Market women from Oyo and Lagos States were part of early callers at the Lagos home of the recently proclaimed Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams, on Monday.
They were there to congratulate Adams on his appointment as the Generalissimo of Yoruba land.
The Lagos home of the Aare Ona Kakanfo Designate has become a Mecca of sort since his proclamation by the Alaafin Of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, as Aare Ona Kakanfo.
The Iyaloja of Oyoland, Alhaja Adepeju Bakare, who led other market leaders from Oyo State, while congratulating the Aare Ona Kakanfo designate, thanked the Alaafin of Oyo for “giving we the Iyalojas a befitting Aare Onakakanfo”.
According to her: “Alaafin doesn’t just pick anybody for titles and we thank God you are the choice.
“No doubt, you deserve the title.
“Alaafin’s choice cannot be faulted.”
Quite a number of people, she said, came to lobby for the position but Alaafin didn’t give in to their pressure.
Bakare said: “What gladdens our heart is the fact that you were very accessible to us before you became the Aare, that is why we are sure you will reckon with us as the Aare Ona Kakanfo.”
Included in the Oyo State team were the Iyalojas of Sabo Oyo Market, Owode and Obada markets as well as Oba Adeyemi Shopping Complex, Ajagunle Market and operators from the markets.
In the same vein, Alhaja Idiat Apena, the Iyaloja Ikeja General, who came with her entourage, congratulated the Aare designate on his appointment, which she said was well deserved.
Apena pledged the support of the members of her market for the Aare designate, just as she prayed for a cordial relationship between her office and that of the Aare designate.
Thanking the market women for their “love and openness to Kabiyesi, the Alaafin”, the Aare designate said he was privileged to have the market women as his guests even as he described them as mother of all.
Recall that the Aare designate had earlier played host to notable groups and individuals, among them the Yoruba Patriots Movement, led by its National Coordinator, Barrister Oladosu Oladipo.