Ikere kingship tussle deepens as monarch demands recognition

The crisis over who is the legitimate traditional ruler of Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti State has deepened, as the Olukere of Ikere, Oba Ganiyu Obasoyin and some indigenes of the town stormed the state House of Assembly recently to ensure that the embattled monarch gets government recognition as the legitimate monarch of the town.  The […]

The crisis over who is the legitimate traditional ruler of Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti State has deepened, as the Olukere of Ikere, Oba Ganiyu Obasoyin and some indigenes of the town stormed the state House of Assembly recently to ensure that the embattled monarch gets government recognition as the legitimate monarch of the town.
 The monarch and his subjects, led by their lawyer, Mr Morakinyo Ogele, appeared before the House Committees on Public Petitions and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs where the monarch submitted documents to support his claim of being the authentic traditional ruler.
 Obasoyin had been embroiled in a fierce and protracted supremacy battle with the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Adejimi Adu, who also lays claim to be the traditional ruler of the town.
 The Olukere was invited by the house committees to present his case so as to find a way to prevent unrest in the community. Some of the documents submitted by Obasoyin were the lkere Ekiti Intelligence Report of 1933, compiled by a British Administrator under Colonial Government, Mr. C.O. Weir, which recognised his throne.
He also presented a document indicating the payment of his stipend by the Ikere Local Government as a monarch, before it was allegedly stopped, hinging the action on an alleged plan to spite his throne and obliterate his lineage through the interference and influence of the then Ogoga.
The monarch told the committees, headed by Titilayo Owolabi-Akerele and Badejo Anifowose, respectively that: “My throne is from the source, Ile Ife where Oduduwa, the father of Yoruba race reigned. That was where we all inherited our crowns. The fact that I am the Chief Priest of lkere did not in any way diminish the recognition of my throne as an Oba. The Ooni of Ife himself controls over 200 out of the 400 deities in Yoruba land.
“I perform political, cultural and traditional roles in Ikere, being the king and landlord. Let the whole world ask Ogoga to state his role in history in our town.”
The monarch demanded that his throne should be recognised and that government should present him with the staff of office and the full paraphernalia of an Oba, to complement his throne.
The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Owolabi-Akerele, however, promised that the monarch would be given a fair hearing in dealing with his case.