ALAAFIN’S AUTHORITY LIMITED TO OYO ALONE – EX-GOV’S AIDE
Read Time:2 Minute, 45 Second
By: Sefiu Ajape
A former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, Doyin Odebowale, has faulted the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, for demanding that the Ooni of Ife revoke a chieftaincy title recently conferred on an Ibadan-based businessman.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Odebowale stressed that traditional rulers only wield authority within their local government jurisdictions and are not constitutionally above elected officials.
“With respect to most of these rulers now, there is a misapprehension of roles. They want to be addressed as Kabiyesi, but they are not.
“They are under the local government chairman in their respective localities. So this idea of somebody sitting in Oyo and legislating on what happens in Ile-Ife is a misnomer,” he said.
According to him, the Alaafin must have been misled into believing there was a jurisdictional clash between his office and that of the Ooni.
“I want to believe that the Alaafin of Oyo must have been misled into believing that there is an extant issue to be resolved between that office and that of the Ooni. I don’t see any justification for this distraction,” he added.
‘Haste To Discard Tradition’
Odebowale attributed the frequent conflicts among monarchs to “permissive decadence” in the system.
“It is a very pathetic situation in the sense that most of those who parade themselves as traditional rulers do not even know their function. It appears to me that they are in a hurry to discard tradition.
“They are so happy when they are addressed as Oba, assistant pastor, or Alhaji; that is total abnegation of traditional values,” he lamented.
He noted that historically, the British colonial administration had “downgraded empires into stools” through chieftaincy laws that curtailed monarchs’ authority.
“By government structure, their powers do not go beyond their local government, if you want to, by their letter. The Ooni of Ife is in Osun state, and they have their traditional council. The Alafin of Oyo is in Oyo state, and they have a traditional council.
“By the Oyo State chieftaincy law, only four Obas are recognised as imperial majesties. The Alaafin cannot act beyond his local government. By law, he is under his local government chairman,” he said.
Title Conferment Dispute
The comments come amid a clash between the Alaafin and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, over the conferment of the “Okanlomo of Yorubaland” title on businessman Dotun Sanusi at an Ibadan event last weekend.
On Monday, the Alaafin issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding that the Ooni revoke the title, describing it as an “affront” and insisting that only he had the authority to bestow titles covering all of Yorubaland.
He argued that a Supreme Court judgment had affirmed his exclusive right in such matters.
But the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the threat as an “empty threat,” saying the monarch would not dignify it with an official reaction.
“We cannot dignify the undignifiable with an official response. We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion,” Olafare posted on Facebook.
In a follow-up statement, the Alaafin’s media aide, Bode Durojaiye, clarified that the monarch was not seeking supremacy over other rulers but was only defending Yoruba tradition.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0