Why I have many northerners in my territory —Edigbon of Edemosi

Since the Edigbon of Edemosi, Osun State, Oba Samuel Adeniyi Olaniyan, ascended the throne of his forefathers on December 15, 2017, the town has witnessed steady development and he is not ready to rest on his oars. In this interview by TUNDE BUSARI, Oba Olaniyan revealed his plan to transform the agrarian community to a city.

 

How did your town come into being as a Yoruba community?

The people of Edemosi, led by a descendant of Oduduwa called Arilewofi, migrated from Ile-Ife and founded the community in 908 AD, about 46 years before the people of Ila Orangun migrated to Ila Yara, a place near the present Ila Orangun township. On getting to where we are today, our progenitors found the place serene and conducive. They concluded that they should stay at the place, using Yoruba Language expression, ‘O de wa’orun’, the place was peaceful. So we have the tradition of peace in our history. Going a bit further, on arrival of the people of Ila Orangun, we, the Edemosi people provided security for Ila people initially to enable them settle down. And up till today, we have continued to experience peace.

 

Was there a time when the peace of the community was threatened?

I said that Edigbon, our king at the time provided security for Orangun when the people of Ila newly settled down. At a point, some Oyo warriors attempted to attack Ila Orangun just as they were trying to settle down. But we defended the Orangun and his people as our brothers. That action later exposed us to external aggression from the Oyo warriors who had vowed to retaliate. The people ambushed us few years later during our egungun festival. They stripped our masquerades, an act considered a taboo. The next thing was that the invaders started torching our houses. People fled to neighbouring towns and villages. Some fled to Ila; they are the ones that are currently living in Oke Ede area of Ila Orangun. Some ran to Igbajo and some to Imesi and others to Iresi. So, Edemosi was deserted. Our people later returned after so many years. Till today, we have our kinsmen with whom we relate and can identify at Oke Ede in Ila, Iresi, Imesi-Ile and Igbajo.

 

Can you recall how you became the Edigbon?

My appointment was announced on December 13, 2017 and my installation took place on December 15 while my coronation held on February 8, this year. That is about three months ago.

 

How many ruling houses are there in your town?

We have one which is broken into different branches. I am the 10th Edigbon of Edemosi. It should not be so because it is an old town. But our ancestors had to flee the town during external invasion. But there is hope that other royal families would be incorporated back into the system in future.

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Where did you grow up?

As regards my childhood, I attended St Matthew Anglican Primary School, Ila Orangun after which I proceeded to Progressives Commercial College also in Ila. I later worked with Tiamiyu and Sons in Lagos as an account clerk. After some years, I set up my own company, Oluwanisola and Sons with the support of my parents. The company was importing glass from Europe and manufactured aluminum sliding doors and windows. I later registered Versam Ventures Nigeria Limited that focuses on importation of plywoods from China. The company is there till date. I went for some seminars on Business Management and Human Relations and worked for some time in the United States of America.

 

Don’t you see your choice to become an oba as stagnation?

I took the responsibility to become an oba with genuine desire to serve my people. You know this is not a political position and you don’t sit on a budget or public funds as an oba. I am determined to use my resources to serve my people. Not up to a year as an oba, I have used my personal money to sink borehole. I am also building a market for my people without any financial support yet from anywhere. Already, I have my eyes on opening up what I call the new Edemosi City Project. It is a long term project, but I am working earnestly on the master plan. I eat anything I find but I am committed to making my people have good taste of life. I want to build a reputable city in my domain. Presently, I have an ongoing discussion with investors in Thailand to set up a big rice processing plant in my domain. This is feasible because we have neighbouring communities that have land that is good for rice cultivation.

 

Can you speak on traditional festivals in the community?

We celebrate “Odun Ade”. This is festival of our crown and the king. When Arilewofi and his people left Ile Ife to settle here, they came with the beaded crown which the oba  wears till date. We celebrate the crown at the annual festival attended by almost all sons and daughters of Edemosi from all walks of life. We also celebrate “Odun Olokun” in August. This is an annual ritual to the river goddess. The river is big and runs across our farmland, thereby providing us water to irrigate our plants. We do “Egungun” and “Ogun” festivals around November during the dry season. We have large array of hunters who secure our community up till today. These are the Ogun devotees. We have rare cases of crime here, despite the fact that we don’t have a police station.

 

Your closeness to the Orangun of Ila is striking. What is the secret behind this relationship?

Orangun is my father and he is very supportive. But on the general scale, I maintain very cordial relationship with other obas in Yorubaland and I wish to widen the scope because there are opportunities in collaboration. Everyone likes to relate with success and aim high. So I get close to Orangun, Owa of Ilesa and Ooni of Ife

 

There are so many northerners in your community. What is the attraction?

They are here to farm. I should let you know that our land is arable and very good for rice cultivation. Here, we have vast expanse of land where you can plant both the upland and lowland rice. That attracted the people from the North and Middle-Belt here. Precisely we have majority of them from Kano and Taraba states. There are more than 200 of them here during planting season as well as harvesting. Farming is our major industry. We plant cocoa, okro, pepper, plantain and rice in commercial quantity. During harvest season, you see trucks loading unprocessed rice to the northern part of the country. We are very accommodating and peaceful too.

 

What is the secret behind the harmonious relationship between your people and the northerners?

The relationship between us is cordial. We see ourselves as one, just like brothers. I think the entire country can take a lesson from this. We settle our dispute fairly and amicably. Conflicts are resolved at Ode Ilu which Obaala presides over every Monday. The Edigbon-in-Council meeting, which the oba presides over, holds every Friday. Anybody that has conflict to settle brings such to Ode Ilu during community meeting and there the matters are resolved fairly. Complicated matters are referred to the Edigbon-in-Council on which I preside. But it is uncommon to settle rifts at the council meeting. More serious matters on how to move the town forward are handled at the council meeting.

 

Do you have an advice for the traditional council, especially in Osun?

I just want to encourage us not to meddle in politics. The council of obas must stand on its own, while politicians must stand on their own. We have roles to feed them with what is going on in our communities. Let those in government cooperate with the obas to meet the needs of the people at the grassroots. What do you have when an oba is campaigning for politicians? It lowers the integrity. If government wants to give us roles to play, it is okay. But we should not allow them to drag us into the dirty water of politics. When a project is being done in our locality, the royal fathers can be put in trust to monitor. Presently, we don’t have such practice in place to make the local government accountable, but we should address the issue of availability so as to restore trust into public service.