- Today, it appears that the oracles are not speaking, or that the kingmakers are not listening.
- … Hon. Afolabi Afuape says the Government can take a decision on who becomes a king if things get bad.
Several voices have called for the inclusion of royal fathers in modern democracy, to enliven their old royal rods as they sit on the ancient stools of authority. The ‘inclusionists’ hold that the royal fathers reserve unblemished traditional prestige which remains uncorrupted by any political immaturities. But it appears that the crowns are equally susceptible to power tussles, seniority duel, royal combats and warfare typical of political parties and candidates bidding for offices during elections.
This questions whether the traditional sacredness of the Obas is only believed in decorum to culture or in actual sense of dignified characters.
Newsclickng’s investigation in Ogun State shows that though the Afonja, Dahomey and Ijaye Wars may have ended long ago, the underlying power-clash factors which fired those wars are very much alive among the modern Obas. Example of such is the Alake and Olota supremacy clash – which, as described by Prof. Anthony Asiwaju, is historical. He also talked about the perpetual clash between the Olowu and the Alake describing it as “attachment to hangovers of 19th-century history”.
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Meanwhile, The Ijebus are not immune to royal rumbles. The Orimolusi throne, a first-class monarchy of Ijebu Igbo, has remained without a king for over twenty-six years while the palace rots away, since Oba Sami Adetayo joined his ancestors on May 28, 1994. This provides a fledgling space for the Awujale whose major status-rival would have been the Ijebu-Igbo monarch.
The Remo people have their share: the demise of Oba MichaelSonariwo – the Akarigbo of Remo Land – on July 23rd, 2016 threw the Remo people into intense disquiet. It took over 16 months before a new Akarigbo, Oba Adewale Babatunde Ajayi, was finally crowned. The royal stool of the Alara of Ilara in Remo North Local Government remains vacant as of the time of this investigation, with reasons related to clashes among ruling houses and the royal candidates; while the traditional rulers of the Onipara of Ipara and Alakaka of Akaka were just installed after months of delay, due to conflicts.
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One that could be described as more sacrilegious is the case of Olofin of Ado-Odo an Awori town in Ogun State, who was stripped naked and beaten, with his palace set ablaze in 2013, based on the claim that he was not the rightful candidate to the stool. This was a case many people would have described as an “abomination to the gods” in the past old days. The town has since remained without a king due to the lingering crisis.
A case not far from Ado Odo town is that of Itele-Ota in the same LGA. Newsclickng.com had on September 24 reported a protest at the Governor’s office embarked by Itele people over their vacant royal stool which had lasted for fifteen years, while litigation is yet ongoing. The people had besieged the Governor’s office demanding the ratification of a new king.
One too many for Awori Land, calling attention to the Igbesa case – another town in Ado-Odo LGA, with a lingering impasse in the succession of the Oloja-Ekun, the royal title of the Igbesa kingship stool, after the exit of the late Oba Samuel Olushola Banuso. The unresolved selection process had taken the matter to a court of justice while all initial activities were invalidated to allow for a fresh election among the kingship candidates.
In Yewaland, it many believe it is rather unfortunate that the Yewas have lost four prominent royal fathers in the space of one year: the late Onijoun of Ijoun (July 2nd 2019) and the sudden demise of Oloola of Ilara Land (March 20th 2020); Olu of Imasailand (July 9th 2020) and Obaladi of Afonland (July 10th 2020). Perhaps more unfortunate, as newsclickng.com has gathered, is the fact that the vacant stools have become a cause for battles among the ruling houses and contestants to the stools, especially in Ilara Yewa and Afon lands.
Ibese town, another Yewa community which hosts Dangote Cement factory in Ogun, has also remained without a king in the last three years- since the demise of Oba Joel Bamgbose in July 2017, for the reason that there is no consensus on who should ascend the throne.
In the days past, the integrity of obas were built right from the time of selection, as the oracle was always consulted to nominate for the people the right candidate to the royal stool. This was particularly the culture in a case of multiple ruling houses, while the first son was always the heir to the throne in a case of single royal lineage. Today, however, it appears that the oracles are no longer speaking, or the king makers are no longer listening.
The intrusion of modern politics into traditional rulership weakens the traditional institution, especially as the state, through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, often brokerages traditional authority among multiple interests, while the court judge act as the last gate of ratification and nullification of royal candidates, when issues get out of control.
In an exclusive interview with newsclickng, Ogun Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Afolabi Afuape, talks about the warring parties over the Oloola Ilara and Obaladi Afon stools. He said,
“We have invited them once, we will still invite them again, and if not we can take our decision. It depends, we also have a way of getting some intelligence report, and we have rules and procedure to follow.”
In such a case where the government “can take decisions” on who ascend the ancestral stool as a royal successor, Africans may also take a one-minute silence to ponder whether the tradition is falling or rising.
