The plan by Ekiti State Government to uproot an ancient tree and demolish a shrine in Ikere-Ekiti sparked a riot in the community and a near fisticuff between Governor Ayo Fayose and Olukere Ganiyu Obasoyin, who maintained that he is the custodian of the historical artefacts at the Ereja shrine. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.
Ikere-Ekiti, the second largest town in Ekiti State is in the news again. The community had been embroiled in a supremacy battle between the paramount ruler, the Ogoga, Oba Adejimi Adu Alagbado and the Olukere, Oba Ganiyu Ayodele Obasoyin.
To Ogoga and the side of the town pledging allegiance to him, Olukere is never an Oba. To this side of the divide, Olukere is a mere chief priest of the Olosunta and should never be called a monarch because he was never given a staff of office.
But supporters of Olukere, especially indigenes of Odo Oja area of the town and its environs, maintain that he is a monarch; non-presentation of staff of office by the government notwithstanding.
Hell was let loose when the governor ordered that the Ereja Shrine and the sacred tree be demolished to give way for road project.
Olukere, who had got wind of Fayose’s coming to the site mobilised his subjects to the spot and pleaded with the governor to spare the shrine and the sacred tree but his plea fell on deaf ears.
An eyewitness said: “The governor had climbed the bulldozer with the intent of driving it towards the shrine which enraged Olukere’s supporters, who hurled stones at the governor’s direction.
“On alighting from the bulldozer, the governor ordered his security men to arrest one of the Olukere boys but the armed policeman who moved to arrest the guy was overwhelmed by the crowd who grabbed his rifle and prevented him from carrying out the order.”
The indigenes claim that the historical site known locally as the “Ereja” was the source of Ikere and was the place where the town was established and removing the tree is a bad omen. It is also the location where the annual Olosunta Festival is celebrated.
“There is historical object called “Ege,” a mystical tree which belongs to Olukere. Ege is a fountain which has mystical powers to control flooding while the mystical tree is a place where Olukere worships Olosunta deity every year.
There was a massive crowd around the shrine when Southwest Report visited the place on Tuesday. The residents had placed sacrifices made with a goat and pigeon and other fetish objects at the site while palm fronds were also tied around the shrine.
At a briefing at his palace, Olukere Obasoyin, said “cutting down the sacred tree and demolishing the Ereja was akin to passing a death sentence on him (Olukere). He was joined by the Alare of Are-Ikere, Oba Oguntuase Atitebi and the Elejoka of Ikuomoba-Ikere, Oba Benjamin Owolade both of whom claimed that he (Olukere) is the head of the community.
Obasoyin said the community had agreed with the governor to move all the five deities to the Ereja and preserve the historical site but wondered the latest decision to bulldoze the tree and the entire shrine.
According to him, Fayose was advised to demolish the shrine and uproot the ancient tree by a powerful elite body in the town, Ikere Development Forum (IDF) who are the main supporters of Ogoga in the supremacy battle, so that he (Olukere) would lack the basis to call himself a monarch.
The monarch said: “On Monday, the governor led the police to Ikere and ordered that the shrine be bulldozed; it is when a king dies that the branches of the tree are cut off and I went to meet the governor that he should not pass a death sentence on me.
“I want to say that Fayose wants to kill me; by ordering that the tree which represents my life be uprooted and the people resisted him. My subjects said they don’t want a tenant that will be making life difficult for the owner of the land because I am the owner of Ikere.
“The Ereja is where Ikere people meet once in every year. If that tree is removed, it means they have killed the Olukere. This is the tradition here. The tree branches are cut if the Oba dies. In every community, we have traditional heritage and cultural heritage and nobody can kill our cultural heritage.
“I will resist Fayose’s attempt to demolish it because if he is allowed to uproot it, that will bring calamities to the community. If Fayose likes, let him bring 1,000 soldiers, 1,000 policemen, we will resist him.
Fayose alleged that the Olukere was paid N1 million for the relocation of the shrines to enable the government to carry out the construction of the dual carriage way project along
Ikere-Akure Road, saying vouchers are available as a proof that the monarch collected the money.
Fayose, while appearing on his monthly media chat, “Meet Your Governor,” on the state television, added another dimension to the unfolding drama when he showed the footage of his encounter with Olukere, alleging that he (Obasoyin) almost punched him when he visited the site.
When the footage was being shown, Fayose said: “Look at Olukere in that video. He wanted to punch me, see him removing his robes and beads, he wanted to fight me. Olukere is not a king because he has not been presented with the staff of office.
“I am surprised that somebody of his status can do that to me but as an elderly person and father of the state, we will make sure that he sees reason. You cannot confront the government but we will explore all avenues of peace to resolve the matter.
“We will be patient to find a solution to the problem; I want to appeal to the Olukere to be very careful because some people received machete cuts in their homes. I have made it abundantly clear that for development to take place, some of these traditional artefacts will give way.”
ýOn the N1 million allegedly collected by the Olukere, Fayose said: “When we started, we met the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Jimi Adu Alagbado, who said there were shrines along the project site for us to handle.
ý”Later, the Olukere came into the scene and said the affected area is his domain and that the issue of relocating the shrines did not concern Ogoga.
“I told him that we might not be able to bend the road. Prominent Ikere indigenes such as former Governor of the old Ondo State, Chief Bamidele Olumilua, were at the meeting.
“To help in performing the necessary rituals to relocate the shrines, the Olukere was given N1m on January 11, this year to relocate the deities and shrines. He collected the money at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti and the vouchers he signed are still available.”
But Olukere denied the alleged receipt of N1m. Obasoyin explained that the money was not given to him personally either in cheque or in cash.
He further explained that two of his chiefs, the Eselemo of Odo Oja, Chief Adeyemi Fajilade and Saya, Chief Foluso Olowofela collected the money from the Commissioner of Works, Mrs Funmilayo Ogun, which he said was effectively deployed for the relocation of four deities with the exception of the ancient tree.
He said: “Let me say categorically that I didn’t personally collect any cheque or cash from Governor Fayose. So, this is a cheap blackmail.
The agreement we had with the government was that, there were five deities that could obstruct the dual carriage way project and we agreed that four should be relocated.
“Ikere people didn’t want Ejibaosi relocated but I had to pacify them because we love development. I want to believe that it was the Ogoga that wanted to mislead the governor because he knew he has no role to play in the tradition of Ikere town. So, he wanted these traditions obliterated.
“The actual amount released was N850, 000. I even added a sum of N350, 000 from my own pocket to complete the ritual. I am presently constructing an N18 million worth road in the town while I have investments worth over N200m in this town. So, I can’t stand on the way of government to effect development.
But Ogoga, who had been silent since the latest crisis broke out joined the fray by condemning what he called “the show of shame by Olukere and his thugs” saying their action did not represent what the town stands for.
The paramount ruler of the kingdom said he, his chiefs and the entire community deem it fit to apologise to Fayose for what he described as “the disgraceful behaviour and show of shame” by the self-styled Aworo Olosunta who describes himself as Olukere.”
He said: “We have refrained from joining issues with Ganiyu Obasoyin on the pages of newspapers or over the radio as we consider him and his gang of thugs’ irritable nuisance that should ordinarily be dealt with appropriately by the law enforcement agents.
“However, his recent show of shame on June 5, 2017 and June 6, 2017 compel us to state the facts against the lies that have been sent out by the paid agents of Ganiyu Obasoyin. Ganiyu Obasoyin and his lawless gang do not represent Ikere.”
It should be noted that Ganiyu Obasoyin going to collect N1m from the state government through false pretences is impersonation criminal and fraudulent.
“We repeat for the umpteenth time that Olukere was never at any time in our history a chief let alone a king. Olukere has always been a priest of Olosunta like other priests of idols in Ikere and no government, since the creation of mankind, has ever recognised him as a monarch.
“His attempt to attack the palace on June 6, 2017 as he also did on February 11 last year and got away with it was taken with equanimity, knowing that his objectives have always been to throw the town into chaos as he boasted in the dailies in January of last year to make Ife/Modakeke crisis a child’s play when he would have finished with Ikere.
“In Yoruba history and culture, there has been no leader who would obstruct developmental project in his community. By all living standards, Ganiyu Obasoyin cannot be seen as a leader in a decent society.
“All Ikere people within and in the Diaspora are happy and welcome the project currently being championed in Ikere by the administration of Governor Ayodele Fayose and we support him in this effort. We salute the maturity that the Governor has applied in dealing with both cases of Ganiyu Obasoyin’s lawless and disgraceful behaviour.
“We abhor any act of hooliganism, criminality and brutalisation of law-abiding citizens which has become the hallmark of Ganiyu Obasoyin and his cliques.
“We find these rampant acts of thuggery very distasteful and disrespectful. The security agents should not wait till people start to defend themselves against this individual. Justice delayed is justice denied.”
It appears the state government has bowed to the wish of traditionalists to spare the Ege tree as the contractor has diverted the road in a bid to avoid controversy but the triangular battle among Olukere, Ogoga and the Fayose government continues to rage.
