The elevated high chiefs held their first meeting on Wednesday and dissociated themselves from the decision of the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan land, Chief Rashidi Ladoja , to challenge the installation of 21 new kings in Ibadan in court.
They declared that Ladoja was acting alone .
At the end of the meeting held at Mapo Hall , Ibadan , Balogun of Ibadan land, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, called on Ladoja to stop playing politics with the issue by embracing the new idea to instal the new kings .
He said “It is a wrong impression by Ladoja that the newly inaugurated obas do not have domain, the Olubadan and members of Obas -in - Council jointly rule Ibadanland as Oba Saliu Adetunji cannot rule without us .
“Ladoja himself who said he cannot be an oba without a domain is the Chairman of Ibadan South- West Traditional Council , and apart from collecting stipends from government all of us report back to the Olubadan. It is nothing but politics borne out of selfish motives. ”
Meanwhile, The Mogaji (family head ) of Akinsola compound in Oopo Labiran area of Ibadan , Chief Olawale Oladoja , said more than 300 Mogajis in Ibadan have decided to challenge the installation of 21 kings in Ibadan by the state government .
Oladoja, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone shortly after 315 Mogajis visited the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Saliu Adetunji in his palace on Wednesday , also challenged the authority of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes as the representative of sons and daughters of Ibadan .
He said the claim by the call that more than 90 per cent of Ibadan indigenes supported the move was false because the council only represented a small group of people in the city .
“Can we say that the new kings are not educated or are ignorant ? Have they really read the letters that were issued to them when they were appointed by Governor Abiola Ajimobi? How can a king still be a chief in a palace at the same time? There is tradition and culture and that of Ibadan is different from that of the Ijebu or other places in Yoruba land .
“In Ibadan land, a king must spend some days in Iledi with Labosinde . We must follow the process . Only the people of Ibadan can decide who is a king . A baale cannot be a king , only
Mogajis can be promoted to the king status .
Mogaji chooses the baale , so how can a baale now be superior to the Mogaji that chose him ? Which ruling house produced the kings ?
“The 315 baales that visited the Olubadan today (Wednesday ) are against the move. There can only be one king in a town . England has more than 40 million people with only one monarch. What of Ilorin, Kano , and other places? Ibadan has about five million people and will now have 33 kings . We will fight this to the last. Those chiefs must not be seen in the palace again and they should stop parading themselves as kings .
“When did CCII become the mouth- piece of Ibadan people ? We know them as a social group. They cannot speak for Ibadan people , only the Mogajis can represent the people in matters that concern the city . ”
Oladoja also called to question the human feelings of the high chiefs , saying that when they should be mourning the death of High Chief Femi Olaifa , they chose to go and collect letters of kingship from the state government.
“The day Olaifa died, the high chiefs did not mourn one of them, instead , they went to collect their letters . They should meet us in court, ” he added.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government has said that despite the dust created by the appointment of 21 kings in Ibadan , the relationship between the Olubadan and Governor Abiola Ajimobi remains cordial.
The state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr . Bimbo Kolade, and the state Commissioner for Information , Culture and Tourism counterpart, Mr . Toye Arulogun, who jointly spoke to journalists in Ibadan on Wednesday , said the governor had deep respect for the monarch
Kolade said, “From the speech of the governor at Sunday ’s coronation , he maintained that the Olubadan remained his father . There is that cordiality of father to son between the Olubadan and the governor . There is no problem between them officially . ”
Kolade also said that the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan land, Rashidi Ladoja , had yet to formally reject his appointment as a king .
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