Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana dies at 101
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A prominent Yoruba monarch whose life spanned a century died yesterday. According to family sources, the fulfilled life of Oba Samuel Odulana, Odugade 1 ended yesterday evening at his Monatan residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The ruler who celebrated his centenary birthday in April 2014, would have been 102 years in three months.
His remains have since been deposited at the University College Hospital (UCH).
The late monarch who was said to have been hale and hearty earlier in the morning passed on peacefully surrounded by his wife and some of his children.
Oba Odulana, according to a highly placed source died of old age.
The royal father who ascended the throne in 2007 after the death of Oba Yunusa Ogundipe, Arapasowu 1 would be remembered as a disciplinarian and a progressive monarch.
The late kabiyesi was a successful and a private individual. He was a teacher, soldier, member of House of Representatives, Parliamentary Secretary to the late Premier of the Western Region, Sir Tafawa Balewa in the first republic and he climbed about 22 steps before he became the Olubadan of Ibadan.
For the Olubadan, it was a long walk to the throne. His first steps to the traditional royal stool were first taken in 1973 when he became the Jagun of Ibadan. Yet, it took him more than 30 years to climb the crucial 22 ladders to become king. He finally became the Olubadan in 2007, at the age of 93. With his advanced age, Oba Odulana is reputed as the oldest person to be crowned Olubadan in recent history.
Odulana was not only a voice of reason for Ibadan and beyond, he was noted for the promotion of education, a bias he held right from his youth. As a politician, Oba Odulana founded the education committee in Ibadan. The Olubadan is a founding member of the Ibadan Progressive Union, IPU. One of the mandates of the union is to scholarship to brilliant but indigent Ibadan indigenes.
Adegoke Adelabu, the late federal minister and member of the Western Region House of Assembly, is said to be a beneficiary of the IPU. The Olubadan was also involved in the establishment of the Igbo-Elerin Grammar School, Ibadan. Oladapo Afolabi, former head of service, is an old boy of the school.
As a monarch, the Olubadan worked to change the status quo in the education sector. When he became, the Olubadan insisted that anybody aspiring to be a mogaji in Ibadan must have a minimum of school certificate. He has also been championing the building of a modern palace in Ibadan.
Odulana, a first class chief, was an accomplished professional. The Olubadan brought years of experience, professionalism and uncommon goodwill to the throne. As a soldier, he fought in the Second World War among others, defending Britain. He was also a former minister of state for labour who discharged his duties to the best of his abilities. However, not many people know that the Olubadan was an amateur boxer and used to spar with friends. The monarch is reputed to be a stickler for discipline and excellence.
He once had a running battle with the now late strongman of Ibadan politics, Chief Lamidi Adedibu , who was Ekarun Olubadan, a member of the Olubadan-in-council.
Odulana had directed Ibadan high chiefs constituting the Olubadan-in-council to shun partisan politics, telling them to choose between their traditional offices and partisan politics.
He threatened to sanction any erring chief in line with laid down Ibadan traditional and conventional regulations.
This led to an open confrontation between the monarch and the late Adedibu .
Also recently, the late Oba Odulana had a disagreement with Governor Abiola Ajimobi on the elevation of some high chiefs following the demise of the Otun Olubadan and Balogun Olubadan.
It took the intervention of Ibadan Elders to resolve the conflict.
The late Olubadan on August 17, 2007, ascended the throne with a clear vision to restore the dignity and aspiration of the people of Ibadan in their transition from a warrior dissident people to the promise of intellectual beacon that the city has evolved to become in modern times.
It was with pomp and celebration that all Ibadans proudly welcomed the coronation of the 93-year-old Oba Samuel Odulana, Odugade 1 as the 40th Olubadan of Ibadanland.
He was a man of honour and integrity, who came to demonstrate the time-honored trait of the Yoruba good breeding, the Omoluabi. When Kabiyesi mounted the throne in 2007, Ibadan, the political capital of the Yoruba, was in the throes of conservative political forces.
The drums were rolled out in April 2014 to celebrate the centenary birthday of the late Olubadan, the man who set a new record in the history of Ibadan. Since the ancient city started the monarchical system in 1820 with Baale Maye Okunade as the first king, Odulana was the first king to attain the age of 100 years on the throne.
Others who reigned before him were actually old due to the well-arranged traditional structure that is adjudged the best in the South-west. This orderly arranged ascendancy to the throne of the Olubadan makes Ibadan unique in Yorubaland.
Unlike other cities in the zone where crowning of kings is preceded by fierce battles by contenders, Ibadan is not known for such. There are two lines to the throne of the Olubadan: civil and military, which is translated to Egbe Agba and Balogun.
Titleholders are appointed on rotational basis to occupy the stool immediately a king passes on.
He was described by former President Goodluck Jonathan during the centenary celebrations as a very unique monarch being one of the very few around who were born when the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated. According to him, it was the clean mind, good character, clear conscience and good record of service, that the monarch had that made him enjoy longevity.
The governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, said the monarch played a pivotal role in his administration’s transformation and restoration programmes.
How death of Olubadan –in-waiting altered ascendancy process in Ibadan kingdom
The death within two weeks of two Ibadan high chiefs and next in line to the Olubadan stool altered the well-arranged traditional structure of ascendancy to the throne of Olubadan. Nonagenarian, High Chief Sulaiman Adegboyega Omiyale had been on the queue for 35 years, as the Balogun of Ibadan land, he was the next in line to the throne but he couldn’t fulfill the dream of becoming the Olubadan as he died at the University College Hospital (UCH) late November last year at the age of 95.
While the people were still trying to recover from the loss, the Otun Olubadan, Chief Omowale Kuye, who is also a step to the Olubadan throne from the civil line also died two weeks later. Kuye, an elder statesman was a former Permanent secretary Budget and Planning in the presidency,
Omiyale, who became Mogaji of the compound in 1967 was one of the colourful Ibadan high chiefs and represented the Olubadan of Ibadan land at several events, in his lifetime. He was one of the promoters of Yoruba culture and tradition. Despite the fact that Chief Omiyale died at a very ripe age, his death is seen at some quarters as unfortunate because he was just a step away to become the Olubadan. The passing away of Omiyale and Kuye has no doubt upset the hierarchical system. It has changed the ranking as some of those on the queue will be promoted up.
The next to the Olubadan and most senior on both lines are the Otun Olubadan and Balogun who under the Western Nigeria Law are recognised as second class traditional rulers and who are included on the Nigerian equivalent of a civil list as a result. The remaining Chiefs in the Olubadan-in-Council are the Osi Olubadan, Asipa Olubadan, Ekerin and Ekarun, as well as Otun Balogun, Osi Balogun, Asipa Balogun, Ekerin and Ekarun Balogun, Seriki and Iyalode.
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