Three deaths: Gainers and losers

THE death of three prominent Nigerians happened in quick succession, setting tongues wagging. The first was the passage of the 43rd Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, which occurred on Monday, 7 July, 2025. In Yorubaland, obas don’t die, they only join the ancestors. The two other deaths happened in quick succession as if one was saying to the other “let’s go” and the other was responding, “wait for me”! Former president Muhammadu Buhari died on Sunday, 13 July, 2025 while the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, followed the next day, Monday, 14 July, 2025. The coincidence was not lost on Nigerians who began to post on social media photographs of Buhari and the late Awujale in various tete-a-tete moods on the occasions that their paths crossed.

 None of the three notable Nigerians died young. Oba Olakulehin, who rose to the rank of a Major in the Nigerian Army, departed at what our people would describe as the “ripe old age” of 90 years; Buhari at 82 (official age, I suppose) and the Awujale at 91. Enthroned on July 12, 2024, the Olubadan was a few days short of sitting on the throne for one full year. He waited long enough, however, to celebrate his 90th birthday on 5th July. His passage has cleared the way for a former governor of Oyo state and one-time senator of the Federal Republic, Rashidi Ladoja, to ascend to the throne as the 44th Olubadan. Whenever anyone asks the oft-repeated rhetorical question of “what’s in a name”, the story of Oba Olakulehin should answer them with a sharp and unambiguous “Plenty!“ Olakulehin literally means there are still many good things to come. And it came for him even at 89 years! Never say it is over until it is over. Don’t write off anyone. There is the glory of the latter days!

 Talking about not writing off anyone, the story of the tango between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ladoja, when the latter was the governor of Oyo state, has started to gain currency on social media. The story is told of how Ladoja advised Obasanjo to perish the thought of a third term in office. Wily OBJ thanked the governor but purposed in his heart to punish him for his unsolicited advice. Walls, they say, have ears; so word leaked that OBJ harboured sinister intentions against Ladoja and two governors of the time reportedly dragged Ladoja before OBJ to tender an unreserved apology. Rather than his anger being assuaged OBJ reportedly ordered Ladoja to resign or he, OBJ, would reduce him to nothing! Ladoja reportedly refused to resign and, as to the threat to reduce him to nothing, he was said to have replied with a terse “If God permits you”. Were the threats carried out? Of course! Ladoja was impeached kangaroo-style but he fought his case in court, won the battle and returned as governor. He, however, could not have a second term in office.

 With the controversies over the late Oyo State’s Gov. Isiaka Ajimobi’s reforms of the Ibadan chieftaincy laws which pitched Ladoja on the one hand against Ajimobi and the other Ibadan chiefs on the other, it was as if Ladoja’s path to the Olubadan throne had been strewn with thorns and thistles. Commonsense and statesmanship however prevailed under the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, and the issues in contention were amicably resolved. So, after observing the rights of passage for the late Olubadan, a date for Ladoja’s coronation will be announced. Long may the king reign! Artificial Intelligence is already abuzz with the photographs of Obasanjo prostrating full length before a regal Ladoja. This may not be a mere prank or suggestion; it may not even be an attempt at mocking the former President or a reminder that no man should play God. Obasanjo has been a latter-day respecter of the customs and traditions of the Yoruba; he has prostrated before Yoruba obas far younger in age and there is nothing that suggests he cannot rise above the pettiness of the past and do similarly for Ladoja. And, of course, we should expect Ladoja to be magnanimous in victory.

 The passage of another illustrious Yoruba oba, Oba Sikiru Adetona, came exactly one week after the Olubadan. If Oba Olakulehin’s reign was short, that of Oba Adetona was long. Installed on 2 April, 1960 (before the country gained its flag Independence), he reigned a little over 65 years. Many generations of Ijebu sons and daughters have not known any monarch other than Oba Adetona. In fact, the kingmakers must be dusting the books and refreshing their memory about the processes and procedures for the selection of another Awujale! While many princes may have started jostling for who steps into the shoes vacated by Oba Adetona, the identity of the next Awujale still remains in the womb of time. The Ijebus must be grateful that their oba waited to celebrate the last Ojude Oba before travelling to the land of the ancestors; otherwise, the iconic festival, which takes place on the third day after the Muslim Eid-al Kabir or Sallah (“Ileya” festival, as the Yoruba call it), could have experienced a hiccup. Ojude Oba is a vibrant cultural and traditional event hosted by the Ijebus, home and abroad, to honour the Awujale. This year’s event  took place on 8 June, 2025.            

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All the same, the Ijebus will rue the loss of their influential oba at this point in time, especially with their push for a state of their own. The National Assembly is going round gauging the pulse of the people and collecting memoranda for a review of the Constitution. The Ijebus have been vociferous in their demand for Ijebu state and their monarch had led the way. Recently, he was quoted as saying that the incumbent, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has promised him the Ijebu state of his dream. Now that he is gone, who leads the Ijebus, especially with all the controversies that usually trail state creation exercises? The demand for Ijebu state has not been an exception. As I made to scribble this, a friend called and asked if I was aware of the danger that the demand for an Ijebu state portends for our own long-existing Ondo state. I wasn’t and I told him so. He then volunteered that Ilaje, the oil-producing part of Ondo state, has been included in the proposed Ijebu state by some of its canvassers. “How on earth is Ilaje part of Ijebu?”, he asked, before adding that if the canvassers succeed, then, they would not only have denied Ondo state its status as an oil-producing state, and of the resources and privileges appertaining therefrom, but would also have rendered it landlocked.

 I reasoned that it was far-fetched that Ilaje could be hijacked from Ondo state into Ijebu state but he warned me to perish the thought! “When they accuse Tinubu of favouring the Yoruba with appointments – which is not true, anyway – the majority of those appointees are from Ogun state. Many of the appointments that go to Lagos actually are cornered by the Egbas and Ijebus”, he said. The inference here is that the Ijebus can leverage the many influential people they command around Mr. President to shortchange a marginalised state like Ondo. If that appears superfluous, the tango between Ijebu and Remo over the new state is not. Antagonists on both sides are oiling their “war” machines. Some powerful politicians, like Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former two-term governor of Ogun state and now a serving senator representing Ogun East senatorial district, appear already caught in the crossfire of how to resolve the issues in contention.

 What should the new state be called: Ijebu state or Ijebu-Remo (patterned after Akwa-Ibom)? Where will the capital be located: Ijebu-Ode or Shagamu? Taking a cue from the old colonial arrangement of provinces as administrative units, the Ijebus want the then Ijebu province to now become Ijebu state with headquarters at Ijebu-ode. Remo  would have none of that as they do not want to be part of any Ijebu state. They want their own Remo state with headquarters at Shagamu. Note that the Remo people have thrown overboard the Ijebu hitherto attached to their name (Ijebu-Remo) and are now simply known, called and addressed as Remo! They argue that they are an entirely different people from the Ijebus: that while the Ijebus have said they migrated from Sudan, the Remo people migrated from Iremo quarters in Ile-Ife and have retained and maintained their affinities with their roots to this day.

 It can get very interesting! Egbado people in the same Ogun state have jettisoned that name and are now known, called and addressed as Yewa. In my own native Ogho (Owo), the Ijebu-Owo people have yanked off the “Owo” in their age-old name and now call themselves Ijebu! And my mind went to my editor and mentor, Comrade Nojeem Jimoh, who posits that the Yoruba are only Yoruba because there is Nigeria but that the moment we exit Nigeria and have our own Yoruba or Oodua Nation, we will all go back to what we used to be – Egba, Ijebu, Remo, Awori, Egun, Ekiti, Ogho, Ondo, Akoko, Akure, Ikale, Oyo, Ijesa, Okun, name it! It can get really scary! The various nationalities making up what we know today as Yorubaland fought, perhaps, the longest inter-tribal war in history, from 1789 (the year the French Revolution started) to 1893 (the year the Franco-Russian Alliance was signed in Europe), a total of over 104 years. Those wars – and the lack of unity among the various Yoruba nationalities – accounted in a large measure for why they were easily worsted by the invading British colonial forces. The sentiments expressed here must, however, not be taken to mean opposition to the realisation of a Yoruba or Oodua nation but a clarion call that, even after its realization, we have work to do! We have mountains to climb!

As would be expected, Buhari’s demise has been received with mixed feelings. There has been the hypocrisy of the political class evidenced by the torrents of tributes but the reaction of many ordinary citizens has been tepid and subdued, slightly different from what was demonstrated at the death of the vile dictator, Sani Abacha. Had Buhari ended his political career when he was toppled as military Head of State in 1985; had he not insisted on being a civilian president; and had he not succeeded in that endeavour, he would have died a national hero and would have been better celebrated than anything the ruling class has accorded him now. But he squandered virtually all the goodwill he brought to the Presidency. His death, however, portends political consequences. All those angling for his endorsement to reap political advantage must now rue what lies ahead. Those who shout from the rooftop that they are Buharists, how market?

 Well, say no evil of the dead – because that is the inevitable end of all mortals. And no one is perfect! May the souls of the departed rest in peace!