In these interviews with TUNDE OGUNESAN and DARE ADEKANMBI, the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun, speak on the controversies surrounding the Ibadan Chieftaincy Reform instituted by the Oyo State government and the 21-day ultimatum given to the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, by the 21 Obas installed by the government. Excerpts:
SIR, things seem to have fallen apart between members of the Olubadan-in-Council and the Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, since Sunday August 28, 2017 when the 21 Obas were coronated as His Royal Majesty by the governor of the state?
The irony of life is that I love this Olubadan, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Adetunji. I love him as a person. But things are not normal under his leadership; relationships are not normal. For instance, his family seems to have taken over the role of Olubadan-in-Council. They usurp some roles and he seems to have forgotten that his success is ours and ours is also his. He is the head of the Olubadan-in-Council and not the Olubadan-in-council. We were the kingmakers that elected him as the Olubadan when the council was the king-making body that elected Olubadan, and we elected him. Surprisingly, the most unwanted person at the palace now is the Balogun of Ibadanland who was the actual person that nominated this Olubadan in particular. I may be next to him in terms of ranking but I also seconded the motion. And we pushed the motion through until he became the Olubadan. Is it now right for anybody who is related to that Olubadan to say we don’t matter to him? We were once referred to as third parties by the Olubadan himself and I asked him, are we third parties? We are an extension of you for God’s sake, Baba! And I swear once again, I love Baba as a person. Third parties in matters affecting Ibadan, no; we’re an extension of the Olubadan that’s why we’re called the Olubadan-in-Council together with him. He is just the head of the Olubadan-in-council and the Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty as the head of the council.
Don’t you think the reform has changed that status quo by making some High Chiefs and Baales Obas as regards the statutory role of the Olubadan-in-Council?
The reform has not touched Ibadan chieftaincy in any form. It merely introduced fashion and nomenclature that we’re now called Oba. We are still Otun Olubadan, Balogun, Ekerin, Ashipa, Osi and all sorts as they were before. The structure remains intact. So, what are we quarrelling about? Nomenclature and fashion? Meanwhile the nomenclature merely puts us in line with the rest of Yorubaland. That is what obtains in other parts of Yorubaland: Ekiti, Ondo, Abeokuta /Egba , Ijebu, Osun, name it. They have imperial majesties who may have beaded crowns and others with smaller crowns as subordinates to them. So why are we quarrelling in Ibadan? A lot of people don’t even understand the reform; they were just quarrelling for the sake of it.
Aside the misunderstanding, you also mentioned interference from the family Olubadan in the Olubadan-in-Council?
Yes from the oloris, especially. The younger olori played a major role in destabilising the Olubadan-in-Council. At the Olubadan-in-Council meeting, they will sit with us, get up and contribute ideas and insult chiefs. And you won’t believe this, they were running the council. The fortnight meeting of Olubadan-in-Council became everyday meeting at the palace for the wives and the subordinates of the Kabiyesi who subordinate themselves further to the oloris who give directives on who should be Baales, Mogajis and so on and so forth. The role of Olubadan is such that he would choose his friends among the Olubadan-in-Council, choose his younger brothers, his confidants and they would be one family. But Oba Adetunji distanced himself from the Olubadan-in-Council and subsequently his children were also involved. But the more intelligent ones don’t interfere at all. I am very close to two of them; the sensible ones, they don’t interfere at all. One is a banker and the other one is a business person, perhaps a contractor or something. The two are nice people.
When these wives sit with us at the Olubadan-in-Council, especially the younger one, they insult High Chiefs in their contributions and discussions at the Olubadan-in-Council meetings. For a very long time we were taking it though as an unusual thing, thinking that as time goes on we would get over it, but it was getting worse. It was one High Chief after the other. The anti-climax was the reform that came recently. One of the wives was claimed to have told some people that “you mean any other woman would call herself olori in this town?”. And that’s why she is rejecting the reform.
So, are you saying it’s not the Kabiyesi himself that rejected the reform in his capacity as the Olubadan of Ibadan?
No. Kabiyesi is a nice person and gentleman I insist. He is a very nice person.That’s the contradiction in the whole thing. He is nice to a fault actually. The immediate Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odugade, his wife, though, she a civilised and cultured woman, she never got involved. But on one occasion, she just chipped in, the late Olubadan challenged her immediately that “are you a member of this council? I am the Olubadan for God’s sake and not you. What’s your business?” Civilised and cultured, the woman herself, it never happened again.
In this case, when the wife is insulting you, the present Olubadan will just make signal to you to take it easy. He will be making gesture to you as his brother not to bother. He would say nothing to the wives to checkmate them, at least to let them know that what they were doing was wrong. To that extent, however, he is nice to a fault, a very nice person. And I would never ever wish him ill. So, these are the remnants of the things that led to this clash. The anti-climax like I told you is the reform, and the reform itself is harmless. It doesn’t touch anything; the structure of chieftaincy hierarchy in Ibadan. Ekarun is till Ekarun, Balogun is Balogun; Otun is Otun and so on.
We have not even got to the extent of appointing Kabiyesi for Beere, Idi-Arere, Oja’ba, Gbenla, Ayeye and so on and so forth. We still remain one family of Olubadan of Ibadanland and your Otun, Osi, Ashipa, Balogun, Ekerin, Ekarun and others are still one unit.
Don’t you think being crowned as High Chiefs and other is the controversy there?
One of the things people say when they want to ridicule the reform is asking how could you have been an oba and then you become Olubadan later. Olubadan is the Imperial Majesty, other obas are His Royal Majesties. Olubadan is supreme; these are two different things.
Are you saying there is no hassle getting two crowns in one’s lifetime?
Yes, getting a crown as Royal Majesty and getting another crown later as His Imperial Majesty, if God spares your life to get there, what’s wrong with it? People say tradition, but they have forgotten that tradition itself is dynamic; it changes with people and time. The reform hasn’t touched anything; there is no reason for brawl whatsoever.
But people say, according to the reform, the Olubadan-in-Council is now known as the Oba-in-council, which has changed the way the His Royal Majesties pay homage to the Olubadan of Ibadan?
That is an area which just shows how people have been misunderstanding the reform. If the reform says this is the particular place to hold meetings, we can change it if the Olubadan says I want you to come to the palace for the meeting, what’s wrong in that? In any case, if the main palace, which is currently under construction is completed, we have to move our sittings there. Mapo is not different. It’s a public place. And even if the reform says so, we can work round it by saying out of respect for the Kabiyesi he wants us to be meeting in his house; we can go there provided that we all agreed to go there. But a majority of us don’t want us to go there.
There was no need for most of this rancour really. There is no genuine desire to step on anybody’s toes. The fundamental thing that went wrong is the intervention of the family of Olubadan:, some sections and not the whole family. The family has a very high number of good people too, though the presence of the good people might not be as strongly felt as that of just one bad person. That’s where all this mess is all about.
You keep on saying Oba Adetunji is a very nice person, but having identified the missing link in the crisis, why did you go ahead and issue an ultimatum to the Olubadan?
The case of the 21 days ultimatum was like an initiative for peace. Who will give ultimatum to the Olubadan and the Ibadan elders will not run around to make peace from it and say don’t go beyond that?
Sir, did you mean the ultimatum was thought out as an instrument of peace?
It was an initiative for peace. If the Kabiyesi had handled it very well, he would have reached out to us that my people what have I done to deserve this ultimatum. And the elders would say the grievances have been taken too far and then we repeat our grievances, they will resolve the issues. By that, Kabiyesi would also be more willing to listen to us at that time.
But before the coronation, was there any meeting between the Olubadan-in-Council and the Olubadan to really discuss the ‘assumed’ differences or perception about the reform?
Initially, we were all opposed to the reform and were meeting at his palace. The most critical point then was that we were not consulted by the government. We argued that as people who would be directly affected, why did the government not consult us? And then people started speculating about the intention of the government/governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. They said the reform was targeted at quickening the process of some people to become Olubadan and also to discourage the emergence of some people to become Olubadan. We found later that it was not so. It was the patriotic zeal of the governor as an Ibadan person to carry out the reform because he told us that obas whose terrains are not as big as Idi-Ape in Ibadan were coming to visit the governor with eight to 10 crowned obas in their domains. And they would look responsible and their imperial majesties would also look more responsible and highly respected and welcomed.,But when our Kabiyesi would go, he would go either with his wives or with some boys who are not even recognised. And the governor, as a patriotic Ibadan person, said he naturally felt very bad about that. I think that is the source of the reform.
You mean despite all this, it was impossible to convince the Olubadan to share your new thoughts on the reform?
Yes, there are some people who made access to him impossible and are solely responsible for this. Even when you had access to him, they made it ineffective. You say your own, you go and they come back and talk to him again. You can confirm this, the popular saying in the palace to that effect is that “that’s how we’re going to do our own. When it’s their turn, let them do it the way they like”. It’s not his property, not ours either; Ibadanland belongs to all of us.
Where do we go from now, especially with reaction of the Mogaji’s giving you also another seven days ultimatum to withdraw your 21 days ultimatum to Olubadan?
The reaction was not expected and not appropriate either. Giving us seven days to do what? (Heaves), it is a conservative reaction and can never lead us to peace. It’s not one that will make peace. It is contrary to the motive for the original ultimatum. It’s a reaction which if not properly handled will lead to more complications which are not good for the Olubadan. He is the head and has much more at stake than anybody. Even the initiative for peace is my thought and I felt we should all sue for peace, and expecting that we will all come round the table to make peace and not this thoughtless reaction.
We should all be careful not to set Ibadan on fire. I will plead with my colleagues to ignore the seven days ultimatum because it was not well-thought out. We will just ignore it. Unfortunately, some of the guys – Adanla, Ladoja and Abass Oloko, who came with up with the reaction are also our own children. The three people that are behind the reaction are very close to me personally. The two ultimatums are demonstration of our paper tigers, disposition. They won’t face me and say those things they said in the ultimatum. I have forgiven them; they are my children. That is the aspect we would use to resolve the situation. Some of us are close to ourselves, so the threats are empty.
Sir, don’t you think the 21 days ultimatum sparked the seven days ultimatum?
Don’t worry. Whatever you adduce it to, we will ignore the reaction as it never existed. We will strive for peace. I am sure that those who issued counter ultimatum would have realised by now that their reaction was thoughtless and would be striving for peace as I am talking to you now. Quietly, we will get there definitely. Nobody gets benefits in causing crisis in Ibadanland, who benefits? Nobody. Not even those who issued the counter ultimatum. I would never give my consent to Olubadan’s impeachment. I will never support it.
But sir, you are a signatory to the statement from the obas, His Royal Majesties, that issued the statement at Mapo, where you issued a veiled threat that if the Olubadan fails to rescind some decisions you will reconmmend his removal to the governor.
There are other options, Tunde! Look here, God forbid if such happens! It’s an embarrassment for me as the second in command to the Olubadan. I wish I could be number four, five or six to him. All eyes are focusing on me. Look, I always give glory to God for having come this far as the Otun Olubadan. For God’s sake. No, no, no, that’s not my lifestyle.
Sir, let’s assume that the counter reaction never came up, and the Olubadan fails to heed the points you raised within the 21 days ultimatum, what happens afterwards?
We will explore other means. We would have talked to some people who would sue for peace. I would have moved for peace to reign and not pursue any option that could cause crisis in Ibadan.
Why didn’t you take that option before issuing the statement?
Tunde, this is a group thing. It’s a group decision and I don’t have to come and here and tell you who was for this and who was for that. It’s a collective responsibility. I would have preferred the opposite approach, but that was the group’s decision and I have to abide by it. It would be up to the group that issued the ultimatum to turn it to peace and make advancement. I told you it’s an initiative for peace but the counter reaction was the most unpredictable. We thought the reaction would be otherwise.
There’s an assumption that the governor is behind the 21 days ultimatum. Is this true?
How can the governor be behind it for God’s sake? We were all angry at the beginning. This council is made up of fantastic intellectuals. It has never happened in the history of Ibadan. We can’t be used by anybody, not at my level and same for many of us in the council. The governor won’t do such a thing. It sounds somehow when people start insinuating what is not, that the governor is using us. Can he do that? I don’t think so of his person. In my own case, my father who brought me to this world can’t use me for anything, much more my younger brother. The respect we have for the governor is mutual; he does same thing. Don’t forget, with due respect, the council members also have their intimidating records in our chosen fields. Oh my God! Why would anybody think of that?
If there’s anybody who can have such influence on me, it should be High Chief Rashidi Ladoja, though he is also my younger brother. We were all ready to go to court at the beginning, but when I learnt that all others had withdrawn and it remained the two of us, I told him it’s wrong for you and I to be in court, that it would be better for all of us to be in court and not a few of us, then I pulled out.
What’s the way forward now?
We would get talking soon. Somebody close to me just called a few days ago and said he’s travelling outside the country and that whenever he returns, we would talk. Another person also close to the Kabiyesi spoke to me and say we would talk, and arrange a meeting between Kabiyesi and myself. Things like that would always happen; the elders might also want to intervene as they have been doing in the past and say: “hope the two of you have exhausted your fire-powers now”, and move to resolve the matter in the interest of Ibadanland in general and we return to being a united people again.
and then