A former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, Doyin Odebowale, has criticised the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, over his demand that the Ooni of Ife revoke a chieftaincy title recently conferred on an Ibadan-based businessman.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Odebowale argued that traditional rulers have authority only within their local government jurisdictions and are not constitutionally superior to elected officials at that level.
“With respect to most of these rulers now, there is a misapprehension of roles. They want to be addressed as Kabiyesi, but they are not.
“They are under the local government chairman in their respective localities. So this idea of somebody sitting in Oyo and legislating on what happens in Ile-Ife is a misnomer,” Odebowale said.
He said the Alaafin must have been misled into believing there was a jurisdictional dispute between his office and that of the Ooni.
“I want to believe that the Alaafin of Oyo must have been misled into believing that there is an extant issue to be resolved between that office and that of the Ooni. I don’t see any justification for this distraction,” the ex-government official said.
‘Haste To Discard Tradition’
Odebowale attributed the recurring tussles among traditional rulers to “permissive decadence” in the system.
“It is a very pathetic situation in the sense that most of those who parade themselves as traditional rulers do not even know their function. It appears to me that they are in a hurry to discard tradition.
“They are so happy when they are addressed as Oba, assistant pastor, or Alhaji; that is total abnegation of traditional values,” he lamented.
The former aide added that historically, the British colonial administration had “downgraded empires into stools,” introducing chieftaincy laws that limited the influence of monarchs.
According to him, those who had accepted colonial titles and knighthoods could no longer claim supremacy over other rulers.
“By government structure, their powers do not go beyond their local government, if you want to, by their letter. The Ooni of Ife is in Osun state, and they have their traditional council. The Alafin of Oyo is in Oyo state, and they have a traditional council.
“By the Oyo State chieftaincy law, only four Obas are recognised as imperial majesties. The Alaafin cannot act beyond his local government. By law, he is under his local government chairman,” he said.
Title Conferment Controversy
The remarks came amid a row between the Alaafin and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, over the conferment of the “Okanlomo of Yorubaland” title on businessman Dotun Sanusi at an event in Ibadan last weekend.
The Alaafin had, on Monday, issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding that the Ooni revoke the title, describing the conferment as an “affront” and claiming exclusive authority to bestow titles covering the whole of Yorubaland.
He argued that a Supreme Court ruling had affirmed his sole prerogative in such matters.
However, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the ultimatum as an “empty threat,” saying the monarch would not dignify it with a formal response.
“We cannot dignify the undignifiable with an official response. We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
In a follow-up statement, the Alaafin’s media aide, Bode Durojaiye, clarified that the monarch was not seeking supremacy over any other ruler but was only protecting the sanctity of Yoruba tradition.
