Since June 2013 when Oba Ganiyu Ayodele Obasoyin, Okumolese II, ascended the throne as the Olukere of Ikere, Ekiti State, he has been in a two-pronged running battle: one is for the recognition of his throne by the state government and the other, to prove that he, indeed, is the traditional ruler of Ikere kingdom. He speaks with SAM NWAOKO on these and other issues.
Issues about your throne have been swinging left and right for some time, and the controversy doesn’t seem to be ending. Let us know who the Olukere is from your own perspective?
The issue of who the Olukere is in Ikere-Ekiti is rather simple. There’s an intelligence report of every community in this country because of the fact that we were under the control of the white people. The reports are what they met there and what they know about each of the communities. The report on Ikere stated without any ambiguity that the Olukere founded Ikere and that he had been in Ikere for many years before a hunter named Ogoga visited him in Ikere. So that’s clear enough. Even that same intelligence report stated that the Ogoga took permission from the Olukere and that the Olukere gave him the permission to settle in Ikere-Ekiti. Thirdly, the community itself derived its name from Olukere, who is the founder. Then it is common in Yoruba land that anywhere you have “Olu”, he is the number one in the community. Others defer to him. It is a simple logic. There’s supposed to be that historical recognition and hierarchy. I’ve always said that Ogoga has been an error which needs to be corrected.
There is the contention in your community that even the Olukere came to meet the Aladeselu in Ikere. How do you see this and what’s your reaction?
Interestingly, I don’t want to join issues with the Aladeselu family because the intelligence report I’m referring to made no particular mention of the Aladeselu. However, even the smallest family in Ikere has a recognisable mention in the document. The only time Aladeselu was mentioned is where the report stated that Aladeselu was one of the families in some quarters. If the Aladeselu was so important, the report written in 1934 by the white people could have listed and described the family. Every family name in Ikere, every chieftaincy title in Ikere, is all listed in the report. So, to me, Aladeselu is one of the first settlers in Ikere. They are among the people that settled early at Odo Oja in Ikere.
You referred to the Ogoga issue as an error of history. At what point did you realise this and how did it come about?
The error has been there for donkey years. When Ogoga came to Ikere, through hunting, he was received by the Olukere. He had told the Olukere that he shot an elephant. To the people of those days, a man who had shot an elephant must have been a brave person and as such, the Olukere accepted him. He pleaded that he wanted to stay in the community and he was accepted. He ran errands for the Olukere after settling there, having been assigned roles by the Olukere. When the meetings of the Pelúpelú started, the Olukere, being very old at that time, sent Ogoga to the meetings. That was how he manipulated himself to the position of an Oba in Ikere. Up till today, when Ogoga is being installed in Ikere, we don’t call him Oba. We gave him “Olorimodekunrin”, that’s the youth leader of the community. That is what Olukere made him to be. Even up till today, when the Ogoga is going to be installed, the Olukere will announce him as the “Olorimodekunrin” and the people will say yes in acceptance. So that error was possible because the Olukere then did not go to school and thus, the manipulation was possible. I’m the second person on this throne that is educated. The last Olukere was Olufemi Ijasan. He was the first educated person to come to the throne of Olukere. So, because they didn’t go to school, they had abdicated their position to a “stranger” indirectly, and that was helped by the fact that there was no government authority over an Oba in those days. Obas were the authorities in their domains. So, even when Ogoga did everything outside, he still came to report back to the Olukere. So, the Olukere never bothered because he saw him as someone working for him until the issue of independence started. The register the white man had been using became their reference, and Ogoga was the one there and got in. That is why I said Ogoga was an error and this error must be corrected.
Another reason I said Ogoga is an error that must be corrected is that from the intelligence report I’m referring to, the Ogoga said he is a prince from Benin. If you are a prince, it then means that your father must have been a king. Please, can anybody ask the Ogoga to tell us the name of the Oba of Benin who was his father that gave him the right to wear a crown? Then we can go to Benin and check in the archives there if truly, somebody had that name in the hierarchy of Obas in Benin.
The Ogoga is the government recognised traditional ruler in Ikere. The Ogoga has also explained that the Olukere is a mere chief priest of the Olosunta of Ikere, and that you should not be referred to as Oba. How do you react to this against the backdrop of your claim to the throne?
He has always said this and there was never a time I said I’m not a priest. In the history of Yoruba race, every Oba is a priest in his domain. Any Oba that is not a priest is not an Oba. Even in the bible, Solomon was both a priest and Oba. David was a priest and Oba, and I can keep mentioning names. So, from the beginning of time, every Oba also served as a priest. There was nothing like Christianity or Islam in the beginning, but every community had their own religion, it was the whites that came and called it idol worship. The current Ooni of Ife said it recently that he’s a Christian, a Muslim and a priest of all the deities in Yoruba land. There’s no argument about it that I’m a priest because a real king is supposed to also be a priest of the people.
There’s a committee in charge of chieftaincy issues in the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers. That committee had looked into a matter between Obalaaye and the Olupoti. The Olupoti had said Ejiyan was a priest. The council ruled thus: “Reference to the Obalaaye as a priest does not hold water because almost all traditional rulers in Yoruba land were historically the head of all traditional religions.” That was the report of a committee of the Pelúpelú on a matter between Ejiyan and Olupoti. It is on record. So, the Obas agreed among themselves that almost all traditional rulers in Yoruba land, the Ooni, the Alaafin, the Alaké, inclusive were religious leaders too in their respective spheres of office. How then would the Olukere be different? As a matter of fact, his being a priest should actually underscore the fact that the Olukere is the Oba of Ikere.
He said the Olukere is just a priest of the Olosunta. That’s also wrong. If he had said Olukere is the priest of Ikere, that would have been right because he is their Oba. This is because before the advent of Olosunta, what priest was the Olukere? At the beginning of Ikere, there was no Olosunta. Before the Olosunta, Olukere was the Oba. Ikere had been in existence before some things led to the issue of Olosunta. The first customary court in Ikere land, which I showed to the Pelúpelú Obas when they came to Ikere, was inside my palace. Every community has their palaces in the centre of the community. How come the Olukere lives in the centre of Ikere while the Ogoga lives in the outskirts?
The issue of your recognition by the state government is still outstanding. Why is it so important to you since your people have recognised you as their traditional ruler?
That’s why I said the Ogoga issue is an error that needs to be corrected. When an error has been for so long, it becomes very difficult to correct. This error of the Ogoga has lingered for so long that it has become very strong in the community. He is a political Oba like I said, he deals with the government. If you’re nominating anyone to government today, the government would ask the Ogoga. So, they’ve been using all these instruments to make sure that the Olukere never gets his staff of office in Ikere. I went to the House of Assembly. When the Assembly was making headway, they went and lobbied and jeopardised the entire process. For six months now, we have been expecting a report from the state’s Council of Obas. When they finished their investigation and was about to write their report, the Ogoga wrote to them and that report has been stalled
So, what do you want the government to do for you?
Let the government do the right thing by giving me my own staff of office in Ikere. Then everything will continue to go smoothly and peacefully in Ikere. There are local governments with more than one monarch. In Abeokuta, we have four kings there. In Ikare, we have the Olukare and the Owa Ale. In Ikole, we have about 12 recognised Obas there. In Ipoti, we have two of them. If all these places are coexisting peacefully, why the fear over Ikere? Government should do the right thing. I’ve proved myself in all angles. We are the aborigines of Ikere. We will continue to pray and urge the government to do the right thing in the community.