AKEEM Adeyemi, first son of His Royal Majesty, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III – the Alaafin of Oyo – has given fresh insight to the longevity of the foremost Yoruba’s monarch.
Born 76 years ago, the Alaafin of Oyo, who succeeded Alaafin Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II, is one of the longest-reigning monarch in Nigeria since he will be marking his 45th anniversary on the throne in November. Speaking exclusively to The Nation Sport& Style, Akeem said the Alaafin’s love for pugilism right from his early days has contributed largely to his prolonged existence, adding that his beloved father actually fuelled his interest and that of his siblings for sport.
Last weekend, Akeem was the cynosure of all eyes when he was honoured as the Oyo State’s Sports Personality of the Year by the state’s chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigerian (SWAN) at a well-attended gathering in Ibadan. His choice was unanimous having berthed and financed the wave-making Atiba United (Football Club) of Oyo which gained promotion from the Nationwide League to
Nigeria National League (NNL) in less than two years after its formation.
“Sports is a natural phenomenon in Alaafin Adeyemi’s family and as many people already knew Kabiyesi was as a footballer and good boxer in his youthful days and most of us actually took after him in this regard,” the amiable ‘crown prince’ told S&S correspondent, Lanre Agiri.“Kabiyesi actually made sporting activities a paramount routine for every member of the family, especially the children right from our early ages.
“He would wake us very early in the morning in order to join him to jog round the town before commencing other businesses of the day. It might interest you to know that although Baba still does that up till now despite his age and I want to believe that is one of the reasons that he has remained strong despite his old age.
“Personally, I played football very well when I was at Olivet Baptist High School Oyo and I was also
involved in track and field events in athletics. In fact, I was the school’s sports prefect during my secondary school days and you can see that my love for sport was inborn,” he remarked.
He further delved into the sporting background of the royal family and explained how his father instilled into every member of the family perseverance, self discipline, and sense of responsibility which was derived from the routine that the Kabiyesi had taken them through right from their early ages.
The young Adeyemi who recently just won the ticket to vie for a seat at the House of Representatives under the banner of All Progressives Congress (APC) gave further insight into the activities of the Alaafin from the cradle to the crown. Excerpts…
How did you manage the prestige and honours of royalty with your sporting activities in school?
Royalty is one thing and the sporting activity was another thing. Then, I never allowed my background from a royal home to affect me. I never allowed such to get into my head; and we were never trained to exhibit unnecessary affluence. What is important to me is the welfare of people around me. Even till now, I still play football together with our ex-internationals that are based in Oyo town at Durbar Stadium and I take their wellbeing as my utmost priority. They have an all Stars Team in Oyo and they play football regularly among themselves which allow us to interact and play together – you can verify that from anybody that follows football in the town.
Did you know Kabiyesi as an active sports person while growing up?
I did not really meet Kabiyesi as an active sports person since Kabiyesi enthroned about more than 40 years ago, he had stopped competing, but he did narrate to us about his exploits on the football field and boxing ring in the 60s. According to him, when he was playing boys club in the 50s, he was nick named ‘Ade One’ and when he took to boxing, his nickname changed to Ade Slumber Boy – just because he used to send his opponents to slumber land. My father said his dad did not want him to stay in the palace then, so the affluence in the palace could not corrupt him, so he was sent to live outside which exposed him to the wild world. He stated boxing with Broadway Boxing Club at Lafiaji area of Lagos Island as an amateur boxer. Some of his memorable bouts were against Ben Mendogo at Oyingbo Boxing Club, the one against Double Adaptor Alabi, Rena Cole, Oris Obilaso, Ben Agu who later represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games, Surprise Akins, amongst others. He said he started from fly-weight to Bantam weight and retired as Bantam-Feather weight. While describing his style of boxing, Kabiyesi said ‘because of my height, my fighting style was bob-and-wave. I bobbed. If you see some of his pictures when he was young, you would hardly believe that he was a boxer since there was no cut or scar to show on his body. He also said he had the habit of sparring with bigger and professional boxers to sharpen his reflexes. Of course, I loved to road walk and rope skipping.
What are the things that Kabiyesi and you are doing at present to sustain sports especially within your locality?
Many things. You as a sports writer must have heard about the fast development of sports in Oyo town and the state at large through sustainable efforts at the grassroots. Kabiyesi in recent times had brought back glamour to the game of boxing which had been in the doldrums for many years in Oyo State through numerous financial and moral support. Many grassroots soccer competitions are being organised nationally and within the town in the name of Alaafin to discover new talents. I have instituted sports programmes that will benefit pupils in all primary schools in my locality; that is where the awareness should start if we desire to see better sports men and women in the future.
You established a team that had now gained promotion to NNL within the space of two seasons, how did you achieve that?
It was achievable through the determinations and hard work of the good staff we have in Atiba Local Government. I must give kudos to the Head of Local Government Administration, Chief James Odeniran, who was the acting Chairman of Oyo State Football Association. Our people here love football so much and I felt we must give them a team of their own that would enable them watch grade ‘A’ soccer matches at their home front in Oyo, and by the help of God we gained promotion at every attempt in each season right from the
