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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Senator Rashidi Ladoja has said he would not accept beaded crown as king except the authentic crown for the paramount ruler, Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oyo State.
He made the submission during an interview with journalists in Ibadan, after he observed Eid prayers at the University of Ibadan.
Ladoja spoke against the backdrop of reports that members of the Olubadan-in-Council, would be crowned again barely 16 months after they dropped the crowns in order not to prevent the present Olubadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, Alli Okumade II, from ascending the throne.
Members of the Olubadan-in-Council had reportedly written official letter to Governor Seyi Makinde asking for his approval for them to resume wearing beaded crowns, starting from July 7.
It could not, however, be confirmed whether the governor has granted the permission or not.
According to Ladoja, it was illegal for any Ibadan high chief to think of resuming wearing already surrendered beaded crowns.
He said: “I joined the Olubadan line on October 1, 1993. I joined as Jagun Olubadan and my target was to become Olubadan. I did not expect that I was going to wear any beaded crown on the way. If I wanted to do that, I would have become the Baale of my village and I will be called Baale. Our role as high chiefs is to advise and support the Olubadan, not to wear crown with him.
“I told them the story of Aliiwo. When Aliiwo was coming from Iwo, he passed through Lagun village where he left his followers to stay with other warriors in Ibadan. If he had wanted to become Onilagun of Lagun, he would have done so. But people who started Ibadan said that they want to rule themselves. They want to rule the villages from the town,” the Otun-Olubadan said.
Ladoja, however, said he would not challenge the development in court, adding that there was no issue in the agitations of the high chiefs.
Any Ibadan indigene, he said, could challenge the issue in court because every bonafide Ibadan man is a potential king.”
A former governor of the state, the late Abiola Ajimobi, had on August 27, 2017 presented instruments of office to 21 kings, including members of the Advisory Council of Olubadan (Olubadan-in-Council), also known as Ibadan kingmaker.
On the occasion, the Oluwo of Ibadan presented beaded crowns to members of the council, while coronets were presented to village heads (Baales) elevated to crown-wearing traditional rulers.
But the then Olubadan, the late Oba Saliu Adetunji, Aje Ogungunniso I, and Ladoja, opposed the review of the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration between May and August 2017, which led to crowning of 21 kings in one fell swoop. Ladoja dragged the former governor, the government some days after the review panel was set up.
The judgment in the case was delivered by Justice Olajumoke Aiki on January 19, 2018. She declared that the Justice Akintunde Boade-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry that reviewed the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration and other Related Chieftaincies in Ibadanland as unconstitutional, illegal, null, void and of no effect.
But the administration of Ajimobi appealed the judgment, giving 11 grounds why the judgment of the lower court should be upturned, asking the higher court to set aside the ruling and judgment of the Oyo State High Court, an order that would uphold his preliminary objections raised against Ladoja as well as an order that would dismiss the case in its entirety.
But the appeal was still pending until the All Progressives Congress-led government left power on May 29, 2019. Eventually, the Court of Appeal sent the case file back to the Oyo State High Court for retrial before another judge. The two parties, however, settled out of court.
