One of the contenders to the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo named Afolabi Ademola Adesina has taken exception to claims by the Oyo State Government that the state would not interfere in the process of selecting a new king in the ancient Yoruba town.
Adesina, a prince from the Adeitan Atiba Royal Lineage, spoke in a statement on Tuesday, August 23 in response to an earlier assertion by Akeem Ademola Ige, Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde, on Culture, during the Sango Festival in Oyo town that there would not be biases in the process of selection.
It quoted Adesina as saying that “My attention has been drawn to a statement by the Oyo State Government to the effect that it will not interfere in the process of selecting a new Alaafin of Oyo. The report came to us as a rude shock as the process has already been infiltrated to the exclusion of other original sons of Alaafin Abiodun Atiba, the progenitor of modern Oyo, by some agents of the Oyo State Government.”
The statement read that a transparent process, kick-started by the Head of the Oyo Royal Princes (Baba Iyaji) and the Oyo Mesi, was altered when the chairman of Atiba Local Government Area of Oyo State, in a letter dated August 9, disclosed that he got a directive through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, to commence the process of picking a crown prince from the Agunloye Royal House.
“This is being done in exclusion of the other nine ruling houses that had been enlisted since 8th December, 1976 by the then Oyo State Military Government and Gazetted, viz the 1995 White Paper, on 16th July, 2001 by the state government during the administration of Lamidi Adesina.
“The Chairman of Atiba Local Government Area, in a letter dated 9th August, 2022, through the Director of Administration and General Services, Alhaji Ayoola A.A, relied on the Oyo state Chieftaincy Law of 1961, declared defective since 8th December, 1976 because it is not consistent with the Customary Law governing the appointment of the Alaafin of Oyo or any Oba in Yorubaland.
“In the letter, the local government chairman, directed Baba Iyaji to liaise with the Agunloye family to choose a Crown Prince and present him to the Oyo Mesi through High Chief Yusuf Ayoola, the Basorun of Oyo. The directive is contrary to the claim that the Oyo State Government will not interfere in the process of selecting a new Alaafin.
“What more can demonstrate the fact that the state government has, indeed, interfered in the selection process? How else can you prove that you are not interfering in the process? Sir, what you have done, through the letter by the chairman of Atiba Local Government Area, shows that you have, indeed, totally hijacked the process. You can only prove us wrong by publicly disowning the letter.
“As an unbiased umpire, we expect that the state government would call for the publication of all the 119 princes that applied for the vacant Alaafin Stool and the criteria for the selection process to be made public.
“This should be done in line with our tradition. Also allow the Oyo Mesi to evaluate every applicant based on the culture of Oyo land. I am aware that Baba Iyaji has submitted the applicants’ letters to the Oyo Mesi through the Basorun of Oyo.
“We are hereby appealing to the Oyo State Government to allow for a free and fair selection process to give us a new Alaafin that would be acceptable to, and who would stand for all and sundry,” the statement read.
