‘Crowned’ Ibadan chiefs accept elevation from Olubadan

The crisis besetting the Olubadan-in-Council seems to have come to an end, as some Ibadan high chiefs have accepted their elevation to the next ranks for which they were due.

The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, over the weekend, promoted the five high chiefs that were due for elevation at an elaborate ceremony at his Popoyemoja palace in Ibadan, Oyo State.

With this development, the rumble dogging the 2017 Ibadan chieftaincy reform by former Governor Abiola Ajimobi may have been put to rest.

The high chiefs, who attended the ceremony with their wives and extended family members, were received amid banters on Friday.

Those who were elevated on the occasion were Chief Tajudeen Ajibola, who moved from Osi Balogun to Otun Balogun; Chief Lateef Adebimpe from Asipa Balogun to Osi Balogun; Chief Kolawole Adegbola from Ekerin Balogun to Asipa Balogun; Chief John Olubunmi Dada from Abese Balogun to Ekerin Balogun and Chief Abiodun Agagagugu from Maye Balogun to Ekerin Balogun.

A statement yesterday by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Olubadan, Adeola Oloko, added that the two-and-a-half-year royal logjam over the chieftaincy promotion into the Olubadan-in-Council had been resolved.

The statement read in part: “The decision to elevate the high chiefs came on the heels of their recommendation by the Olubadan, the consenting and prescribed authority on all chieftaincy matters in Ibadanland, to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who approved of the elevation via a letter dated December 12, 2019, and sent to Olubadan.

“At the impressive ceremony held at the palace ground were all but one high chief who was unavoidably absent, having sent an apology through his wife. In the Balogun line, only the Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Owolabi Olakulehin, was present at the meeting as those affected by the elevation fall into Balogun line.”

With this development, peace, which had been elusive in the city since 2017 when the controversial chieftaincy reform was implemented, has returned to the Olubadan-in-Council, the statement added.

“All the vacant stools in the council have been filled. An elated Olubadan commended the Oyo State government under Governor Seyi Makinde, saying the high chiefs would soon be served their posting instructions into different Local Government Traditional Councils, where they would be representing the Olubadan.”

In his address during the ceremony on Friday, the Olubadan urged the people to respect the tradition of orderliness that distinguished the Ibadan chieftaincy system from others, stating that the court judgment that nullified the gazette of the promotion of the Ibadan high chiefs to Obas was to set the record straight.THE crisis besetting the Olubadan-in-Council seems to have come to an end, as some Ibadan high chiefs have accepted their elevation to the next ranks for which they were due.

The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, over the weekend, promoted the five high chiefs that were due for elevation at an elaborate ceremony at his Popoyemoja palace in Ibadan, Oyo State.

With this development, the rumble dogging the 2017 Ibadan chieftaincy reform by former Governor Abiola Ajimobi may have been put to rest.

The high chiefs, who attended the ceremony with their wives and extended family members, were received amid banters on Friday.

Those who were elevated on the occasion were Chief Tajudeen Ajibola, who moved from Osi Balogun to Otun Balogun; Chief Lateef Adebimpe from Asipa Balogun to Osi Balogun; Chief Kolawole Adegbola from Ekerin Balogun to Asipa Balogun; Chief John Olubunmi Dada from Abese Balogun to Ekerin Balogun and Chief Abiodun Agagagugu from Maye Balogun to Ekerin Balogun.

A statement yesterday by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Olubadan, Adeola Oloko, added that the two-and-a-half-year royal logjam over the chieftaincy promotion into the Olubadan-in-Council had been resolved.

The statement read in part: “The decision to elevate the high chiefs came on the heels of their recommendation by the Olubadan, the consenting and prescribed authority on all chieftaincy matters in Ibadanland, to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who approved of the elevation via a letter dated December 12, 2019, and sent to Olubadan.

“At the impressive ceremony held at the palace ground were all but one high chief who was unavoidably absent, having sent an apology through his wife. In the Balogun line, only the Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Owolabi Olakulehin, was present at the meeting as those affected by the elevation fall into Balogun line.”

With this development, peace, which had been elusive in the city since 2017 when the controversial chieftaincy reform was implemented, has returned to the Olubadan-in-Council, the statement added.

“All the vacant stools in the council have been filled. An elated Olubadan commended the Oyo State government under Governor Seyi Makinde, saying the high chiefs would soon be served their posting instructions into different Local Government Traditional Councils, where they would be representing the Olubadan.”

In his address during the ceremony on Friday, the Olubadan urged the people to respect the tradition of orderliness that distinguished the Ibadan chieftaincy system from others, stating that the court judgment that nullified the gazette of the promotion of the Ibadan high chiefs to Obas was to set the record straight.