Prince Bayo Gbadegesin, one of the aspirants for the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo, in an interaction with WALE AKINSELURE, speaks on the roles played by the various stakeholders, the issues and the controversies that have trailed the selection process.
Run us through the process of selecting the next Alaafin of Oyo that you participated in.
At the demise of the Alaafin, the kingmakers invited interested people especially from the Agunloye ruling house, which I belong. So many people wrote letters who may not actually pass the test of having come from Agunloye ruling house. There was this controversy over that, they had to prune the name from 119 to about 63. It was a tough job because it became profitable to have a large list. At the end of the day, the list was pruned to 63 of which I am one of them. I was among the first set of people interviewed. They invite you, you pay some fees for forms, the Oyo Mesi interviews you, they ask about your experience, what you intend to do. At the end, everybody was expecting them to come back to say in the light of your exposure to this interview, we have arrived at this or that person based on certain parameters. There are parameters they can use to prune down. For example, some people appeared before the panel, their fathers are still alive and it is a taboo in Oyo town for a king to have his father alive. Some are from the mother line, some were contesting and were bearing their maternal names. Then when you prune down by those factors, the next is to face the Ifa oracle. Ifa will now pick somebody. All those things were not touched. We were just hearing a rumour that they have taken a name to the governor.
Based on the information you got, was it a shortlist or a particular person?
A particular person. You wonder if there was consultation with the Ifa oracle, if there was pruning. Out of those us who showed interest, we have professors, medical doctors, PhD holders, accomplished people but the name we hear they picked cannot boast of a school leaving certificate. In a town where an erudite king has just died, someone who can be classified as professor of Yoruba history, you want to just slot in somebody probably because he has brought more money than others. If not for the governor who insisted that Alaafin is one of the most sacred institutions that we have left in Yoruba, that it will be a tragedy to have such a place headed through purchase. Those who are qualified for the throne if we follow how it has been done in the past are just the children of Aremo of Oyo and my father was the late Aremo of Alaafin Gbadegesin. But all manner of people came up. Even among the Aremo’s children, this person whose name is said to have been sent was the least qualified. So, one will be eternally grateful to the governor for insisting on due process.
Do you seek a review, a restart of the selection process?
That would be it. Let them restart the process. Let them bring anyone of us who is credible enough, who has track record, and who Ifa has approved when the get to that stage. But they abandoned all these. In any community, you have empirical justification for issues. This is how it was done for Atiba, the way it was done when it was the turn of Agunloye. When Agunloye left and it was the turn of Alowolodu to come in, this is the way we did it. When it was the turn of Lawani Agogo Ija, this is the way we did it. A nation that throws out its history is doomed let alone a community. They perversed the process from the beginning. They had perfected the plan going by the warrant chiefs they picked were compromised. The warranty Chief one, the Alapo was picked from the mother line of the Basorun; the other warrant chief that should replace the late Asipa was picked from one of his lower chiefs, Are Ago Basorun. Interestingly, they have knocked out Alapo and replaced him with Olu Odurinde who is from Ajagba, the second in command to the deceased Alapini but in the replacement for Asipa, they didn’t go to his area, they just picked somebody in the compound of Basorun.
The Agunloye line is quite large. There is Gbadegesin, Ladigbolu and others. Can you espouse further your position about just the children of Aremo as being presently entitled to the throne?
Alaafin Atiba, after him came Agunloye. In fact, it was a truce between Kurunmi Ijaye and Iba Oluyole. They had similar ambition when Oyo Ile was in crisis. Atiba intended to move the capital down South. Ijaye wanted a bit of autonomy from the Oyos then Iba Oluyole was sold the idea of becoming Basorun of Ibadan. In their ambitions, they formed coalition that let us settle the capital first. So, they worked assiduously for the establishment of the new Oyo. When the deed was done, Atiba requested from them that hitherto in Oyo, we used to slaughter the Aremo. But in this new capital, my own Aremo did not sit back at home enjoying the offers of office, we fought together to establish this new capital and I don’t want you to kill him when I die, I want him to succeed me as Alaafin. In the argument, it was only Kurunmi who did not show fidelity to that agreement; he insisted that Aremo must die regardless of the contribution of Agunloye. But Ibadans and Iba Oluyole stood their ground. It was because of that recalcitrance of Kurunmi that got him destroyed. After that, Agunloye became the Aremo. From thereon, it became forbidden to kill the Aremo and after him, his own Aremo, Lawani Agogo-Ija wanted to mount the throne but he was told he can’t mount the throne because he had accepted the slam and we don’t want somebody who will destroy the idols so he was banished to Ibadan at Oke-Aremo. They were looking for alternatives to Lawani at the demise of Agunloye. They mentioned that there were still children of Atiba alive. They went to Adesiyan but he told them he was not an healthy man to mount the throne and the went to Adeyemi. Adeyemi accepted. In fact, that was not his original name. After the demise of Adeyemi, Lawani came back to become the Oba. Lawani had a short reign of six years. Immediately after the demise of Lawani, Ladigbolu was made the king immediately after his father in sympathy with the shortness of the reign of Alaafin Lawani. After Ladigbolu, no living sons of Adeyemi 1 existed. They had to pick a child of his Aremo, that is, Aremo Adelakun, so we had Alaafin Raji Adediran Adeyemi, a grandson of Adeyemi 1 and a direct son of Aremo and that was where the precedence came in. It was actually the Alowolodu that first had the opportunity of using a son of Aremo and after Alaafin Adediran, Gbadegesin succeeded him. After Gbadegesin, Alaafin Adeyemi 3, a direct son of Alaafin Aderan got to the throne. After him, it is the turn of the children of Aremo Sani Akinade Gbadegesin. But people don’t seem to know this. People believe you can always smuggle yourself in. I can conveniently tell you that nobody not born of Alaafin or Aremo has ever mounted the throne of Oyo. So, the kingmakers, armed with this history, can prune down the list.
You’ve narrated a history, but with the Oyo Mesi going to court and the governor’s stance on the matter, don’t you worry that it may still take a while before another Alaafin emerges?
Any process that is not in conformity with the truth will drag. The Oyo Mesi carried on as if what they did was legitimate but the morality issue on the name they picked is too heavy.
Some would argue that it is government who influences who becomes king not Ifa.
There is no time before the advent of the colonialists when governments don’t have input. But, if the Oyo Mesi had used Ifa, there is no amount of pressure that you can put on them that will make them yield. They know they have defects, they know they have not shown fidelity to the rules. In America, when Ronald Reagan was about to sign Salt 2 treaty, his wife brought an astrologer who told them to append their signatures at exactly 1pm and he did so. So, it’s not primitive or out of place for people to seek clearer views of issues as important as the enthronement of the Alaafin. Since the demise of Alaafin, there has been a lacuna. When he was alive, nobody knew the role he was playing could be that gargantuan. When he died, the Yoruba land is not the way it was. Not only Ifa, even the white garment churches, evangelists must propitiate because the future is certainly longer than the present. You need to pick somebody who knows direction, who wants to lead the town to progress.
What kind of Alaafin is needed to succeed Oba Adeyemi?
An Alaafin to succeed Oba Adeyemi must be brilliant, progressive, very dynamic, assertive in the comity of Obas, must be able to represent Oyo State very well, wherever he is, people must be proud of him. We must be seriously connected to our past because our past has a very big role to play in our present. Who told Seyi Makinde to utter it out that we won’t sell the throne that it is too important. Someone to address governors, president must have experience, must be spiritual, must have his roots in the culture and tradition of his people so he’ll be able to represent them well.
How did you receive the governor’s remark that the Alaafin stool is not for sale and that he’ll report to the EFCC those collecting money in the selection process?
I believe the governor is a man of his words that he was so spiritually directed to utter that statement. It is a testimony that he is not an ordinary governor. People may look at him as a young man but that statement belongs to our history that we should not trivialize this thing and regret later. God will not allow charlatans. When we remember our history, we remember Alaafin Adeyemi, Olubuse, Gbadegesin. Gbadegesin was not educated but he successfully brought serious developmental efforts to Oyo. He was the first person that did electrification of Oyo. He went to the prime minister then, Tafawa Balewa, to request for electricity for Oyo. He was shocked that the Alaafin left Oyo for Lagos to ask for electricity for his people not tuition fees for his children or contracts or something to enhance his personal life. It was that Saturday that Balewa directed Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) to take electric poles to Oyo. That is the type of Oba we want now.
What is your appeal to all stakeholders involved in the processes of selection of the next Alaafin of Oyo?
I appeal to remember that we have but a short time on earth and whatever we bequeath to the community, we will be remembered for. We have to make progress. Everybody should be committed to making progress for the community. We have to leave this place better than we met it. It’s not about having an ambition but having an ambition that is devoted to the good of a large number of people. How would our Oba, when finally chosen, attend to the excruciating poverty the people are going through. People are labouring, when they come back home, they spend all they earn just to feed. They should think about having an Oba that will work towards alleviating their sufferings and the Oba should not be restricted to all that comes with the office, he should know he’ll become history one day, whether he wants to be boldly written or he wants to just be a footnote.
Tell us about yourself?
Prince Bayo Gbadegesin is one of the sons of late Prince Sani Akinade Gbadegesin. I attended schools beginning from L.A. Primary school, Idi-Ope, Oyo to Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo where I was Senior Prefect. From Olivet, I proceeded to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, where I did Civil Engineering. Incidentally, I became president of the Students Union in my final year. From there, I attended Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, for my Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing. I had attended institutions including University of Chicago, Illinois. I am a businessman. I have my company for civil infrastructure projects. I am in my 60s.
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