The traditional ruler of Ogere Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area, Ogun State, Oba James Obafemi Saliu, Kankanbiina II, recently celebrated his second anniversary on the throne. As part of the activities to mark the anniversary, he empowered his subjects with cash and equipment and also commissioned an ultra-modern palace for the town. He took time to speak with GBENGA ADERANTI about his life as a monarch, his plans for the town, the state of security in his domain, the plague of land grabbing and the development of his community. Excerpts:
Ogere is a transit town where you have different tribes from different parts of Nigeria. How have you been managing them?
I will only give glory to God, because I cannot do anything without Him. It is only God who has been helping us in Ogere, because if you look at the population of non-indigenes, they are almost more than the indigenes, especially the Hausa people. In the whole of Yorubaland, Ogere plays host to the highest number of Hausa people.
How are you coping with the threats of insecurity?
Well, the issue of insecurity is very big. But as I have said, everything is on God. We are only trying, it is only God that can secure us. If we say we have done anything to secure Ogere, we are just joking, though we have tried.
When I became the king, I believed that security issues were very important. I started building security posts, and I have been able to build four: one for Amotekun, one for Agbekoya, one for vigilante and one for So-Safe. We have completed four buildings in the last two years. I bought a Sienna bus for the police, and I am giving them financial support; we give about seven security agencies operating in Ogere support to enhance their performances.
What were the challenges you faced in the build-up to ascending the throne?
I would say I didn’t face any challenge. I said so because I did not have any intention of ascending the throne even though I am from a royal house from both father and mother sides. But the ruling house whose turn it was to become king was from my mother’s side.
When the process started, I was not interested. I came less than a month to the end of the process. But as I came in, they just embraced me and all the other contestants abandoned it to me. When it was time for the kingmakers to vote, we had nine kingmakers in Ogere, one had died, and the remaining ones voted for me, with the exception of one who abstained.
Why did he abstain?
He abstained from voting simply because he did not know who to vote for because he had three candidates out of the contestants of which I was one. My mother, my father and himself were all friends. He could not do without voting for me, and he had a relative among the contestants. His in-law was also among the contestants. For these reasons, he decided not to vote. Otherwise, it would have been 8-0.
What are you missing as a traditional ruler?
It is time-consuming. That is the only thing I can say I have missed, because it is not easy to mix traditional rulers’ work with my own business, as I had a business before becoming a traditional ruler. It is a very big challenge, but I am coping.
In this part of the country, the issue of land grabbing is prevalent. How have you been dealing with it?
That is majorly on government. There is little we can do to these land grabbers. I’m also facing the challenge, because I have some parcels of land which some land grabbers have encroached on. But, thank God, we have been able to manage the people, because we don’t want them to discourage investors. We are trying on that and we also implore the government to help us.
What are the things that have changed since you ascended the throne?
Everything is on God. We need to give the glory to God. There is nothing one can do without the approval of God. But I will say let us give all the glory to God. I aim to change the face of Ogere. In the last two years, things have improved, though I don’t believe in praising myself. But I have to do so because I have performed very well and people are saying the same thing. But let us give glory to God.
After my coronation, I changed the face of Ogere, because my intention while assuming this position of kingship was not just to be a ceremonial king but to change the face of Ogere in terms of industry and economy. I noticed that before you can achieve anything, security is paramount. So I have been able to put up four buildings for the use of security agencies.
We started with one for So-Safe, and we completed that about a year ago. After that, Agbekoya, we gave them a befitting building as an office. Recently, we commissioned that also. We have also completed the Amotekun office. Before now, Amotekun was not in Ogere. I used my connections to bring them to Ogere. They know the security situation in Ogere, and they agreed to come. I have given them a befitting building. We have also commissioned the vigilance group building. I also bought a Sienna bus for the police.
We are still working on security because we cannot achieve anything without it. Secondly, Ogere is an ancient town; we had no palace, and all the former kings used their houses as their palaces. But I believe we must have a palace, so I have built a palace.
It has become a fad among Yoruba monarchs to have state-of-the-art palaces. The edifice you have here as a palace is awesome. Why is it that everybody is building something big?
I don’t know of any other person or any other town. I only know about Ogere. In the last two years, we have been able to build a palace, because Ogere did not have a palace. Ogere is an ancient town, but despite being an ancient town, we were unable to build a palace. We had a palace site, but we were always postponing the building of the palace until now (the palace has been commissioned).
What you are telling me is that one of the things you have done is building the palace…
Yes, the palace is one of them.
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During your empowerment programme, I noticed that non-indigenes also benefitted from the programme. What informed that?
It is not only Ogere indigenes that are living here; we have many tribes. We have Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, Igede, Tiv and other tribes in our town. All these people live in Ogere, and they are part of us. We cannot be giving things to Ogere indigenes only; we must also extend the hand of fellowship to all these people.
Aside from the tools and equipment you gave them…
Yes, we gave 50 people the sum of N100,000 each. This will enable them to do small, small things.
Conservatively, how much did you spend on this empowerment programme?
As of now, I have not done my calculations. But I know it is millions of naira.
What would you be telling the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme?
My advice to them is that they should make good use of the item and when they make good use of them, it will encourage me to do more.
Monarchs have been relegated to the background with no role in governance
What is your message to government on this?
The major role of the Obas is to advise the government. Where we see any deficiency, we let them know. That role is okay. I would recommend that they create a committee or an agency for Obas, which will transmit whatever they say to government.
Some of the present Obas do not like to go into seclusion as part of the rites. How did you do your own and what is your take on the rites for monarchs?
Ogere is an ancient town, and we cannot do without ipebi (seclusion). I was in ipebi for 14 days before I was installed properly traditionally. But officially, I was given the staff and certificate of office by the government on April 25, 2023. It was after the certificate that I entered ipebi for 14 days. After 14 days in ipebi, I entered the traditional iledi to perform the normal rituals.
But some of your colleagues are doing away with this…
Well, it is not possible here in Ogere. As I have told you, here is an ancient town. But some towns just developed through Baales, etc., they don’t have a good history. But we in Ogere are from Ile-Ife. There are some towns by the roadside. Maybe because of nearness to the road, the town will be big. I don’t want to mention names. They don’t have history. They did not come from the source. Those one can do away with ipebi. We cannot do that in Ogere.
It is looking as if Ifa is now more interested in people based abroad becoming traditional rulers. What is your take on this?
I’m not from abroad; I’m from Abeokuta. We are traditional people. We follow our traditions here. Whatever the tradition says is what we follow.
What are the challenges you are currently facing, and what do you think the government can do to assist the town?
I think what I want is to get an agency and commission for traditional rulers so that whatever they say is acted upon by the government as advisers.
What are the efforts you are making right now to make sure you achieve your developmental plan for the town?
As I am working on security, I am also doing other things. For instance, I am working with the Chinese Red Cross, liaising with them and have joined them with the Ogun Red Cross so that they can do something for Ogere. We are on that, and I believe we will get results on that.
Secondly, I was in Lagos recently, and I had meetings with indigenes of Ogere. The meeting was successful. We had no fewer than 200 indigenes at the meeting. The meeting aimed to let them know that Ogere is now changing, let them come home and contribute to the development of the town.
I was also in Ibadan to meet Ogere Indegenes. We also had a successful meeting, and the turnout was also successful. We had a discussion about the challenges facing the town and how they can come home individually or collectively to develop Ogere. By the grace of God, the meeting will yield results.
We are still going to Akute, Osogbo and other places, including the United States, the United Kingdom and other European countries. My wish is to turn Ogere around and change the face of Ogere to a better place. My ambition is to make Ogere one of the best towns in Yorubaland.
