.….I root for Nigerians who are principled and who would stand up for their right, come rain or shine.
Kudos to Seyi Makinde whose mother is an “Ado N’Ekue“ from Akure and his father from Ibadan for proving himself to be a man of conviction and principle.
I would not be surprised if Seyi Makinde is picked as the flag bearer of the PDP to run for President against his fellow Yoruba sitting President in Bola Ahmed Tinubu Omo Abibatu Mogaji of Lagos.
Win or lose, I would still respect Seyi Makinde more than I respect Nyesom Wike.
I love and respect Seyi Makinde as a highly principled politician I can support if he is in the right Party.
I just like his guts and the fact that his mother comes not just from Akure but from Uro Quarters where I also come from. .
If you are a thorough-bred Akure man, you cannot be one of the the political jobbers and “Apuro Jeun” Psychofants who are now 2 for a penny in Ondo State and in Akure in particular telling lies upon lies as they are rooting for many candidates seeking for elective offices in Akure and calling them the best and the most qualified candidates to represent Akure in local, state and national levels in Nigeria.
If we are all rooting for competent and good candidates like late Olaiya Fagbamigbe, late Omolafe and late Aleco Adedipe of blessed memory and lawyer Agunbiade and few others that time and space would not allow me to mention in this article.
We are all hoping and praying for Akure to produce the next civilian Governor after Aiyedatiwa.
That begins with picking the right kind of aspiring politicians for public offices in Akure in particular and in Ondo State in general.
This topic takes me to the Bruhaha surrounding the on-going selection exercise to find a successor to the late Awujale because Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona has reigned for 65 years by outliving some of the most qualified candidates who should have been easier to pick now,
but for the long reign of Oba Adetona who I know very well and on whom I have written so much as someone very familiar with the 1958 Chieftaincy Declaration Legislation passed into Law by the defunct Action Group Government led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo who I also know very well and and on whom I have also written a lot about as a Historian with something to say that can benefit the younger generation of Nigerians and those in authority or those who are in a position to decide who the next Awujale-in-Council is going to be.
I am not at all surprised that what is happening in Ijebu Ode today is like History repeating itself because the same thing had happened in Akure when my grandfather from my mother side finally made his long awaited transition after 60 long years on the throne and many of the candidates who had thrown their hats to the Ring and who had wanted to be crowned the new Deji were found to be complete strangers who could not trace their roots or lineage to any of the 41 Deji’s who were selected from the only Asodeboyede Ruling Line which was later divided into 2 by adding Osupa/ Odundun Ruling Line in 1991 as I have hinted in many of my books on the subject.
I was picked the Secretary to the Ruling Asodeboyede House in 1975 when the Deji’s Chieftaincy Law had categorically stated that a candidate whose father or mother has never been crowned a Deji in Akure can never be crowned a Deji at that time.
That was what had stopped Prince Adewole Adesida an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Harvard University and a Permanent Secretary in Ondo State from being crowned the Deji because he had gotten the majority of 9 out of 15 Kingmakers led by Chief Asamo Omojowo Olusanya.
The Law had given Uncle Adewole a technical knockout .
Uncle Adewole a man of timber and caliber and by far the best candidate had given the permission to the 9 Kingmakers to vote for the candidate he had picked for them among his fellow competitors who could prove that their biological father had been crowned a Deji in Akure.
That was how Prince Adelegan Adesida was crowned Deji Otutubiosun in 1975 and he reigned for 16 years till 1991.
The next Deji Oba Adebobajo Adesida Ataiyese had become the last Deji to be picked before the Ruling House was divided up into 2 to allow grand children like the current Deji whose fathers or mothers have never been crowned a Deji to be crowned a Deji in Akure.
But there was still some injustice done to some of us grandchildren who came from the female line meaning that our entitlement to the throne had come thru our mothers.
The Declaration, as amended had wrongly concluded, we could only be considered when suitable and qualified candidates from a male line could not be found.
I happen to be one of such grandchildren who were insulted because my biological mother Princess Adediwura Aderemi was the biological daughter of of the 41s Deji of Akure Oba Afunbiowo Adesida the First
(1897-1957)
You know one or two people in the Ruling House had complained that I was not qualified to serve as Secretary to the Ruling House in 1975 because I had come from a female line but I shot them down very quickly with a far superior argument because I reminded them as a Historian that I was even more authentic, more genuine and more qualified than most of them and I proved it.
I reminded them that two women had previously been crowned the Deji of Akure.
Deji Eyearo had reigned from 1393 to 1419 (26 years) and Deji Eyemoin had reigned from 1705-1735 for (30 years)
I reminded them that nobody can deny that I am the son of my mother but I am not so sure if they are the sons of the man they claim to be their father. Q.E.D.
It is a legitimate and persuasive case to make and I made it with passion and clarity that nobody could deflate or deny.
I proved it to them that I was not only prima facie qualified to be Secretary to the Ruling House. I am qualified to be crowned a Deji in Akure if I meet the other criteria which are education, good character, integrity and Honor and some “ Ekurube” or financial means and I have all them in moderation by the special grace of God.
Come on People. I am qualified to be crowned a Deji in Akure, if I want to.
So those who are arguing today that any Prince from the female line cannot be crowned the Awujale of Ijebu Ode, a city of multi-millionaires the last time I checked, are telling a Cock and Bull Story because I hear from a reliable source that a woman had once reigned in Ijebu Ode as an Awujale and in many other towns in the Yoruba Southwest.
If that is found to be true, any Prince from the female line can be crowned the Awujale of Ijebu Ode, if you ask me?
Why not, if not?
I rest my case.
Om’Oba Wumi Akintide, MPA; MSW, LMSW, Ph.D
writes from New York
