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| Engr. Seyi Makinde, Executive Governor of Oyo State. |
Written by Biodun Ajibade
Without much ado, looking at all the submissions that are flying around on social media and the media space in Nigeria on the filling of this exalted throne in Yoruba land. The news has reached a deafening crescendo, considering the claims and counter claims of the kingmakers who are saddled with the responsibility of selecting a new Alaafin for Oyo. The two factions of the Oyomesis have taken to the social media and the media to speak about the process of selecting the new Alaafin and it is becoming a thing that is now an embarrassment to all the good people of Oyo Alaafin as they are wondering: how they got to where they are and it has become a great problem to select a successor for the hitherto vacant throne.
There are these videos where some members of the Oyomesis were seen speaking about undue interferences in the selection processes by Politicians. Unfortunately some members of the Oyomesis have been complaining of high handedness in the selection process and this seems to be the main issue that is causing rancour and disaffections that is taking place in Oyo Alaafin amongst the kingmakers on the process of the selection of the new paramount ruler of the Yorubas.
Be it as it may, from all that had been said up to date. What has been in the forefront, is the fact that after the interviews for the princes from the Agunloye Ruling family, it is expected that there ought to have been series of meetings before the final decision or selection on the person who will be selected eventually for the throne. It is alleged by some members of the Oyomesis that all this did not take place and there was no divination or consultation of Ifa. They alleged that the head of the Oyomesis had taken unilateral decisions which other members are claiming would have been financially induced as it is purported that a name had been forwarded to the Governor of Oyo State for consent and subsequent announcements as Alaafin which they claim is an act that is ultravires.
What many people would have expected, was that when the name that would be submitted to the governor, that it would have been at a meeting with the governor with all the Oyomesis and the warrant chiefs present but all these seems evidently absent in all submissions. The government have insisted that due process was not followed of which the government could be right, with the divided front of the Oyomesis it is looking like the government could be right that the due process was not actually followed.
What are the real due processes that is expected for the selection of the new Alaafin. The ruling house that would present the prospective candidates for the vacant throne through Baba Iyaji would be presented to the Oyomesi as a group. The interview that was actually conducted was at the prerogative of the Oyomesis for all the candidates. Since consultation of Ifa is also part of the process as undertaken during the last selection process of Alaafin Oba Adeyemi III, it is not expected that it should be left out in this new process and this is expectedly supposed to be in the presence of all the Oyomesis and from all foregoing this have not been undertaken. The Oyomesis need to explain the purportedly leaked paper that they were alleged to have signed, how it was arrived at. Was there any divination undertaken for that process or it was financially induced as widely believed and insinuated in many quarters.
"Justice and Mercy" are on the insignia of the Alaafin and this could be what is actually hounding the process about the need for justice to prevail as many are already shouting that the process seems to have been manipulated by one of the candidates for the highly sought after throne. The people who would witness the oracle consultation are not actually stated but for transparency of the process, the people who witnessed the interview process, it's very much like they were not informed about other processes or were witnesses of the process that the two faction of the Oyomesis led by the Basorun of Oyo, Laguna, Akiniku seems to be harping upon as the voice of the Oyomesis and the Agbakin and Samu on the other hand are crying that the process have been rigged. The media is awash with many stories of this disaffection between the kingmakers and this has thus thrown the entire Oyo Alaafin, Yorubaland and the world into a great confusion about the selection process for the new Alaafin of Oyo.
From the records, the Ladigbolus and Gbadegesins have successively occupied the throne of the Alaafin and in this contest, their other siblings are also contesting saying that they all have equal rights to the throne and they should allow them to produce the next Alaafin given that they both had produced Alaafins in turn in the past. From what is taking place, the Ladigbolus and Gbadegesins don't seem to want to back down to allow another arm of their family to present the next Alaafin of Oyo while they sit back and watch. Be it as it may, the decision of where the next Alaafin will come from will come from the Oyomesis but how they would make or arrive at that decision is still largely unknown to all because it is still largely unknown to all. One fact is that they are all eligible to become the Alaafin but who will eventually become the next Alaafin is just a matter of time
At this junction, the Oyo State government have to speak up and cool all frayed nerves considering the facts that the information flying around in the media is heating up the polity. In time past, the government have debunked a few claims of having selected a particular candidate for the throne of Alaafin. The last statement of the governor of Oyo State at Iseyin definitely needs a follow up considering that since the day the governor had spoken, several claims and counter claims of press releases and videos have flooded the newspapers and electronic media cum social media space and it has gotten to an embarrassing crescendo. Oyo State government need at this point urgently to step in and speak up so the people can know the way forward. As far as Oyo State and the Alaafin is concerned, the government will not undertake the works of the Oyomesis but what they might be seeking is who and who were present for the process because this is a decision that would require that there are personalities that will ensure transparency of the process.
In finality, the buck stops at the table of his excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State who will append and announce the next Alaafin of Oyo, though he may not be in the country now but there is no vacuum in governance, the commissioner for information and commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters are all members of the cabinet who are expected to brief the governor and they are likely to have not travelled with the governor but it is our hope that the government will come up with a statement on this soonest. End
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