Ogoga stool: Another claimant joins the fray

The kingship crisis rocking Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State over the vacant Ogoga throne has assumed another dimension. One of the royal families, Olokunwolu, is protesting its exclusion from the selection. The family also maintains that  Ikere-Ekiti has only two ruling houses and not three as believed in some quarters. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.

The struggle over who becomes the next Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti State among the community’s Ruling Houses and Royal Families is becoming more interesting by the day, as the various gladiators and their camps are deploying every arsenal in their armoury to win the coveted throne.

The throne became vacant on August 22, last year following the demise of its last occupant, Oba Samuel Adegoke Adegboye from the Akayejo Ruling House after reigning for 43 years; having been installed on August 22, 1971.

His daughter, Princess Ayooye Adegboye-Oyinlola, is currently holding fort as Regent pending the selection, installation and coronation of a new Ogoga which is expected to come from another Ruling House.

A section of the kingmakers had selected Samuel Adejimi Adu as the Ogoga-elect but his selection did not go down well with the princes and princesses of the Ikere Kingdom (the Omo Owas).

Attempts to fill the vacant stool have been marred by crisis of confidence, accusations and counter-accusations among interested parties in the kingship rumble.

There seems to be no let-up in the simmering crisis as the Olokunwolu Royal Family of the Agirilala Ruling House has cried foul over the selection process, complaining of unlawful disqualification of its candidate, Adegbola O. Afuye and the exclusion of the head of the family from the process of selection and filling of the vacant stool.

The other two Royal Families in the Agirilala Ruling House are the Fasuba Royal Family and the Agunsoye Royal Family.

In a petition to the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, dated March 9 this year, the Olokunwolu Family insisted that the process which produced Adu violated the extant Chieftaincy Law and the Ikere tradition.

The Family is demanding a fresh, transparent and all-inclusive selection process which will be acceptable to all and guarantee the needed peace and tranquillity which will enable the next Ogoga to have a successful reign.

The petition signed by the family’s lawyer, Mike Okere, was copied to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs, Yemi Owoseni; Secretary to Ikere Local Government, Wale Olanipekun and the Sao of Ikere who doubles as the Head of Kingmakers, Chief James Omotoso.

The petition reads: “After a critical assessment of episode of filling the vacant stool of the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti as carried out by kingmakers between March 3 and 4 of this year wherein a candidate emerged fraudulently, steps and procedures adopted were clearly seen to be faulty thereby making the outcome of the whole exercise unacceptable to all candidates and various families involved especially, the Olokunwolu Family.

“The followings remain our areas of disagreement:

.That from the approved Chieftaincy Declaration for the Ogoga Chieftaincy, the Kingmakers erred in law by collectively, without cognisance to the provisions as stated in the White Paper, disqualified candidate(s) based on principles and guidelines not within the contemplation of the approved Chieftaincy Declaration and any other law and provision in existence.

. That the Kingmakers erred by failing to present ALL candidates before the Ifa Oracle for consultation, and or, for election as provided for, especially after the primary condition of Ifa Oracle must have been fulfilled.

. That the Kingmakers erred by failing to invite all heads of families of each branch of the Agirilala Ruling House to witness the process of appointment of a successor in accordance with the provision as stated in Section F, Paragraph F of the White Paper on Morgan Chieftaincy Review Commission of 1982.

“From the above stated facts, it will be in the general interest of the government of Ekiti State to see that the selfish agenda and interest of the few do not take precedent and dominion over the entire wish of the people of Ikere Ekiti.

“The Kingmakers have exhibited the willful desire to be unpatriotic and partisan (an attitude least expected from those entrusted with custody of Ikere tradition) to the extent of adopting an unpopular way and manner to rewrite the traditional history of Ikere Ekiti as it pertains to the throne of Ogoga.

“We therefore, urge you sir, to use your good offices to intervene in the process to the benefit of the good people of Ikere Ekiti by calling for a fresh process which will be acceptable to all and consequently guarantee peace and tranquillity which will enable the next Ogoga to have a successful reign.”

Contrary to the position of the Omo Owas that there are three Ruling Houses in Ikere, the Olokunwolu Family also insisted that there are only two Ruling Houses based on a plethora of authorities, including a Court of Appeal judgment, the White Paper on Morgan Chieftaincy Review Commission released on July 30, 1981, Extracts of Intelligence Report of 1933 by N.A.C. Weir, the then Assistant District Officer, Ikere District of Ekiti Division of Ondo Province, the Recommendations of the Chieftaincy Committee of Ekiti State Council of Obas, among others.

According to the Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Benin Division, delivered on Monday, September 28, 1992, with Appeal Number CA/B/276/90, the appeal filed by Gabriel Jegede representing the Agirilala Ruling House was allowed to the effect that the two Ruling Houses allowed by law to produce candidates for the throne of Ogoga are the Akayejo Ruling House and the Agirilala Ruling House.

Chief Samuel Adetifa (the Akapinsa and Head of all Princes to the Ogoga Chieftaincy and representative of Agabaola and Ogbenuote Ruling Houses to the Ogoga Chieftaincy) had dragged Jegede to an Ikere Ekiti High Court presided over by Justice R.O. Fawehinmi.

The High Court ruled in favour of Adetifa on November 3, 1988 in a suit which also had the Governor of Old Ondo State, Secretary of the then Ekiti South Local Government, Ikere, Jegede and Chief Ebenezer Giwa (representing members of Fakanbi branch of Agirilala Ruling House) as Defendants.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Ikere High Court judgment, both Jegede and Giwa proceeded to the Court of Appeal, Benin which allowed their appeal and set aside the verdict of the lower court and placed a judicial seal on the prayers of the Appellants that the two Ruling Houses eligible to field candidates for the Ogoga royal seat are Akayejo and Agirilala.

The Appeal Court verdict still subsists as it was not subjected to legal scrutiny at the Supreme Court.

The counsel to the family at the time was Owolabi Afuye but he died before the case was concluded at the Appeal Court in Benin.

The case was continued and won by a lawyer in his chamber who is also an Ikere indigene, Isaiah Olufemi Akeju, who is currently a Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA).

The Enrolment of Order containing verdict obtained by our reporter reads: “Upon reading the record of appeal herein and after hearing S. F .Fajobi Esq Counsel for the 5th Defendant/Appellant, O. Fagbe, Director of Civil Litigation, Ondo State Counsel for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Appellants A.O. Akanle Esq of Counsel for the Plaintiff/Respondent.

“It is ordered that the appeal be and is hereby allowed and Respondent’s action before the Lower Court is struck out, No order as to costs.”

According to the White Paper on Morgan Chieftaincy Review Commission on the Ogoga Chieftaincy Declaration, it was clearly stated at Chapter 49 that: “Government accepts the Commission’s recommendations as contained at Page 19 of Volume IV of its Report.

“The approved Chieftaincy Declaration for the Ogoga Chieftaincy shall be as set out hereunder: A. Number of Ruling Houses-Two, B. Names of Ruling Houses-1. Akayejo 2. Agirilala.”

According to the Extracts of Intelligence Report of 1933 by Mr. N.A.C.Weir, on Page 112 under the sub-heading: The Appointment and Election of the Ogoga, the two branches of  the royal family that take their turn to find suitable men for the post are: (1) THE AGIRILALA and (2) THE AKAYEJO.

The last document on the number of the eligible ruling Houses was a Memorandum of Understanding brokered by the Office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs and Ikere Local Government on January 22, this year.

The MoU was signed by principal members of the Agirilala Ruling House; the Kingmakers, Wale Olanipekun who is the Secretary to Ikere Local Government; Olabanji Alabi, who is the Administrative Secretary, Chieftaincy Department, Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs and Owoseni Ajayi, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

The document reads in part: “This Memorandum of Understanding is made today, the 22nd of January, 2015 between the Agirilala Ruling House of Ikere Ekiti and the Government of Ekiti State on the nomination and selection of candidate to the throne of Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti.

“Whereas, there are two ruling houses in Ikere Ekiti entitled to the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti Chieftaincy stool;

“Whereas, the two Ruling Houses recognised by the Government White Paper are: AKAYEJO Ruling House and AGIRILALA Ruling House.;

“Whereas, the last ruling house was Akayejo Ruling House and the next ruling House in turn to present the next Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti is the Agirilala Ruling House.;

“Whereas all the stakeholders to the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti Chieftaincy Stool have agreed to install the next Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti in accordance with the Government White Paper on the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti and Ikere Ekiti Native Law and Custom.

“Whereas parties have agreed to register the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti Chieftaincy Declaration after the installation of a new Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti;

“Annexed herewith are the particulars of the respective branches of Agirilala Ruling House of Ogoga Chieftaincy in Ikere Ekiti.”

The families in the Agirilala Ruling House were accordingly briefed on the Memorandum and were represented at the briefing by Omolayo Afuye (Olokunwolu); Ezekiel Fatuki (Fasuba) and Oluwadare Adu (Agunsoye).

Members of the Olokunwolu Family wondered how some interest groups are claiming that there are three ruling houses in Ikere when documentary evidences showed that they are two in number as the Kingmakers also signed the MoU to the effect that the two Ruling Houses eligible to field candidates for the purpose of selecting a new Ogoga are Agirilala and Akayejo.

Meanwhile, scores of angry women trooped out on Saturday in the town to protest what they called an attempt to impose a candidate, Samuel Adejimi Adu, as the new Ogoga.

The women, who chanted war songs, marched from Uro Quarters to register their grievances with one of the high chiefs of the town and a kingmaker, Chief Sapetu.

The protesters were angry that the tradition of using the Ifa Oracle to select a new king is being allegedly eroded by the kingmakers.

•Women of Ikere during their protest round the town against the alleged plan to impose Mr. Jimi Adu as the next Ogoga of Ikere.

The protesting women are also opposed to an alleged directive of the state government that the kingmakers should conduct an election among themselves to determine the new Ogoga of Ikere.

They held up traffic for some hours and condemned an attempt by powerful interest groups who don’t belong to any of the royal families to influence the selection process of the new Ogoga.

One of the protesting women who declined to give her name said: “We are not happy with the way they are going about filling the vacant throne of Ogoga. Can you imagine, they are turning it to an election matter?

“This is not an election process where people cast ballots; it is the Ifa Oracle that determines who becomes the Ogoga in line with the tradition of our town and not for kingmakers to be voting.

“That is the way it is done since the foundation of our community and if such an exercise is reduced to voting, there is tendency for those who are voting to favour the highest bidder and that is what we are against.

“We want our kingmakers to follow tradition and if tradition is not followed, the community may not witness peace. It is the Ifa Oracle we want and not an election by kingmakers because this is not a political office; it is a traditional royal seat.”

Some youths in the community had, on Thursday, staged their own protest over what they called attempts by some prominent indigenes of the town, in collaboration with the government to impose a new Ogoga of Ikere.

The youth disrupted economic activities at the Oja Oba (King’s Market) during their protest.

Their protest lasted till late in the day with residents gripped with panic as they moved from one place to another with some of them wielding weapons.

They also harassed motorists and commuters passing through the town from Ado-Ekiti, the state capital and Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The situation was later brought under control by the police, Ikere Division.

Governor Ayo Fayose had, on Thursday, summoned a meeting of all ruling houses and royal families at the Government House where he expressed the concern of his administration on the crisis rocking Ikere on the Ogoga Stool.

Fayose appealed to the parties in the kingship crisis to maintain peace that would guarantee a peaceful succession to the Ogoga throne.

The die is cast on the Ogoga of Ikere throne as the town is on edge and tension is reaching a boiling point.

The town needs peace for it to develop and occupy its place of pride in Ekiti State.

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