High Chief Owolabi Salis has commended Oyo Governor, Seyi Makinde, for endorsing the decision of the Olubadan-in-Council to make Chief Owolabi Olakulehin the new Olubadan of Ibadan.
Salis, a Nigerian US-based lawyer who contested the 2019 Lagos State governorship election on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, congratulated Olakulehin for his sense of resilience and the divine grace that has sustained him through the traditionally instituted hierarchy to become the Olubadan of Ibadanland.
He wished Olakulehin wisdom, strength, and long life, not only to preside over the throne but also to contribute to the growth of Ibadanland, Oyo State, and Nigeria.
Salis commended the Ibadan Chieftaincy Law of Royal succession, describing it as the best among other existing systems and worthy of emulation, given its all-inclusive embrace, which entitles every indigenous family in the land to aspire to the royal throne.
“The all-inclusive arrangement not only brings about a sense of belonging but also prevents a royal superiority complex in which the exclusive royal aristocrats would look down on others as inferior,” he said.
He stated that, though he came from a royal family in Lagos State, he had to jettison all sense of pride and give kudos to the equalitarian principles of democracy endemic in the Ibadan process of obaship selection.
“It is against this background, therefore, that I urge other communities to study the chieftaincy succession template in Ibadanland for emulation given the fine values of harmony, fairness, unity, equity, justice, peace, and non-discrimination which it promotes,” he said.
He urged Ibadan indigenes, both at home and abroad, to join hands in making the coronation of the new Olubadan a memorable one and contribute their quota to the continuous development of their fatherland.
“All Yorubas, wherever they might hail from, must be proud of our fellow brothers in Ibadanland and be associated with the progress of Ibadanland,” he added.
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