Every Yoruba community now wants young, educated Oba —Jegun of Ile Oluji

The Jegun of Ile Oluji Kingdom, Ondo State, Oba Oluwole Adetimehin, in this interview with AKIN ADEWAKUN, gives a scorecard of his first year in office, plans for the community and things the throne has denied him among other issues. Excerpts:

How well have you adjusted to being a king in the one year you have been on the throne?

First, I’ll like to thank God for all these because my ascension to the throne was divine. You know, whatever God decides to do, he will perfect it. The experience of administering the throne is a different ball game from what obtains in the corporate world. But I must confess that our God has been awesome. He has manifested His presence in my administration of this kingdom. First, coming from my kind of background, I came with a blueprint to guide my activities but when I got to the throne, I took the time to study the environment and how the system works and I discovered that everybody wanted to see Kabiyesi due to their belief that once they see their Oba, their problems would be solved; I ensured my doors are wide open. I start attending to issues as early as 8 o clock in the morning. Often, I miss breakfast. So, along the line I thought of putting up structures, systems that would help in administering the kingdom. I must confess that after about fourteen months on the throne, it has been working. I have had the opportunity to test-run some  of the structures I put in place to ensure that  if  I’m not around,  there would be competent lieutenants in my cabinet that can drive the system. And to God be the glory, everything went well.

So I’m actually learning the rope and adjusting to the new role fast.

Please explain the difference between the throne and the corporate world?

In the corporate world, everything happens as scheduled. Rules must be followed.  But it’s not the same here. People come in to see Kabiyesi without necessarily booking an appointment. A huge percentage of the community wanted my candidature and I believe I should not do anything that would prevent them from seeing me, at least to reciprocate the love. And to God be the glory, I’m always available and most times, get some of those problems solved. But such sentiments are not entertained in the corporate world.  Everything is planned and scheduled. It is either you are on appointment or not.

More youths are becoming Obas now, how healthy is this for the traditional institution?

I believe there is time for everything. In the olden days, the style with which people ascended the throne differs from one community to the other. While it is a dynasty in some places, in others you have ruling houses from where a king is selected.  In those days you discover that you could hardly find any educated Oba, but with civilization and advancements in education, most communities have now realized that putting someone that is educated on the throne would go a long way in advancing the cause of the community. With an educated and relatively young monarch, you can network, sit down and evolve plans with people that can help you actualize your dream. Our forefathers then knew what they lacked and that was why they invested heavily in quality education for their children. So what we are actually reaping today, are the gains of such investment. I think it is about going with the trend. So no community will want to be left out.

Do you miss your professional colleagues or do they still get in touch?

Yes, of course. I miss the experiences and the relationship with my peer and professional colleagues.  That is the truth. But, the volume of work here is overwhelming. It hardly leaves me with any dull moment. Fortunately, quite a number of them have not left me. Some still come around while I exchange banters with some on social network and on the net; we still keep in touch. But to physically be in their midst to attend conferences, that has not been possible. But as we progress in the second year, that may change a bit. You know I talked about developing structures, and once that is in place I would have more time for the professional thing.

So you still intend to attend seminars and mix with your professional colleagues?

Why not? I would go for an international conference that has to do with my career. There I can network.  Now we are talking of retail insurance in Nigeria, which is taking insurance business to the grassroots; to the peasant farmers, to the community people, with everything woven around cooperatives, small scale businesses and insurance is a relevant factor. So if there is an international conference that has to do with retail insurance as it affects that community interest, I can spend some time to be in such a conference. And when I’m going, I can take along my Prime Minister, so that whatever knowledge we gain there, we can apply to our socio-economic programmes here.

What do you intend to achieve with the cocoa exhibition organized by your community?

In the past, the planning committee would come up with a lecture, that has to do with tradition and culture and they would invite an erudite Professor as the resource person. This time we tried to be different. We chose matters of the moment that could be a subject of discourse and that could be of value to the community and its people. That was what led us to pick an agro expo exhibition and workshop. The whole essence was to identify with the federal government in its drive to promote agric revolution in the country, aimed at diversifying the nation’s economy.  Remember, before oil, agric had been the mainstay of the nation’s economy. This agric expo was intentionally meant to promote agriculture, especially cocoa production because Ile Oluji used to be a cocoa producing community. In the past we used to be one of the leading producers of Cocoa but that declined. At the expo, we brought in experts in cocoa business, marketing, distribution and others to come and talk to our people, so that we can rejuvenate this once thriving business and become a leader in cocoa farming once again.

What about the business deal with some foreign investors that you were working on?

During my vacation, I was in Houston. I met with the president of Egbe Omo Yoruba to review the package and projects that we initiated here, so any moment from now, they will be coming back. We’ve gotten to the stage of perfecting the MOU between our community and their own group.

What are you doing to make the community become a commercial hub?

Like I said earlier, we have an economic blueprint. When I hosted my first Lerin (meeting of chiefs) assembly, I launched a project incorporating a company for the community to drive economic venture with the aim of making the community self-sustainable.  That is meant to propel the growth of our community through that company as the platform to drive all commercial enterprises; we intend to go into large-scale oil plantation farming and cocoa plantation farming on a five-year plan. We are starting this year having created a nursery for the palm oil and for cocoa. We are preparing the farmland to transfer them when the time comes and we will start doing that anytime from now. Our nursery is relatively big; we intend to set up the plantation in all the twelve districts of the community. As part of the package, we’ve seen the need to diversify our source of income generation for the development of the community so we intend to do housing and estate development.

I came from a financial background and I know the various places where one can invest. We should be able to put some money there for the future development of this place, and that is why we are raising an endowment fund of about N250million.

What challenges did you face as a new king?

I have been a professional manager over the years. I’ve operated at board levels in one or two companies, so I came to the throne, well-rounded. The function of a manager is to manage challenges but I thank God I have able lieutenants in my cabinet to help manage such challenges and with divine wisdom, I’ve been able to survive such challenges.

What is your take on the belief that traditional rulers should not be involved in politics?

I must confess to you that I believe so much in that principle.  Since I came, I took out time to meet with the different sectors of the community; they’ve shown enthusiasm, they’ve embraced my candidature and in reciprocating that gesture, I welcomed them, the political class in particular. I declared to them that your kabiyesi would not play politics and I would not expect members of my cabinet to play politics. I’m a father to all political parties and a father to all. The common goal is to win elections and bring good development to the community. This went a long way in resolving that kind of trade union and party crisis.

What is your relationship with fellow Obas especially those in the state council like?

It’s been awesome; everything about me has been the outcome of a script written by God. You can’t fault any decision made by God, hewould order your steps, he would guide you and you would get to your promised land. So I was warmly welcomed by the council of Obas. I’ve paid a visit to the cradle of the Yorubas and it was overwhelming, the kind of reception that we got. You know we are direct descendants of the Yorubas.

How do you unwind?

I have the best companion in my wife; she has remained God’s greatest gift to me. She keeps my company and has been more than an Olori to me. So there is no dull moment. My peer group and cabinet members are always with me. And when they come, you can see the cordiality; we throw banters, enjoy ourselves and engage in intelligent discussions on what can bring personal development and growth to the community. The only thing I’m missing most now is my golfing. I’ve not been able to give it time.