The Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, died on Sunday after a remarkable 65-year reign, marking the end of an era and setting the stage for the first succession process in more than six decades. The search for his successor is expected to begin after the official mourning period.
Oba Adetona, the 55th Awujale, died at 91. The deceased traditional ruler, who is the longest-reigning king of the Ijebu kingdom yet, was buried according to Islamic rites on Monday at his Igbeba residence.
With the revered throne becoming vacant, aspirants eyeing the throne are likely to be warming up and consulting for the succession contest, which is for now officially deferred till after the mourning of Oba Adetona.
The leaders of the next ruling house in the succession line are also likely to be putting heads together to avoid getting caught napping when the succession process officially begins.
The selection of the next Awujale will follow the rotational system among four ruling Houses as provided by the governing chieftaincy legal instruments.
Specifically, the process follows the Western State Chieftaincy Declarations issued under Section 4(2) of the Chiefs Law of 1957, establishing the customary law regulating the selection of the Awujale of Ijebuland chieftaincy.
Section 1 of the declarations established the four ruling houses entitled to produce the Awujale as Gbelegbuwa, Anikinaiya, Fusengbuwa, and Fidipote.
It went further in section 2 to establish the order of rotation among the ruling houses. The order is as follows: Anikinaiya, Fusengbuwa, Fidipote, and Gbelegbuwa, which the declarations described as “the last ruling house”.
Based on the declarations which came into force to codify the rotational succession process for the over 600-year-old throne, the next Awujale should come from the Fusengbuwa ruling house.
In the succession order established in the declarations, Fusengbuwa is next to Anikinaiya which Oba Adetona that just passed away hailed from.
In a show of fidelity to the order, Oba Adetona himself ascended the throne on 2 April 1960, taking over from Oba Daniel Richardson Adesanya from the Gbelegbuwa ruling House. Oba Gbelegbuwa had reigned for 25 years up till 1959, when he passed away.
Stages of selection
To be eligible for the Awujale’s throne, the candidate must be a male from the next ruling house in the line of succession, according to the chieftaincy declarations.
The process begins at a family meeting of the ruling house whose turn it is to produce the Awujale. It then progresses to the Odis and finally to the kingmakers.
It entails the ruling house nominating “at a family meeting to be summoned by the family head or family heads a candidate or candidates for the chieftaincy to be presented by the family head or family heads to the Odis.”
The Odis are one of the four principal classes that form the Ijebu-Ode kingmakers.
According to the declarations, the Odis are to receive the nomination from the ruling house. Thereafter, the Odis “will then submit the name(s) of the candidate or candidates nominated at the meeting of the kingmakers”.
There are 13 kingmakers recognised by the chieftaincy declarations.
The kingmakers are constituted by the chiefs of four principal classes, which are the Ilamuren, Odi, Osugbo and Pampa.
The Ilamuren class has six members – the Olisa of Ijebu-Ode, the Ogbeni-Oja of Ijebu-Ode, the Egbo of Ijebu-Ode, the Apebi of Ijebu-Ode, the Olotufore of Ijebu-Ode and the Olotu-Olowa of Ijebu-Ode.
The Odi class has two members – the Ogbeni-Odi-Imesi of Ijebu-Ode and the Ekeji-Odi-Iletu of Ijebu-Ode.
The Osugbo class has just one member – the Oliwo of Ijebu-Ode
Lastly, the remaining four kingmakers belong to the Pampa class, who are the Agbon of Ijebu-ode, the Kakanfo of Ijebu-Ode, the Lapoekun of Ijebu-Ode and the Balogun of Ijebu-Ode.
After receiving the nomination from the Odis, the kingmakers will then take their decision. The candidate who “receives the unanimous decision of the kingmakers present at such a meeting will be declared appointed”.
Chance for female Awujale to emerge
The law, tradition and practice recognise the possibility of a ruling house whose turn it is to produce the next Awujale not having a suitable male nominee.
Such a ruling house which finds itself in such a situation is given the chance to present a female candidate.
This perhaps explains why the roll call of the 55 past Awujales is punctuated by females, beginning with Oba Gadegun, who ascended the throne in 1644, subsequently Oba Ore Jeje in 1749, and a year after, Oba Sapennuwa Ruwa Koye who took over the throne in 1750.
Under the chieftaincy declarations, a ruling house with no suitable male is allowed to nominate a female candidate on certain conditions.
“In such event, the mother of the candidate must be an ‘Abidagba’,” the declarations stipulate. An Abidagba, is “a true born when the father was on the throne”.
The rule further bends backwards to provide the ruling house without an Abidagba another opportunity.
It provides that “where there is no such ‘Abidagba’ any child of an Oba born before his or her father reigned could be selected”.
Who was Oba Adetona?
Born on 10 May 1934 in Ijebu-Ode, the late Oba Adetona became king at 26 in 1960.
He had his primary education between 1943 and 2950 at Baptist school, Eroko, Ijebu-Ode; Ogbere United Primary School, Oke Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo and Baptist School, Ijebu-Ode.
He studied at Olu-Iwa (now Adeola Odutola) College in Ogun State and later travelled to the UK by sea to study accountancy. Before he went abroad in 1957. Before travelling overseas, the traditional ruler left Ijebu Ode for Ibadan and got into the employment of the Western Region Ministry of Finance, where he worked in the audit department.
He had begun his professional career abroad when he was nominated alongside four others to be the next Awujale. However, he was eventually presented by the Anikinaiya ruling House to the kingmakers for appointment.
During his reign, he played a key role in introducing and popularising the annual Ojude Oba festival, celebrated for its vibrant parades, elaborate traditional attire, and rich display of cultural heritage.
However, Oba Adetona was notably absent at the recent festival, owing to age-related health challenges.
President Bola Tinubu honoured him with Nigeria’s second-highest national award, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), in celebration of his 90th birthday in May 2024.
During his reign, the late Oba Adetona championed the cause that traditional rulers be buried according to their faith.
In January 2022, Governor Dapo Abiodun signed the “Obas, Chiefs, Council of Obas and Traditional Council Law of Ogun State 2021” during a ceremony at the Awujale’s palace in Ijebu-Ode.
The law includes a provision that preserves and protects the fundamental right of traditional rulers to be installed and buried according to their religious beliefs or convictions. This means that a Christian or Muslim traditional ruler in Ogun State may now legally choose a religious burial in line with their faith in addition to any required traditional rites. (Premium Times)
