The demise of Oniru of Iruland, Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru has opened serious contest for the coveted stool among the three ruling houses, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO.
The late Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru, the Oniru of Iruland Lagos, opted for a low-key birthday celebration on September 6 this year and 17 days after, he died. He was the 12th of the 15 children of Chief Yesufu Oniru, who reigned for 50 years before his death in 1984 at the age of 120.
His ascension to the throne followed a compromise by other ruling houses, which believed that Chief Yesufu fought and retrieved the majority of Iru lands acquired by the government. He was said to have lost 13 of his 15 children in the process. He was equally reputed to have built a palace at the Bar Beach, but didn’t live to occupy it.
The Nation learnt that it was for these reasons and others that the other ruling houses decided to compensate his (Chief Yesufu’s) ruling house with the nomination of a successor. That concession paved the way for the Idowu Abiodun Oniru to mount the stool. Oba Idowu died at the age of 82, after reigning for 25 years.
Under his reign, Iru land, the host to highbrow Oniru and Victoria Island, became a hub of investments and properties worth hundreds of billions of naira.
The Nation learnt that the process of selecting the late monarch’s successor will commence after 41 days.
In line with the mores of the land, monarchs are not considered deceased until the funeral rites and rituals have been performed to symbolise the conclusion of their earthly journey and the commemoration of a new life in the after world.
Now that the 41 days for mourning and ritual rites for the departed Oba has elapsed, the race for the succession has begun.
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According to a source, the progenitor of Iru land was Onigefon Oniru Imahin.
In Iru land, there are three ruling houses qualified to produce monarchs one after the other.
The late Orumbe Oniru Imahin was said to be the founding father of the three ruling houses, namely Abisogun, Akiogun and Ogunyemi.
The three ruling houses have been stamped in accordance with the Lagos State Declaration made under the Customary Law Regulation Selection to the Oniru Chieftaincy of Lagos of September 14, 1993 and approved by the then Governor of the state, the late Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola.
The Declaration approved rotation and the procedure to be followed in the nomination of candidates by the local government.
It is pertinent to state that Oniru stool has been occupied by the following monarchs since 1589. They are Onigefon – 1589-1620; Mabogunje – 1621-1654; Ihuntayi – 1655-1687; Odudu Eleyiwo- 1688-1709; Abanu – 1710-1735; Olaletan- 1736-1790; Orisasanya-1792-1820; Orumbe – 1821-1835; Abisogun- 1836-1855; Akiogun – 1856-1893; Akinsanya Ogunyemi – 1894-1926; Lawani Oduloye – 1927-1933; Yesufu Abiodun Oniru-1934-1984 and Idowu Abiodun Oniru-1994-2019.
It would be recalled that those who occupied the stool from 1589 till 1984 used to Baales (Chief), until the reign of Idowu Abiodun Oniru.
Idowu Abiodun Oniru in 1995 was accorded official recognition as a first class Oba and crowned at a colourful ceremony.
In Yoruba traditional system, the person called Aremo is most likely to be the heir to the throne. There is already one in the Iru palace – Adesegun Oniru, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront.
Just like the late Oba Yesufu and the late Oba Idowu, Adesegun is also from the Akiogun Ruling House.
But there is a dissenting voice from the Abisogun Ruling House which said it is its turn to produce the next monarch.
When reminded of the importance of Aremo in Yoruba land, a member of the ruling house dismissed the Aremo theory.
He said Aremo is usually used for the first male child of a monarch and may not necessarily succeed his father.
Baale of Igbosere, Chief Isa Salawu told The Nation that he expects the Abisogun House to send their nomination for the throne.
“I expect the local council development area to call on the next ruling house to present a candidate,” he said.
Chief Salawu said the constitutional requirement mandates that a new monarch be installed 90 days after the demise of the old monarch.
He, however, said there is a cordial relationship with other ruling houses. “We are not fighting over who will succeed the late Oba Oniru. We expect other ruling houses to support us because it is our turn,” he said.
Chief Salawu said the Ogunyemi Ruling House conceded the slot to the Akiogun’s house to honour Oba Idowu Abiodun.
A member of the Oniru chieftaincy family of Lagos, Alhaji Wakeel Abiodun Ajasa also backed Chief Salawu’s claim that it is the Abisogun ruling house turn to produce the next Iru monarch.
According to Ajasa, the Abiodun family of Akiogun Ruling House has dominated the throne from Chief Yesufu Abiodun, who reigned for 50 years. “The late Chief Yesufu’s son, Idowu Abiodun was again installed in 1994 after the next ruling house, Ogunyemi House, conceded their turn to Akiogun ruling house,” he said.
The next ruling house, according to him, is Abisogun.
Read Also: Race to become next Oba Oniru begins
“We just want the world to know the true position of things as regards the ruling houses in Iru. The Akiogun house has ruled for 75 years. Others too should be allowed to rule the kingdom and we are not short of qualified candidates to mount the throne. We have sons who are well educated,” he said.
A publication by the four branches of the Abisogun Ruling House said: “In view of the vacancy of the Obaship title of Oba Oniru, following the demise of Oba Oniru, the Abisogun Ruling House hereby state that they are ready and willing to nominate a candidate to fill the stool of the Oba of Oniru, being legally the rightful ruling house to do so at this point. The Abisogun Ruling House has become apprehensive and worried that plans are being made to wrongfully install a successor to the stool of Oba of Oniru by the same Akiogun family, who had produced Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru and Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru, who ascended the throne by virtue of the concession by Ogunyemi Ruling House. The total number of years now spent by the Akiogun Ruling House is 75 years. The question is where lies the right of the other Ruling Houses, particularly the Abisogun Ruling House?
“The Abisogun Ruling House categorically states that it is their turn to produce a candidate and appeal to the constituted authorities not to allow a suppression of the other Ruling Houses of Oniru Royal Family, particularly the Abisogun Ruling House.
“It is the hope of the Abisogun Ruling House that the proper procedure will be followed in the process of nominating and selecting the candidate that will emerge from the Oniru Royal family which candidate should come from the Abisogun Ruling House.”
However, the Ogunyemi Ruling House described the Abisogun’s position as untrue. In a rejoinder published on Monday, responding to the publication by the Abisogun Ruling House on November 8, the Ogunyemi House said the Abisogun Ruling House’s statement was misleading.
The publication, signed by the Head of the Ogunyemi Ruling House, Madam Abimbola Ogunyemi, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the newspaper publication by the Abisogun Ruling House of the Oniru Royal Family. The publication erroneously states that the Ogunyemi Ruling House of the Oniru Royal Family declined and unilaterally conceded their right to the throne of Iru Land in 1984 to the Akiogun Ruling House upon the demise of our beloved Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru (1934 – 1984) paving the way for the tenure of our late Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru, on the throne (1994 – 2019). The Abisogun Ruling House further states that by the ‘Order of Rotation/Succession’, they are entitled to present a candidate to occupy the Stool of Iru Land.
“We, the Ogunyemi Ruling House of the Oniru Royal family, completely refute this erroneous and misleading claim by the Abisogun Ruling House. We state unequivocally that the publication of November 8 by the Abisogun Ruling House is merely a desperate attempt to distort history as well as to disrupt the peace and unity of Iru Land and the Oniru Royal Family.”
According to the Ogunyemis, the ascension to throne by the late Chief Idowu Abiodun Oniru was made possible by the decision/action of the Ogunyemi Ruling House and the Abisogun Ruling House upon the demise of the late Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru.
They said both ruling houses in conformity with provisions of the Obas and Chiefs Law of Lagos State 1981, opted not to produce a candidate to fill the stool of the Oniru Royal Family.
The Ogunyemi Ruling House said: “Hence, by the lawful Order of Rotation, the Akiogun Ruling House was again presented with the opportunity to produce a candidate to occupy the stool of Oniru Royal Family.
“It is noteworthy to mention that both Ogunyemi Ruling House and Abisogun Ruling House decided to concede the established Order of Rotation/Succession as a way of rewarding the late Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru, who spent his entire reign of 50 years confronting the Colonial Government and successive governments for the recovery of the Oniru Chieftaincy Family Lands, which had been unjustly seized/revoked from 1900.
“Although a final court verdict was given in favour of the recovery of the Oniru Chieftaincy Family Land in 1974, the implementation did not materialise until shortly before the demise of Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru in 1984, making it impossible for him to benefit from the reward of his many years of labour. It was in view of this that the elders and members of the Ogunyemi Ruling House led by Madam Christianah Abeke Alder, and elders and members of the Abisogun Ruling House led by Pa. J. O Joshua, met with the overall head of the Oniru Royal Family, Pa Wahab Ogunbambi and agreed to honour the late Chief Yesufu Abiodun Oniru by unanimously asking the Akiogun Ruling House to present its late son Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru to occupy the stool.”
Madam Ogunyemi said the declaration stated that order of rotation among the three Ruling Houses shall be in the following manner: Abisogun, Akiogun and Ogunyemi. “It is on the basis of the sacrosanctity of this arrangement that we, the Ogunyemi Ruling House wish to state that the claim by the Abisogun Ruling House that they are the rightful Ruling House to nominate and select a candidate is completely inconsistent with the Lagos State Declaration made under the Customary Law Regulation Selection to the Oniru Chieftaincy of Lagos as well as the extant provisions of the Obas and Chiefs Law of Lagos State 1981.
“We, therefore, by this notice draw the attention of the relevant authorities to these two instruments of law in lawfully going about the consideration, selection and installation of the 15th Oniru of Iru Land as a way of fostering the peace, unity and progress of Iru land and its environs,” she said.
Going by the Abisoguns and the Ogunyemis’ arguments, the question is ‘which ruling house should be asked to nominate candidate for the next Iru monarch?’
Going by the Abisoguns and the Ogunyemis’ arguments, the question is ‘which ruling house should be asked to nominate candidate for the next Iru monarch?
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