Ooni, Alaafin And Dynamic Colour Of Reality – By Dare Babarinsa

Prince Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi and Prince Okunade Sijuwade were good friends in the 1960s and early 70s. Adeyemi, a prince of Oyo and direct descendant of Alaafin Atiba, was a boxer before he became an insurance broker. Sijuwade was a journalist briefly when he worked with the Nigerian Tribune and from there he moved into private business, becoming a millionaire when he was barely 30. Sijuwade was a prince from Ile-Ife, the source of Yoruba civilization and kingship system. Both of them were ambitious to ascend the thrones of their forefathers. Both were successful in realizing that ambition.

After three years of struggle with other princes, Adeyemi ascended the throne in 1970 at the age of 32. He succeeded his cousin, Oba Gbadegesin Ladigbolu, who died in 1968. Adeyemi was presented his official staff of office by then Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo, the military governor of the Western State and a bosom friend of Sijuwade. In rejoicing with his friend, Sijuwade bought the new Alaafin a new Peugeot car. He was happy.

Adeyemi’s father, was the Alaafin Adeniran Adeyemi II, who was removed from the throne in 1955 following his disagreement with the Western Region government headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Premier. He was succeeded in 1956 by Alaafin Ladigbolu II, whose reign was to prove an interregnum between father and son. Colonel Adebayo had sought the opinion of Awolowo, who was appointed the Federal Commissioner for Finance and Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council in 1967 by General Yakubu Gowon, about the ambition of Adeyemi the son. Awolowo agreed that he can be made the Alaafin after his selection by the Council of Oyo Kingmakers, the Oyo Mesi. Thus, at a tender age of 32, Adeyemi joined the league of five obas regarded as foremost in Yorubaland; these are the Ooni, Owa of Ijeshaland, the Awujale of Ijebuland and the Alake of Egbaland. But the pre-eminence of the Alaafin had been set since Yoruba obas started meeting formally in1935. The first meeting was hosted by the illustrious Alaafin Onikepo Ladigbolu. Government protocols put the Alaafin next to the Ooni ahead of other obas including the Oba of Benin in the days of the old Western Region. The boat was steady and Alaafin Adeyemi accepted the status quo.

In pre-colonial times, the Alaafin was the most powerful oba in Yorubaland. So powerful was he that the Yoruba regards Olodumare, the Supreme Being, as the Alaafin Ode Orun (Alaafin of the heavenly abode). The Oyo Empire, which was at its zenith in the 15th to the 18th Century, was said to have occupied most of the present-day Oyo, Osun, Kwara and Kogi States. By the 19th Century, the empire had collapsed and Oyo stragglers, under the leadership of Atiba Atobatele, a resourceful and capable prince, moved south, and created a new capital in the settlement of Ago Oja. Ago Oja was supposed to be a staging post from where the new Alaafin would rally loyal troops for the recovery of his old capital. It was never to be. When the British imperial power created Nigeria in 1914, the Alaafin had accepted his lot that his capital was lost, perhaps forever, and he settled fully in Ago Oja which remained the new Oyo till this day. When Adeyemi was crowned the Alaafin in 1970, he became the 9th Alaafin to reign in the new capital. Though he was young, as the Alaafin, he was second only to the Ooni who was the chairman of the Western State Council of Obas.

In February 1976, the new government of General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, created additional states, splitting the old Western State into three; Oyo, Ogun and Ondo State. Some of the big traditional rulers have now moved to different states, but the new Oyo State remained the home of the most historically important ones. Thus, the new Oyo State had the Ooni, Alaafin, Owa Ilesa and Orangun of Ila. Alake and Awujale have now moved to the new Ogun State. Ondo State now had the likes of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, the Elekole of Ikole, Oore of Otun, Deji of Akure, Osemawe of Ondo, Olowo of Owo and others who were all formerly members of the Western State House of Chiefs and later Council of Obas. So, the traditional rulers had to deal with the dynamics of the new states.

On October 1, 1979, Governor Bola Ige was sworn-in as the first elected Governor of Oyo State. He was a well-known politician having served as the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Action Group party in the First Republic. He was also a commissioner in the cabinet of then Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo when Adeyemi emerged as the Alaafin. By the time Ige became governor, the Ooni Aderemi was old and feeble and could no longer come regularly to meetings in Ibadan. Therefore, his deputy, the Alaafin was made the acting chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas. Ooni Aderemi died at 90 on July 3, 1980 after 50 remarkable years on the throne of Oduduwa.

Adeyemi saw the death of Oba Aderemi as a window of opportunity. He wrote to Governor Ige, beseeching the governor to proclaim him as the substantive chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas. The Governor rejected the prayer. Barely five months after the passage of Aderemi, Prince Okunade Sijuwade was enthroned as the 50th Ooni on December 6, 1980. He took the throne name of Olubuse II.

Governor Ige, while presenting him the staff of office, proclaimed the new Ooni as the chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas.
Having failed to impress the Governor that he should be made the chairman, Alaafin Adeyemi decided not to give up the battle. He was able to persuade four other leading traditional rulers; the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, the Orangun of Ila, Oba Phillip Ayeni, the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanke and the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi to join his crusade. This time around, however, his objective shifted so that he can have the support of the other obas. He pleaded that Nigeria, with the coming of the Second Republic, has become a democracy and therefore traditional institutions too should be ready for democracy. It was time the government should allow rotation of the chairmanship among the five leading obas, including the Ooni. A petition to that effect was promptly submitted to the Governor who simply ignored it.

The Second Republic was a period of serious politicking, especially in Oyo State where the ruling Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, was pitched in battle against the opposition National Party of Nigeria, NPN, which was in control of the centre under President Shehu Shagari. The five obas decided to gravitate towards the NPN to achieve their ambition of democratizing the traditional institution of kingship. Two of them had serious problems at home about this involvement. Governor Bola Ige was from Esa Oke, one of the many Ijesa towns where Owa Aromolaran claimed paramountcy. For him, campaigning against Bola Ige at home would be a difficult assignment. The Orangun of Ila, Oba Ayeni, had a similar problem. The Secretary to the State Government and later Deputy Governor under Bola Ige, Chief Adebisi Akande, was one of Ayeni’s leading chiefs as the Asiwaju of Ila.

Nonetheless, the 1983 election came and Ige was defeated in an election that was believed to be heavily rigged in favour of the NPN.
The Alaafin group quickly submitted its petition to the new governor, Dr Omololu Olunloyo, the famous mathematician and controversial politician. Olunloyo declined to act. He would not rock the boat. The rebel obas were thus compelled to continue to work with the Ooni as the permanent chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas, a position he has held since the days of the old Western Region. The cat and mouse game continued under the military until Oyo State was split again in 1991 when the old Osun Province became Osun State. With the coming of Osun State, both the Owa Obokun and the Orangun decided to shield their swords. In the remaining part of Oyo State, the Alaafin has emerged triumphant as the new chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas. It was a costly victory.
In the new Oyo State, both the Olubadan and the Soun were determined to hold the Alaafin to his words. They wanted rotation of the chairmanship position among the three. The Alaafin did not want it. When democracy came again in 1999, with the election of Governor Lam Adesina, the Soun and the Olubadan continued their agitation. But Alaafin Adeyemi had strong supporters who believed that democracy would not be good for the traditional institution of obaship. In the precolonial days, the Alaafin took precedence over every oba, except his father in Ile-Ife. In the traditional hierarchy, both the Soun and the Olubadan were very junior to him. Neither of them was listed among the princes of Oduduwa. They were only elevated to full obaship in 1978 by the military regime of then Brigadier David Medaiyese Jemibewon, the Governor of Oyo State. Therefore, Alaafin Adeyemi was able to enlist the support of leading Oyo State citizens, including the powerful duo of Alhaji Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu and Alhaji Azeez Alao-Arisekola. Both Adedibu and Arisekola remained unmovable in their support for the old order. Both the Soun and the Olubadan were resolute in their campaign.

In January 2006, Christopher Alao Akala, a former policeman and former deputy to Governor Rashidi Ladoja, now the Olubadan, became the Governor of Oyo State in succession to his old boss who was impeached in a truly macabre circumstance. Akala, a native of Ogbomosho, was interested in looking at the obas petition. He made it known that he was interested in the prayer of both the Soun and the Olubadan. He believed that in this modern era, no traditional ruler should lord it over the others. Alaafin Adeyemi was said to have met President Olusegun Obasanjo to express his fears. Obasanjo, a known supporter of traditional institutions, was, however, said to be indifferent to the struggle going on in Oyo State. On May 3, 2011, Governor Akala announced the removal of the Alaafin as the permanent chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas. He said that the Alaafin will now rotate that position with the Olubadan and the Soun.

Then death intervened. Most of the major players in Oyo State died one after the other. Lam Adesina died in 2012. Alao-Akala died in 2022. Arisekola died in 2014. Adedibu died 2008. Alaafin Adeyemi died in 2022. By 2025, new players have emerged in Oyo State. Engineer Seyi Makinde has now emerged the Governor. Ogbomosho has a new Soun, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye. Ibadan had installed the durable politician and former Governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, as the Olubadan. It was time to look at the old petition calling for rotation of chairmanship signed by the Alaafin, Soun, Olubadan, Owa Obokun and the Orangun. The Oyo State House of Assembly, where Ogbomosho and Ibadan representatives were in clear and unambiguous majority, were corralled into the game. They were ready to give rotation a legal backing.

The new Alaafin, Oba Abimbola Owoade, was installed by Governor Seyi Makinde on April 5, 2025. The colourful ceremony was attended by guests from across the Nigerian Federation. The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, led a retinue of obas from the Yorubaland to grace the occasion. He has emerged as the co-chairman of the National Council of Tradition Rulers and the chairman of the Southern Nigeria Council of Traditional Rulers. With his installation, Oba Owoade has now joined the league of first-class traditional rulers in Nigeria.

The new Alaafin used the occasion of his installation to make it known that he was ready to struggle for the continuation of the old order. He reminded his audience that he was not just the Alaafin of Oyo, but of Oyo Empire. He wanted it known that he was ready to demand for the ancient privileges of the Alaafin when he was in charge of an empire. Since coming to the throne, he has been struggling to grapple with the new dynamics of the traditional institution.