Ibadan intelligentsia and social cultural group on the platform of Ibadan King’s Men on Monday appraised recent judgment of Justice Olajumoke Aiki of the state high court which nullified a report of judicial panel of enquiry that reviewed the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration of 1957 set up by the Oyo State Government and called on the sacked “monarchs” to seek restitution from Ibadan ancestors.
The panel, headed by Justice Akintunde Boade, granted promotion and elevation to some High Chiefs and Baales as beaded crown wearing Obas against the wish of the current Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji.
A spokesman of the IKM, otherwise known as Egbe Bobaselu, Dr. Adams Olufemi Akewula, in a press statement after the group’s emergency meeting in Ibadan on Monday asked the affected chiefs to toe the line of Omoluabi by retracing their steps now that it was clear that “their elevation, promotion and installation as so-called Obas have no precedence in Ibadan Native Law and Tradition and has therefore been declared as unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever by the courageous jurist.
“To preserve their dignity from further being eroded, the King’s men hereby demand a special apology from them to the Olubadan; the ancestors and founding fathers of the land within 21days, in order to make atonement for any perceived wrongs they might have done by their connivance with the ruling class to denigrate the stool of Olubadan. They remain our fathers and toeing path of honour now will assuage Kabiyesi’s feeling and indeed that of all Ibadans towards them. Afterall, to err is human and to forgive is divine.”
While describing the judgment as a watershed, timely and unprecedented, the release lauded Justice Aiki for being fearless and truthful, adding: “All discerning Ibadan sons and daughters will forever remain grateful to her for averting a judicial ambush that could have rewritten the history of Ibadanland for worst and allowed the promoters of such disingenuous act to go away with brazen impunity that has no root in our chequered history and globally acknowledged seamless traditional institution.”
The Ibadan King’s Men also lauded the Olubadan for not allowing himself to be provoked since August 27, 2017 when the ‘new kings were crowned, stressing: “Kabiyesi and High Chief Rashidi Ladoja have provided impetus for saner Ibadan traditional institution and have therefore etched out their names in gold for the younger generation to learn from a simple fact that you cannot build something on nothing; same way you don’t change the course of a game in the middle of the match and that, it is always good to be counted on the side of truth and justice.
“With this development, the 21 ‘Obas’ should desist from wearing their beaded coronets or crowns in obedience to this landmark judgment. The IKM also wonders why the leadership of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes has remained silence and not deemed it necessary to congratulate Oba Adetunji? We feel concerned too on why our ever-pragmatic Authentic Mogajis in Ibadan has remained silence of recent?”
The statement further thanked all Ibadans, especially Yoruba Obas, for standing with their brother Kabiyesi in his efforts at preserving the dignity and sanctity of the throne of his forebears.
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