Tag: Olubadan

Ibadan chiefs yesterday queued up behind Chief Saliu Adetunji to succed the late Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1 as Olubadan.

The leader of the Seriki Line, Chief Adebayo Oyediji, is laying claim to the throne.

The Olubadan-in-Council yesterday held a meeting at the palace of Oba Odulana  insisting that Adetunji will be the Olubadan-designate.

At the meeting were  Adetunji; the Otun Olubadan, Senator Lekan Balogun; the Otun Balogun, Chief Owolabi Olakulehin; Ashipa Olubadan, Chief Eddy Oyewole; Osi Balogun, Chief Olufemi Olaifa and Ashipa Balogun, Chief Abimbola Ajibola.

Ajibola, who spoke shortly after the meeting, said it was undisputed that Adetunji is the authentic Olubadan-in-waiting.

“ Any other one is a counterfeit,” he said, adding: “In this institution, we have lines. There are only two lines recognised so far, both by law and otherwise. They are the Otun Olubadan Line and the Balogun Line. There is no third line.

“Nobody is competent to say he can be Olubadan. He cannot appoint himself. He cannot put himself there. We are not aware of any judgment that he is claiming because there is no Seriki or whatever. The 1959 Declaration Law says: Seriki, if there are two vacancies in one line, should come there. No other judgment can overrule the law; that is the law.They have no Seriki now.”

He noted that the only recognised Seriki then was the late Chief Adisa Akinloye, adding that since he died, there had been no execution and no awareness.

Ajibola wondered: “How can they say they want to be Olubadan? Who is going to sign for them? All the members of the council will not sign for whoever they (Seriki Line) propose. Who is going to sign for them?.

“The governor will not even listen to them. Whoever we present to be Olubadan as kingmakers, the governor is going to follow. Are they going to sign for themselves? They are not part of our meeting. We have never had any meeting with them. They have not been promoted.

“What they should do, they should do it right away in time. They did not ask Olubadan before he was late to promote them. So, there is nobody competent so far to lay claim (from the Seriki Line).”

According to him, there is no vacancy as the succession ladder.

“Well, we have filled the vacancies. There is no existing vacancy. Where are they going to come in? At the moment, the only person competent to come in would have been Seriki and there is none. This Chief Oyediji, claiming he wants to be Olubadan is only the Osi Seriki. He has not been promoted,” Ajibola said.

“He should apply to Olubadan to promote him first, before he starts arguing. He has no locus. The governor knows the right thing. He won’t listen.”

he Head of the acclaimed line, Chief Adebayo Oyediji, and five others yesterday filed a motion seeking an order compelling the government and the Olubadan-In-Council to instal Oyediji as the Olubadan.

Oyediji, 89, and others based their prayer on a 1989 Supreme Court judgment, which ordered the recognition of the Seriki as the third line to produce the Olubadan.

According to him and the motion filed by his lawyer, A.G. Adeniran, before the Oyo state Chief Judge, Justice Mukthar Abimbola, the Olubadan -in-Council had since 1989 when the Seriki line obtained a Supreme Court judgment in their favour, denied them the opportunity of being admitted into the Olubadan line.

The businessman alleged disregard for rule of law on the part of the Olubadan -in-Council. He said he was the next to be installed Olubadan based on the said judgment.

The motion will be heard next Wednesday.

Ibadan, West Africa’s largest city, was yesterday coming to terms with the passing on of its revered monarch – Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1.

The city was in a mixed mood — mourning and celebration  – sad about the departed 101-year-old monarch and excited about the expected coronation of the next in line, the Balogun Olubadan, High Chief Saliu Adetunji, as the Olubadan.

As at last night, the government of Oyo State had not announced the Oba’s death, but high chiefs met at the residence/palace of the late Oba Odugade.

The meeting is believed to be a prelude to the official announcement of the monarch’s death.

 Dignitaries converged on the palace of the late Olubadan at Monatan to sympathise with his family and the people of Ibadanland.

The Provost of St Peter’s Cathedral, Aremo, Ibadan, the Very Reverend Dr Wale Adebuji, who was one of the early callers, said he came to administer the weekly Holy Communion on the late Olubadan on Tuesday morning only to be told of his death in the night.

Rev Adebuji said :”I came around yesterday (Tuesday) to administer the weekly holy communion which I usually gave Kabiyesi every Tuesday. After the programme, he waved me goodbye in Yoruba language (O dabo). But I was surprised to hear in the evening that he had joined the saints.”

He then wrote in the condolence register: “We thank God for a fulfilled life lived by Kabiyesi. He actually and truly served God and humanity. May he rest in perfect peace.”

Workers and members of the family were cleaning the compound. At about 9:42am, a blue pick up van brought tents and canopies into the palace.

Some members of the Olubadan-in-Council; the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Lekan Balogun, Ashipa Olubadan, High Chief Eddy Oduoye Oyewole, Otun Balogun, High Chief Akinloye Owolabi Olakulehin, Ashipa Balogun, High Chief Tajudeen Abimbola Ajibola and Ekerin Olubadan, High Chief Abiodun Kola-Daisi, were at the palace.

Others include Rev Segun Okubadejo, President General, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII),  Chief Wole Akinwande, Chief Bayo Oyero, Chief Adebisi Shittu, Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Dawodu Makanjuola Akinola and the Chief Imam of Ibadan, Sheikh Abdulganiyu Abdulbakry Agbotomokekere.

The Chief Imam, in a short exhortation after greeting the widow of the late Oba, thanked the chiefs for their loyalty to the Olubadan. He prayed for the chiefs and Ibadan as a city.

Revd Okubadejo  described Oba Odulana as a devoted Christian who promoted peace.

“My first parishioner of the Cathedral of St Peter Aremo, Ibadan, has gone to be with the Lord. May the soul of Oba Odulana pass from death into life-Amen. I urge the next Olubadan to emulate his style of leadership,” he said

High Chiefs Lekan Balogun and Eddy Oyewole eulogised the late Oba as their mentor and revered traditional ruler.

Chief Balogun said Oba Odulana was his “great father, my philosopher-father. Nigeria will miss you, Ibadan will never forget you”.

Chief Oyewole wrote in the condolence register:” Papa, goodbye to continue living in my heart.”

Some of the late Olubadan’s children described him as an unforgettable father, whose influence on his children kept on waxing stronger until his demise.”

The eldest child of the late monarch, Prof Femi Lana, who could not control his emotion as he was welcomed into the palace by traditional instrumentalists, had his handkerchief on his face as he exchanged plesantries.

He refused to comment, saying: “The governor and the High Chiefs are the only people authorised to speak. That is the process. I can’t say anything. The power lies with the Governor- Olori Oko – when the time is up. So, you have to forgive me. God bless you and thank you for being.”

Princess Yemi Showunmi, the eldest daughter of the late Olubadan, said her father’s unfulfilled dream is the non-creation of Ibadan State.

“My father had many dreams for Ibadanland, but the only one he did not achieve was the creation of Ibadan state. He achieved his desired peace for Ibadan. He displayed so much love towards the building of a greater Ibadan. He is highly disciplined, very upright and God fearing and his love for the city of Ibadan cannot be quantified,” she said.

She said  her father’s greatest achievement was seeing Ibadan being free of thuggery.

The former President of Omo Aj’orosun Club, Chief Adebisi Shittu, said the late monarch is a unique king who loved peace and harmony.

“He is well read and very intelligent. He lived a life worthy of emulation. It is not time of mourning but to celebrate a life well lived,” Shittu said.

Another chieftaincy line in Ibadan, the Seriki, has headed for the court to stop the Oyo State Government and the Olubadan-In-Council from installing the Balogun of Ibadan, High Chief Saliu Adetunji, as the Olubadan of Ibadan land.

The Head of the acclaimed line, Chief Adebayo Oyediji, and five others yesterday filed a motion seeking an order compelling the government and the Olubadan-In-Council to instal Oyediji as the Olubadan.

Oyediji, 89, and others based their prayer on a 1989 Supreme Court judgment, which ordered the recognition of the Seriki as the third line to produce the Olubadan.

According to him and the motion filed by his lawyer, A.G. Adeniran, before the Oyo state Chief Judge, Justice Mukthar Abimbola, the Olubadan -in-Council had since 1989 when the Seriki line obtained a Supreme Court judgment in their favour, denied them the opportunity of being admitted into the Olubadan line.

The businessman alleged disregard for rule of law on the part of the Olubadan -in-Council. He said he was the next to be installed Olubadan based on the said judgment.

The motion will be heard next Wednesday.

According to him, the alleged marginalisation of the Seriki line began since the last Otun Seriki, Chief Adisa Akinloye, was denied the opportunity before he died in 2007. He said that Seriki was the third line in the chieftaincy of Olubadan, adding upon the denial, the Supreme Court in 1989 ordered that Seriki line be included as the third line to the appointment of Olubadan.

Oyediji claimed that the problem with the Seriki line started with the making of the 1959 Ekerin Balogun of Ibadan Chieftaincy Declaration which put Seriki under the Ekerin Balogun of Ibadan and provided for the first time  that Seriki can only be promoted to Ekerin Balogun only if there are two simultaneous vacancies occurring in the Ashipa and Ekerin Balogun titles.

He explained that upon winning against the then Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Oloyede Asanke, and all the Chiefs in Balogun and Olubadan line, after challenging the said chieftaincy declaration, the Olubadan then prevailed on the Seriki chiefs not to insist on three lines for the Olubadan chieftaincy, but that rather chiefs in the Seriki line should cross to Ekerin Balogun and Ekerin Olubadan on the two lines whenever there is a vacancy in any of the two lines.

According to him, the out-of-court agreement was that the Balogun and Olubadan lines would each have two steps of promotion from Ekarun to Ekerin in their lines before the Seriki line shall have its own promotion to Ekerin in any of the two lines.

Having been denied the opportunity for long and following the consecutive deaths of high chiefs Sulaimon Omiyale and Omowale Kuye from both sides in November and December last year, Chief Oyediji said that it was the time of Seriki to have a shot at the Olubadan, stressing: “When the agreement was reached, the late Oba Odulana was the only senior ranking high chief in the Olubadan line and we were in the same rank. If that agreement was followed, I am the next person to succeed him.”

In the new motion filed by his lawyer, Adeniran, dated 19/01/2016 marked I/421/07 seeking an amendment to reflect the earlier order of the court, he sought a declaration that “by the provision of the consent judgment delivered by the high court in suit No. I/313/88, it is the turn of the claimants to produce the next Olubadan of Ibadan on both the Olubadan line and the Balogun line”.

He also sought the order of the court “setting aside the purported appointments made by the 1st defendant (Oba Odulana) to fill vacancies existing in the chieftaincy titles of Ekerin Olubadan, Ashipa Olubadan, Osi Olubadan, Otun Olubadan and Balogun Olubadan of Ibadan since the 21st of November, 2008 up till the last appointment he made on the 1st of January, 2016”.

Oyediji also called for an order “setting aside the purported approval granted by the Governor of a Oyo state on the 5th of January, 2016 or thereabout to the appointments made by the 1st defendant on the 1st of January, 2016 to fill vacancies existing in the chieftaincy titles”.