Awujale and Paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona, has counselled the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Adedotun Gbadebo, to seek proper education concerning the history of Yoruba Obas so as not to embarrass himself and his people.
Awujale suggested that Alake should contact the former President Olusegun Obasanjo for detailed report on the Obaship matter, adding that Alake is young and inexperienced.
Speaking at Ago Iwoye, Ogun state at the inaugural lecture of the Alayeluwa Oba Sikiru Adetona Chair for Governance, the monarch expressed his dismay over the comment credited to Alake while receiving the Ooni at his palace on 7 February, 2016.
The Egba monarch was said to have categorised five big Yoruba Obas with the Ooni in the first position followed by the Alaafin, the Oba of Benin, with the Alake coming fourth and the Awujale as the fifth in that order.
Awujale further stated that Alake quoted wrongly from the 1903 Gazette to support all the fallacies in his statement.
“Not long after the installation of Oba Alaiyeluwa Adeyeye Ogunwusi as the Ooni of Ife, he undertook steps to foster unity and cooperation among leading Yoruba Obas and for which I personally commend him.
“First, he joined the Alaafin at his 77th Birthday Celebration at Oyo. Thereafter, he visited me at Ijebu-Ode on Friday, 29th January, 2016 followed by another visit to Abeokuta on Sunday, 7th February, 2016 where he met Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbedebo in his palace at Ake, Abeokuta, the Osile, Oke-Ona Egba at Ago-Oko, Abeokuta, the Olowu in his palace at Owu, Abeokuta with the exception of the Agura of Gbagura, Abeokuta who was not around then.
“When I learnt of the statement, I made several calls to Alake until I eventually succeeded in finding out from him if those statements were actually made by him, which of course, he vehemently denied.
“In a recent discussion between the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu and I, we also touched on the same issue and the Oba of Lagos told me that he too had asked Alake the same question, which he had again denied vehemently.
“Regrettably, however, when the said statement few days later was continuously credited to Alake on the pages of newspapers, I expected him to deny it or issue a rebuttal, but he did not do so.
“Therefore, I consider it necessary to debunk the aforementioned falsehood and misrepresentation of facts from Ake Palace, so as to put the records straight.
“First, I would like to make it abundantly clear that the 1903 Gazette referred to by Alake was just a newspaper publication that he, in his self-serving role is now presenting as an official Government Gazette.
“The first question to Alake is: Who categorised the Yoruba Obas and when? I challenge him to produce the document of the said categorisation. It is a known fact that Alake was a junior traditional ruler under the Alaafin at Orile Egba before he fled to Ibadan for refuge as a result of the war then ravaging Yorubaland,” Awujale said.
The monarch further went down memory lane to state how Alake got to Ake in Abeokuta to seek refuge in 1830, adding that “Alake met the Osile, Olowu, and Agura already settled at Oke-Ona, Owu and Gbagura sections of Abeokuta township respectively.
“Even then, the Olubara, of Oyo origin had always argued that all the aforementioned four rulers met him in Abeokuta and therefore claimed to be their landlord.
“To even refer to Alake as ‘Alake of Abeokut’ not to talk of Egbaland, is a misnomer, as his control since his arrival at Ake in 1830 to date is restricted to Ake section of Abeokuta.
“The official Government Gazette testifies to this fact. In short, the Alake from history and all available records is a very junior traditional ruler in Yorubaland.
“His peers in Ijebuland are the Dagburewe of Idowa, Ajalorun of Ijebu-Ife, Akija of Ikija–Ijebu, Olowu of Owu-Ijebu, Oloko of Ijebu-Imushin, Orimolusi of Ijebu-Igbo and Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye.”
“I wish to recall that there had been an occasion in the past that three of us – the Awujale, the late Alake, Oba Oyebade Lipede and the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Ooni of Ife – sat over this issue with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at Aso Rock, Abuja.
“My advice to Alake, being a young and inexperienced traditional ruler, is that he should contact Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for proper education, so as to save himself and his people from further embarrassment.
“It is important for Alake’s education to appreciate that Ijebu has been in existence for almost 1,000 years and that we are the only people that still remain in our original homestead while other Yoruba towns and villages have relocated twice or more.”
Awujale admonished the Alake to refrain from making unsavoury, unguarded and unfounded statements, which he said if not checked, may seriously jeopardise the unity of Yoruba Obas and their people.
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