|
The Deji of Akure Stalemate: An Open Letter to Governor Agagu and His Government on the Way Out By Dear
Governor Agagu, I
am addressing this letter to you via the Internet with a copy mailed to
you by DHL for two reasons. You may not know, but I can tell you I was a
very active supporter of your candidature for that office at a time very
few people gave you any chance of winning. I did so, and I still do,
because I believed in you and I said so loud and clear, at a time, very
few people believed that your top heavy Party, the PDP could ever break
the myth, and win convincingly in With
I
not only believed in you, I supported your candidature in cash and kind,
and wrote articles on the Internet and in magazines and newspapers
around the world to promote your candidature, and why I think our State
must give you and your party a chance, for a change. I was never a card
carrying member of your Party. I just believed it was my civic duty to
support you and your vision of our State within the There
were other intangible considerations on my part that were factored in
supporting you, I might add. I loved your choice of a running mate, and
his Local Government of origin, and the fact that I consider him (Omolade
Oluwateru), a very good choice, and one of the rising stars from my own
constituency in Akure Central,, who is more than ready to step into your
shoes when you leave office The second point was the fact, that you were
my junior at Ibadan Grammar School, and I think highly of most
alumni of that school and of my old school Igbobi, who have
distinguished themselves in public life like your good self, and quite a
few others from Ibadan Grammar School, like late uncle Bola Ige and
Chief Bayo Akinola, the current Lisa of Ondo. I am therefore invested in
you and your success as Governor, even though you may not know it.
I saw you last in 1962, forty-two years ago, when nobody could never
have imagined where you are today. I
am writing you this letter in my capacity as an We
nearly faced a similar but less intrusive kind of stalemate we faced
today, when, for some reason, the majority of the then king makers led
by Asamo Olusanya and, the late Chief Aro Adebowale had decided to swim
against the tide of popular support for Commissioner of Police, Prince
Adebobajo Adesida who had scored 9 votes, to the 15 votes scored by
Prince Adelegan. The two leading contestants on that occasion were bona
fide members of the only Asodeboyede Ruling House and they were born of
the same father and everybody knew they were prima facie princes in
their own right without any question. Few people can say that of all the
contestants vying for the stool today with the possible exception of the
Bajimo of Akure princes, Dr. Prince Ige Aladejana-Ogunleye and Prince
Kole Aladetoyinbo of Baltimore, Mary land, my son-in -law, and son of Pa
Aladetoyinbo, the Alayere of Alayere in Akure North Local Government. You
are therefore hearing from the horse’s mouth and not from a complete
stranger to the history, tradition and customs of Akure. It is true that
I live abroad, but I am very much in touch with my people and I have a
fundamental and congenital interest in their welfare, history and
happiness, arguably more than you do as our Governor. Mr.
Governor, I hate to call you “Your Excellency” because I think I
know you enough to believe that you are not likely to get offended by my
addressing you as “Mr. Governor.” like they do for Prime Ministers
in In
a few months from today, my courageous niece, Princess Adeyinka Adesida
would have been Regent of Akure, and held against the throne of our
founding fathers for 5 years, and longer than any regent in living
memory in our town. The time-honored improvisation was supposed to be an
interim arrangement that is not supposed to last more than a few months
at most, before a substantive Deji is appointed. Until a new Deji is
selected and crowned, Princess Adeyinka remains the most visible symbol
of the great institution, and must be accorded the full honors and
privileges envisaged for that position. But it is really not a position
best suited or convenient for a woman who has to always pretend to be
what she is not, by faking the role of a man, because our tradition
demands it. It is an awkward situation for any woman to be in for an
indefinite period, and for that reason, it makes no sense at all, to
keep the regent in limbo for that long all in the name of tradition, in
my judgment
I don’t dispute the fact that Her Royal Highness herself, may be
enjoying the visibility and some of the perquisites of that office, and
I say more powers to her. But there are limitations that people like you
and your Government ought to seriously consider and factor in expediting
action on the selection of the new Deji-in-Council to
relieve the beautiful regent of the burden imposed on her by being born
as the first daughter of the last Deji, Oba Ataiyese of blessed memory. There
is every reason to believe that your government and the whole Akure
community have already hit a cul-de-sac on the selection of the new Deji,
all because the Olukoya Military Administration in Ondo State have
committed a sacrilege by breaking into two the one and only Asodeboyede
Ruling Dynasty in Akure, just to accommodate some families who argue,
either rightly or wrongly, that their right to the throne may have been
compromised for ever, unless and until a new ruling house is specially
created for them.. Governor Olukoya had merely taken the easiest way out
when, he chose to create two ruling houses out of one. The first made up
of the descendants of Deji Ojijigogun, Deji Arosoye, Deji Afunbiowo
while the second were made up of the descendants of Deji Odundun and
Deji Osupa. In other words, out of the 44 Dejis that have ruled in Akure,
with two famous women among them, only the first 5 or 8 if you add Deji
Agunsoye Ademuagun, Deji Otutubiosun Adelegan and Deji Ataiyese
Adebobajo, really count, according to Governor Olukoya’s calculation
or hypothesis. That, in of itself, is a travesty of justice to all the
remaining 36 Dejis whose descendants have been left in the cold. or
totally sidelined for ever. Are we to assume that your Government does
not care a hoot about the birthright of the descendants of those 36
rulers in Akure? What is the use of a Government that cannot uphold or
defend the fundamental rights of all her citizens in a Democracy? The
answer to that question, I think, is one more reason, I think the
Olukoya formula or logic did not pass the acid test, and ought to be
jettisoned by a democratic Government like yours, which ought to go back
to the original Asodeboyede Ruling House, and leaving all interested
candidates and princes who are able to prove their royal blood or
lineage, to reserve the right to contest for the throne, any time there
is a vacancy. I believed the Regent in a recent interview carried widely
in Newspapers in Nigeria had eloquently spoken to that inequity perhaps
better than I can To narrow the selection down to just 8 Dejis, as
listed above, is to say the least, unfair. Akure King makers and their
extended family in Akure know who is a prince or princess and who is
not, because we know ourselves. You just don’t wake up one day, like
the late lawyer Bello of Akure had done, when he suddenly remembered he
was a Prince of the Osupa Ruling House forty or more years after
returning from He
was the attorney that the Asodeboyede Ruling House had hired years ago
to challenge the Government in Court, when the government first made its
move. If we all knew he could, all of a sudden metamorphose himself into
a prince overnight, we would never have picked him as our family lawyer.
I have to believe, he, lawyer Bello had taken his chance once he had
read through all of our briefs, and he was sure anybody could really
claim to be a prince in Akure, if the price is right, and given the
fact, that so much time has elapsed. Who is going to tell anybody he is
not a prince when King Sunny Ade or Commander Ebenezer had already said
so in their recent albums purely for their own self gratification in
Awolowo head or Azikiwe head Naira notes for those who are filthy rich
in our society. All it takes for you to successfully claim you are a
prince in Akure and in most places in the Southern Nigeria in
particular, with the possible exception of Benin City, is a lot of money
and connection in high places and Government. Chief Oluyemi Falae
of Ilu Abo in Akure local Government and a former presidential candidate
in Nigeria, could conceivably become a Deji in Akure today, just for the
asking, because we are now told by people looking for his help in taking
the title that he is now one of the descendants of Osupa or Odundun,
Everybody is a Catholic on St. Patricks day every where in the world. If
the Government goes back to the Asodeboyede Ruling line that move
becomes a leveler and the princes would have to sort themselves out. if
in the final analysis Prince Reverend Adelabu, Ileri Oluwa gets picked
in a free for all selection, nobody would have a right to complain. Why
not, if not? A
Tiv man or an Idoma or Urhobo or even an Hausa man with some connection
and wealth, can become a Deji in Akure from the look of things, if this
trend is allowed to continue unchecked. I know a gentleman a fellow
columnist on the Internet. named Chukwuma Agwunobi, an engineer with
Ford Company in Detroit, Michigan. Chukwuma was born and raised in Akure
and speaks Akure dialect better than late Chief Fabuda or Chief Asamo
Olusanya or the late Poju Oba, or" Eiye, omo L'Usopo marija lodi".
As an engineer, I know Chukwuma has to be a money bag philanthropist
who, by his own account, has helped to sponsor many Yoruba and Akure
people by offering them scholarships, and offering them accommodation
when able. He can afford the money, if he really wants to become a Deji
in Akure under the Olukoya/Bello hypothesis. So could my friend, Rudolf
Okonkwo another engineer and prolific journalist, resident in Boston,
Massachusetts. I know he too can become a Deji tomorrow, because he too
had lived in Akure for quite some time, and was a product of the Federal
University of Technology. You never know. Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
might, one day, be eyeing the Deji’s throne, for all you know. You can
now appreciate the stupidity or the illogicality of what we are talking
about, here, Mr. Governor. What
is therefore the way out, if I can lend you the benefit of my
experience? The solution is for your Government to go back to the
Asodeboyede Ruling Dynasty by opening up the selection exercise to
accommodate everyone that is able to convincingly prove that he is a
prince in Akure, like has been done from time immemorial. Candidate
Afunbiowo Adesida, the first had contested with his cousin Deji Odundun
in 1882, and had lost. He had contested again against his half brother,
Deji Arosoye in 1889, and he lost again. In 1897 again he, Afunbiowo had
contested against another one of his half brothers, Pa Adegoroye, and
had won the third time. If Akure did not have only one Ruling House, how
come Afunbiowo was allowed to contest for three consecutive times?
Somebody in your Government has to answer that question for the rest of
us. It is a legitimate question to ask. Let us go back to the same
Asodeboyede Ruling House and let the chips fall where it may. Who ever
wants to contest the throne should be prepared to throw their hat into
the ring, and to bring it on, like they say in America. Let the king
makers play their traditional role and pick whomsoever they consider
most qualified according to our tradition and customs. You will not hear
a dissenting voice. I guarantee you. that. The
resentment and the stalemate we are witnessing today in Akure can be
likened to scenario that may arise in Benin City, if all of a sudden, an
Edo Government says it wants to champion the cause of so many princes in
Benin traditions and customs who are precluded from ever contesting the
throne with the “Edaiken” the heir apparent to the Oba of Benin'e
throne. Can you imagine what would happen. Such a scenario would be
considered a taboo in Benin tradition and history. But I can tell you,
Mr. Governor, the story is not totally unheard off, if you know the
history of Benin very well. Once
upon a time there lived an Oba of Benin who had wanted his favorite and
most cherished wife to be the one to produce his “Edaiken”. But as
it turned out, the wife had been barren, and to make sure she had a baby
son, the Oba of Benin had sought the help of the gods, as to how the
problem could be solved. The gods had decreed that if the “edaiken”
born by a less favored wife was sacrificed, the Oba’s favorite wife
would produce the next “edaiken”(heir to the throne). The Oba
agreed to the deal. On the appointed date, the executioners had exiled
the poor “edaiken” to the grove to be sacrificed to the gods, as pre
arranged. But rather than kill the little prince, the executioners had
spared his life, because he was just too handsome a man. They had simply
ordered him never again to return or show up in Benin, telling him what
they had been ordered to do to him. They then returned back to tell”
Ogiso, Oba Ado, Otolu Apara” the order had been carried out as
decreed, and they had a sword, soaked with the blood of a he goat, as
proof to convince Uku Akpolokpolo, the execution had been done The
very same month, the favorite wife had gotten pregnant as
predicted by the gods and had given birth to a son who was immediately
proclaimed the ”edaiken” and was supposed to be crowned king after
his father. But then tragedies and pestilence and epidemics began to
afflict the city and the Oba and the people were concerned. They went
back to the gods again after suffering so much pain and affliction, to
find out why, and the gods had revealed again that the real
“edaiken” was still alive. He had only wandered to a foreign land
and must be found at all cost, and the epidemics and the tragedies would
not end, until the right “edaiken” was restored back to his rightful
position and title. The search for the edaiken had led to as far away as
Ile Ife in the Yoruba enclave where the exiled “edaiken” of Benin
was already made a king, and therefore could not go back to Benin. He
had therefore volunteered one of his sons, “Oranmiyan” to go back to
Benin to become king thus cementing the Benin/Yoruba connection around
which there has been so much controversy lately. I
narrate this story just to let you know, Mr. Governor, there is always a
price to pay when traditions and customs are flouted with impunity, by
those who are supposed to know better. The Deji’s stalemate can be
easily resolved, if your Government will take the bull by the horn, and
go back to where things had started to go wrong. Let the king makers go
back to the same Asodeboyede Ruling Line, and to start the whole
exercise all over again, if at all possible. Throw the selection
exercise open to all those who are qualified to put in, and I can assure
you the whole stalemate would be removed once and for all, and a new
Deji acceptable to the rank and file of Akure people would be picked
without any controversy or delay. I recall, as I said earlier that your
present party leader, the same General Olusegun Obasanjo as President of
Nigeria in 1975 had, single-handedly, pressurized former Governor
Jemibewon to set aside the Justice Adenekan Ademola Commission report
and to go announce the appointment of Oba Adelegan. If Obasanjo can do
that, you too can do something about the present stalemate in Akure. The
ball is completely in your court, I might add under a democratic
dispensation. Locking
out qualified princes and focussing attention on pretenders and
impostors who think the Deji’s title is for sale and for the highest
bidder, is part of the reason, the Deji’s selection has become so
difficult and problematic. It needs not be so at all. Your Government
can do a lot to solve the problem, because where there is a will, there
is always a way. May the good Lord continue to guide you as you steer
our ship of State to a safe harbor? By
the way, you are doing a good job, and laying a sound foundation for our
State. I congratulate you. You can count on my support, and the support
of the great majority of our people across the board, as long as you
continue the good work, and you remain fair to all. Wish you God's
speed. Insha Allah |