The Chairman of the Central Planning Committee of Aare Ona Kakanfo Installation, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, has said that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, is right to name the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Gani Adams, as the next Aare Ona Kakanfo.
He said the choice was made after considering the profiles of several other applicants.
Ladigbolu stated this during an interstate press conference organised by the Oyo State Government in Ibadan on Thursday.
He said that the Alaafin was guided by the intelligence and wisdom of his forefathers in choosing the Aare Ona Kakanfo.
Among those who attended the event were the chairman of the Interstate Planning Committee, who is also the Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bimbo Kolade, his Ondo State counterpart, Ismaila Olurimisi, popular Yoruba actor, Yomi Fash-Lanso, the Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Community Relations, Abidemi Siyanbade, and the representative of the Alaafin of Oyo, High Chief Akinade Yussuf.
He said, “There were many people who wanted the position. People from different parts of Yoruba land craved, sought and applied for the position, mostly men from the high, low and middle class of the society. But when the Alaafin was ready, he made a choice and which everyone could attest to was the right choice.
“It is not an honorary or ceremonial title but a functional title from the beginning and if you are wondering why we need to have an Aare Ona Kakanfo now, you would agree with me that there are invasion of our territory by foreign ideas, foreign cultures, all of which if we do not guard our territory properly as Yoruba, it might lead to the total collapse of our territorial heritage and valued cultures.
“We need a Kakanfo to give a clear direction and protect the territory from incursion and invaders. He will work with all Yoruba leaders and protect the integrity and Yoruba values from marauding cultures that are ravaging our territory. The emergence of a new Kakanfo will foster unity and oneness of the Yoruba people and cultural values. The position has changed from being a warlord to that of leadership since the era of the former Premier of the defunct Western Region, Samuel Akintola.”
Ladigbolu stated that Adams would be officially installed as the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo on January 13, 2018 at the Durbar Stadium, Oyo after completing a three-day traditional rite at a secluded place.
The clergy described as a myth the general belief that occupiers of the throne of Aare Ona Kakanfo would die a few years after their installation.
