Doing the right thing: Atiba LGA and the burden of correcting history

By Adebowale Ejide Olona Since our father, the recent Alaafin transited to take his position in the realm and pantheon of our ancestors, and the process of the selection of the new Alaafin has commenced, with all sorts of shenanigans following this, I have come out to clarify and reiterate a number of issues being […]

By Adebowale Ejide Olona

Since our father, the recent Alaafin transited to take his position in the realm and pantheon of our ancestors, and the process of the selection of the new Alaafin has commenced, with all sorts of shenanigans following this, I have come out to clarify and reiterate a number of issues being presently muddled up to distort the selection process.

First, I have clarified that in Oyo, there is ONLY ONE ruling family, which is the Atiba Ruling Dynasty, of which there are 11 legitimate heirs to the throne, and only the lines of two of these heirs, the Alowolodu and Agunloye families, have been rotating the throne. As such, there is need for justice in allowing the princes from the lines of the other nine heirs the opportunity to seek the stool of their ancestors.

As such, it is not in the line of natural justice for throne to rotate between the Alowolodu and Agunloye families alone, as it were. What about the line of the other sons of Alaafin Atiba, such as Agboin Adelabu (who is the second), Adesiyan (the third), Adediran, Tella Agbojulogun, Adesetan, Tella Okitipapa, Adesokan, and others?

Also, I have shed light on the role of the Ifa oracle in the selection process to forestall further distortion. It is ONLY AFTER the Oyomesi have chosen the family to ascend the throne that the Ona Ile Mole then consults Ifa for the selection of one among the princes of such family who is to ascend the throne to become the new Alaafin, unlike how it has been construed in a report credited to the Regent and Bashorun of Oyo, High Chief Akinade Yussuf Ayoola.

I am tempted to believe that the respected Bashorun must have been misquoted, when he said Ifa would decide on who becomes Alaafin, when the issue of the next family in line has not been properly decided. Of the 119 princes who had applied to the Oyomesi (according to the Babayaji), seeking to be interviewed, only about 49 from one family were mentioned by the Bashorun as those whose applications have been received. What happened to the other over 60 princes from the other families who were not informed about why they were no longer in contention for the throne?

Importantly, the convention being appealed to – from a defective 1961 declaration on the enthronement of the monarch of Oyo – for the selection of another Alaafin had been already set aside by the 1995 Oloko Commission of Inquiry’s White Paper, which was gazetted in 2001 (and relates to the Ruling of 27 February 2004, and which the Honourable Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters to honour was mandated to implement.

In section 5.1 of that White paper, it was equally pointed out that SEVERAL GOVERNMENT DECISIONS ON CHIEFTAINCY ISSUES WERE DELIBERATELY IGNORED OR PUT ASIDE BY THE OYO LOCAL GOVERNMENT ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE ALAAFIN OF OYO.

While change is a fact of life that individuals, organisations and nations alike have no choice but to deal with, is the Atiba Local Government – being central to the implementation of this matter – ILLEGALLY ignoring government decisions as far as the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Matters are concerned?

If that’s the case, then the present and future generations will definitely not forgive the Atiba Local Government!

If the Atiba Local Government “owes her domain some crucial duties as clearly spelt in ……government gazettes and so on”, would it then say that the various sections of the White Paper of any government gazette to it, “bells and whistles, a bogus which is defective and can be declared null and void”?

Section 5.1.1. of the White Paper clearly defines what government decision is and how it must be followed.

The Atiba Local Government has disappointingly shirked in its constitutional responsibility to embark on this noble assignment.

Unfortunately, whether the Atiba Local Government is comfortable with it or not, it just has to move forward with honouring section 38.1.1. (ii) of the White Paper of the 16th July 2001 gazette and stop quoting the antiquated and defective 1961 declaration (even if it has the original signed copy crafted in platinum and served on a platter of gold)!

Like I said in an earlier Atiba princes are all my ‘sons’ and Prince Afolabi Ademola Adesina (of the Adeitan Royal Family) is one of them. Prince Afolabi, like any Oyo citizen, has the right to know how his application is being treated.

Anyone in his or her right mind would question the transparency of the supervisory role of the Atiba Local Government with regard to the selection of the new Alaafin of Oyo.

Once again, I ask: How transparent is the fact that the Baba Iyaji submitted 119 applications to the Bashorun as of 15th July, and the Bashorun as at 29th August reported having received only 49!

This modus operandi clearly lacks significant transparency! Shouldn’t this prompt an audit of the entire modus operandi of the Atiba Local Government?

Long Live Oyo Alaafin!

Adebowale Ejide Olona is a princess from the Adelabu Ruling House of the Atiba Dynasty. Email: [email protected]