The Olota of Ota, Oba Abdulkabir Obalanlege and Olofin of Ado-Odo, Oba Olusola Lamidi-Osolo, both in Ado-Odo/Ota local government area of Ogun State, are currently flexing muscles on supremacy battle over the Awori kingdom.
It will be recalled that Obalanlege recently claimed in a recent interview with a national newspaper that he was the Chairman of the Awori Obas Forum in Ogun State, saying “the Obas within the forum are answerable to me.”
Obalanlege claimed that the Olota was the only stool in the area until 1972, when the Ifo stool was created.
He also declared that the proliferation of monarchs by politicians was responsible for the unwholesome behaviours among some traditional rulers, especially on social media.
Reacting to Oba Obalanlege's claim, the Olofin of Ado-Odo, Oba Lamidi-Osolo, rejected the claim of the Olota, stressing that Oba Obalanlege whose kingdom is being controlled by the Alake of Egbaland could not claim superiority over Aworiland.
Oba Lamidi-Osolo, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, said a monarch whose installation requires the consent of the Alake of Egbaland should not claim superiority over Awori stools.
He said Ado-Odo is traditionally an Awori territory, but for administrative convenience, the kingdom was positioned under the Yewa Traditional Council, where the Olofin currently serves as a permanent member and is next to the Paramount Ruler.
According to the monarch, at the time Nigeria was operating the regional system of government, in the Western Region, Olofin was the Vice Chairman of the Western House of Chiefs, while the Ooni of Ife was the Chairman.
“In the same vein, both the Oba of Ado/Olófin of Ado-Odo and the Alake of Egbaland were the representatives of Abeokuta Province at that time".
“It is therefore amusing that a monarch whose installation requires the consent/approval of the Alake of Egbaland is now claiming leadership of a forum that includes the Oba of Ado/Olofin Àdìmúlà Oòduà of Adó-Odò, who co-led Abeokuta Province with Alake of Egbaland in the Western Region era.
“We wish to state unequivocally that the Awori Obas Forum in Ogun State is merely an association of Awori Obas who seek a platform to channel their requests to the government. The fact that the Awori Traditional Council does not have a divisional status of any kind, substantially recognised by the government, makes it presumptuous for anyone to arrogate leadership capacity to himself without considering the historical details and facts,” Oba Lamidi-Osolo said.
He added that the Olofin is not answerable to anyone at the forum, saying the stool is superior to any other in Aworiland.
“For record purposes, no occupier of the exalted stool is answerable to anyone at the Awori Obas Forum in Ogun State. This is not only because his domain is administratively under the Yewa Traditional Council, but also because Olófin Àdìmúlà Oòduà's stool is traditionally and historically superior and as such, not answerable to anyone,” the monarch said.
He added that the coronation pamphlet of the current Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo in 2005 contained details about the Egba people's interactions with neighbouring territories, including Ado-Odo.
“Ado-Odo was never conquered by the Egba forces. Specifically, it recounts how the Egba forces besieged Ado-Odo for several months but were unable to subdue it. Reverend Henry Townsend intervened, entered Ado-Odo, and facilitated a reconciliation between the parties, after which the Egba forces withdrew".
“It is misleading for any monarch from a territory historically under Egba dominion to claim supremacy over Ado-Odo. A minute of a meeting held at the Olota's Palace on Wednesday, 10th April 1935, further corroborates this fact. The then Oloregan of Ota, Chief T. T. Dada, was quoted as saying, ’In 1839, Egba waged a war against us, and we (Ota) were conquered in 1841 with our surrounding villages".
“The same military forces attempted to subdue Adó-Odò, but they were vehemently repelled".
The Ado-Odo monarch argued that the Olofin was among the rulers who were qualified to wear beaded crowns by the Oni of Ife in ancient times.
“As early as 1917, a document from the Secretary’s Office, Southern Provinces, Nigeria, dated 27th January 1917, titled ’List of Recognised Crowned Chiefs in the Western Province’, explicitly included the Oba of Ado among the selected Yoruba Obas recognised as crowned chiefs.
“This pronouncement, supported by archival evidence, invalidates any self-proclaimed leadership over the Awori Kingdom by a monarch whose historical reality remains subjugated to Egba dominance,” the monarch stated.
He concluded by saying that the historical trajectory proves that the Olota of Ota's territory was subdued and remains subordinate to the Alake of Egbaland.
“It is, therefore, presumptuous for the Olota of Ota to arrogate the leadership of the great Awori kingdom to himself when his domain remains historically tied to Egba control.
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