Communities polarized over vacant stool

While the kingmakers are accusing the Oyo State government of attempting to impose a new traditional ruler on the town, a group of eminent sons and daughters of Ado-Awaye are backing moves by the government on the need to fill the vacant stool, 27 years after. Ado-Awaye, a major tourist haven in the state, is […]

While the kingmakers are accusing the Oyo State government of attempting to impose a new traditional ruler on the town, a group of eminent sons and daughters of Ado-Awaye are backing moves by the government on the need to fill the vacant stool, 27 years after.

Ado-Awaye, a major tourist haven in the state, is a sleepy community in Oke-Ogun upper region of the state.  The community was however in the news a few months ago when the slain Assistant Editor with The Guardian newspaper, Mr. Bayo Ohu, an indigene was buried in the town.

Only last Sunday, a lawyer to the kingmakers, Barrister Femi Akintomiwa accused the Oyo State government of attempting to cause further confusion in the town by its alleged interference as the move to install a new monarch for the town gets underway.

The kingmakers, according to their lawyer, were calling of the state government to respect the Ado-Awaye chieftaincy declaration in installing a new monarch for the town.

But a group under the banner of Ado-Awaye Peoples Voice (AAPEV), while opposing the counsel to the kingmakers that the state government was attempting to cause confusion over the vacant stool, stated that there was no iota of truth in the claims that the government was planning to impose a new monarch on the town.

In a statement signed by AAPEV’s spokesman, Comrade Tunji Adebayo, the community is, “tired of the non-existence of a traditional ruler over 27 years of the demise of our Oba Olakisokun Ayisa, the Alado of Ado-Awaye.”

The statement reads further:  ‘‘Since February 23, 1983, when the monarch passed on, no tangible development has taken place in our town. So, we are appealing to the state government under Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, to install our monarch so that the town can move forward.  The opposition to government’s plan is the handiwork of self-imposed kingmakers in collaboration with some politicians who are bent on ensuring that the town remains as it is since 27years ago.”

On the alleged declaration that the kingmakers claimed should be respected by the state government, the AAPEV declared that, “there is no iota of truth in the alleged declaration and if there is any declaration as alleged by these enemies of progress, they should present it to the whole world instead of beating around the bush.’’