. And if the position of the Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Strategy is anything to go by, the government’s view would be made public soon.
Prince Ade Adekambi, like some other aides of Governor Ladoja was dodgy on the current wrangling within the traditional rulers council, insisting that all is well within the Obas rank and file. He described the alleged love-hate relationship between the government and leading Obas in the state as “mere speculation and handiwork of mischief makers”

According to him, the state government enjoys a robust relationship with the royal fathers while the government also reciprocates with due recognition for them in the scheme of things in the state. He was quick to point out that the decision of the government to suspend the White paper on the Oloko Report, which he said generated serious controversy and bad blood among the royal fathers, as one of those steps taken by the government in the best of interest of the council members and the people.

On the vexed issue of the permanent chairmanship of the council by the Alaafin as well as the delay in reconstituting the council by the state government, Adekambi told Daily Sun that the government would soon come out with its policy concerning the council, saying it would be reconstituted in a matter of days.
“The government would soon roll out its policy on the roles expected of the royal fathers and I assure you that in the next few days, the council of Obas would be inaugurated by the governor.
“The governor respects the Obas and he is ready to accommodate them in his administration. The aim of this government is to take governance to the grassroot and this cannot be done without the active involvement of the royal fathers and traditional institutions,” Adekambi explained.

Although he was not forthcoming on what specific roles the Obas are to play in the governance of the state, Daily Sun authoritatively gathered that the Council of Obas may be decentralized along the five developmental zones of the state which are: Saki, Ogbomosho, Ibadan, Ibarapa and Oyo.
A source close to the seat of government at the secretariat at Agodi, Ibadan, confided in Daily Sun that the state may eventually have five Councils of Obas and Chiefs and consequently bury the agelong controversy and acrimony associated with permanent chairmanship of the Alaafin.
Efforts to get the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Honourable Hosea Agboola to comment on the issues yielded no result.