Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Arguably, 15-year-old Oloyede Adeyeoba, the new Arujale of Okeluse in Ose Local Government, Ondo State, is perhaps, the youngest traditional ruler in the South West. The new monarch was a Senior Secondary School (SSS) two student when luck and fate beckoned on him and emerged the traditional ruler, thus succeeded his father.
According to the tradition and culture of the town, the eldest son of the deceased traditional ruler is the only one that has the right to ascend the throne after the demise of his father. This paved the way for Adeyeoba, the only son of his father, who joined his ancestors last year. There was no contest for the stool as it is the case in many Yoruba towns.
Oba Adeyeoba was installed at an elaborate occasion, which had representatives of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, commissioners and prominent traditional rulers in attendance.
In selecting Arujale of Okeluse, age is not a factor. The only condition is to be a biological male child of the immediate past traditional ruler of the town. The appointment of Adeyeoba was approved after a meeting of the State Executive Council.
Adeyeoba has therefore joined a growing list of young monarchs who ascended the throne by virtue of birth. Perhaps, the proximity of Okeluse to Edo State may be responsible for the tradition. The town shares boundaries with Edo and Delta states.
However, it was learnt that the founding fathers of the town migrated from Ile-Ife, Osun State, the cradle of Yoruba race, an indication that the town is a pure Yoruba town. Also, the people of the town speak Yoruba language, though with their own distinction.
Many of them are farmers and artisans. They also practice some other cultures of Yoruba, especially in the appointment of traditional rulers and beliefs in gods and deities.
The people are, however, not surprised with the emergence of their new Oba. They said it was the regular practice in the town, noting that almost all their traditional rulers always ascend the throne at tender age.
An indigene of the town, Mr. Isaac Mukadafe, said the people old and young will give maximum cooperation to the new monarch and accord him all necessary respects due to his office: “He has since become the father of us all.
“The appointment and installation of Oba Adeyeoba followed all the tradition and culture. The new monarch was appointed in consonant with the tradition of the town. He did all the necessary rituals and we are sure his tenure will witness monumental development and bring fame to the town.”
Attempts to speak with the new monarch could not yield any good results as he was said to be in seclusion and could not attend to visitors until 21 days after his installation.
It was not certain whether or not the monarch will continue with his education. But a resident who volunteered to speak on the matter said:
“Kabiyesi is now a respected person and could not continue to go to school. It will be a ridiculous thing should our monarch goes to school and I don’t think he will want to ridicule the stool of his forebears.”
SSS’s student journey into tech world Oyindamola Ajala, a senior secondary school one (SSS1) student of George Green Baptist College, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, during the long holidays in 2018, after five weeks of coding classes at a Summer of Code, organised by Children that Change the World (CTCTW), gave an impressive presentation of her news website which she had built from scratch all by herself using Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) programming languages.
The intelligent young girl had just weeks earlier been enrolled for the training by her mother at the beginning of the long summer holiday. However, months before then, she had formed a unique bond with the CTCTW team having followed the weekly radio broadcast that focused on teaching teenagers like herself the art of critical and creative thinking as well as complex problem-solving and won a scholarship for her participation in an edition of the on-air quiz session.
By the time she learned that technology is a key tool for solving societal challenges, through digital sensitisation from the same CTCTW team, it was all sealed for her. She had begun to see her dreams of making an impact in her community and the society at large as a possibility, using both technology and critical and creative thinking.
It was no wonder that when Oyindamola moved to senior secondary school two (SSS2)] in 2019, she was eager and confident enough to participate in the annual innovation challenge organised by the team at CTCTW-
Ogbomoso Innovation Challenge (OIC), a brainchild of Ennovate Lab, Ogbomoso.
The Ogbomoso Innovation Challenge is the first of its kind in Nigeria being a location-centred initiative that seeks to make the 21st century skills of critical and creative thinking as well as problem solving the new normal for Ogbomoso’s teens. The first edition was held in 2018 and Federal Government College, Ogbomoso came tops to win a N150,000 prize while Pine Valley High and Gomal Baptist College came second and third respectively.
Their winning entries included smart solutions like a Bluetooth-enabled household electricity control mobile app, an educational plan for nomadic Fulani children in Ogbomoso, and an organic pesticide made from Neem tree extracts.