There was a mammoth crowd of sons and daughters of Ibadan at the Alarere, residence of the Otun Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Lekan Balogun, on Tuesday to congratulate and show solidarity to him as the next in line to the throne of the Olubadan of Ibadan.
The people sang and danced outside the premises of his residence as the High Chief observed the COVID-19 protocols.
In line with the traditional rotational ascension arrangement of the Ibadan chieftaincy and obaship system, barring odds, High Chief Lekan Balogun, is expected by many to ascend the throne as the Olubadan.
Unusual questions were raised on who succeeds the late Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who passed on at age 93, as legal action was being instituted on the right of High Chief Lekan Balogun and other members of the Olubadan-in-Council who were crowned as Obas by former governor Abiola Ajimobi, to subsequently ascend the throne of Olubadan.
Some of the people at Balogun’s residence on Tuesday noted that the much publicized letter purportedly written to the Governor of Oyo State, Oluseyi Makinde, by the former Attorney-General of the state, Micheal Lana, to withhold his accent to the elevation of Balogun to the throne as the Olubadan of Ibadanland, might have failed to resonate with the interest of the generality of Ibadan people.
The Alarere residence of High Chief Balogun was a Mecca of sort with people trooping in and out of the expansive storey-building torejoice with the Otun Olubadan in anticipation of his expected elevation as Olubadan.
The story was said to be the same at the Balogun’s Aliiwo ancestral home where residents engaged Boys’ Brigade band and danced round the area before heading for the Alarere community to join other well-wishers.
Among the important personalities sighted at Balogun’s home were former President of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, Chief Bayo Oyero; former Minister of Power and Steel, Elder Wole Oyelese; and former Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Chief Gbola Adetunji.
Chief Oyero was quoted as saying that God would take control when asked for his reaction to the development. Undisturbed and unworried, he said, “nobody is above God.”
All through the stay of Elder Oyelese with the 79-year-old Balogun, they were seen throwing banters without making reference to the said letter, just as the former Minister refused to grant press interview.
Lana, in the letter dated January 3, 2022 asked the state governor not to approve the statutory elevation of Balogun (Otun Olubadan) to Olubadan throne based on his earlier elevation as Royal Majesty alongside other members of Olubadan-in-Council, with the exception of High Chief Rashidi Ladoja in 2018.
However, members of the Olubadan-in-Council and the statutory kingmakers in Ibadan land said that the choice of who succeeds the departed monarch is theirs and the reference being made to their previous elevation holds no water.
