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STILL ON THE IFON OBASHIP QUAGMIRE, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
By Hon. Olaniyi Eni-Olotu
The Olufon stool fell vacant on the 26th of November, 2020, following the shocking demise of Oba Adegoke Adeusi 1 (JP) of the Idaniken Ruling House.
All efforts geared towards a quick installation of a new Olufon have proved abortive, consequent upon the position taken by the Ondo State Government to jettison the already established order of rotation as contained in the Olufon chieftaincy declaration.
The Olufon chieftaincy declaration that was made and registered by the defunct Western State Government of Nigeria during a period of interregnum in March, 1968 was subjected to a thorough review by the Justice Adeyinka Morgan Commission between 1978 and 1981 during the reign of the penultimate Olufon of Ifon,
Oba David Adegbera Odogiyon of the Umaugba Ruling House.
The report and recommendations of the Morgan commission which inter alia include the removal of the Igebome, Okonren and the Odugeri lineages from the list of recognized Ruling Houses for some clearly stated reasons, coupled with the reduction of the number of the town’s kingmakers from fourteen to twelve were accepted, approved and gazetted by the Ondo State Executive Council in July, 1981.
In a dramatic twist, the registered Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1968 that had been reviewed by the Morgan commission and overriden by a new legislation in 1981, was covertly re-registered during another period of interregnum in June, 1997, shortly after the demise of Oba David Adegbera Odogiyon of the Umaugba Ruling House who joined his forbears in August, 1996.
With the re-registration of tne already reviewed 1968 Olufon chieftaincy declaration, one then wonders the essence of the chieftaincy declaration review by the Morgan commission at the instance of the Ondo State Government for good three years with the consent and authority of the then reigning Olufon of Ifon, Oba Adegbera Odogiyon along with the inputs of other relevant stakeholders from the Ifon royal families.
One also wonders what has now become of the new Olufon chieftaincy declaration that was made, approved and gazetted by the Ondo State Government in July, 1981, following the review and subsequent amendments of the 1968 Olufon chieftaincy declaration.
The reviewed, but now re-registered Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1968 has a content of seven ruling houses with the Erunogbe Ruling House projected therein as the next in line of succession to the Idaniken Ruling House;
1. Umaugba ( Oba Adegbera Odogiyon 1969 – 1996 )
2. Igebome
3. Okonren
4. Odugeri
5. Ogenuwa
6. Idaniken ( Oba Adegoke Adeusi 1997 – 2020 )
7. Erunogbe ( Next in line )
The new Olufon chieftaincy declaration that was made, approved and gazetted by the Ondo State Government in July, 1981, during the reign of Oba David Adegbera Odogiyon has a content of four ruling houses with the Ogenuwa Ruling House projected therein as the next in line of succession to the Idaniken Ruling House;
1. Umaugba ( Oba Adegbera Odogiyon 1969 – 1996 )
2. Idaniken ( Oba Adegoke Adeusi 1997 – 2020 )
3. Ogenuwa ( Next in line )
4. Erunogbe
Following the demise of Oba David Adegbera Odogiyon of the Umaugba Ruling House in August 1996, Chief Adebamisoye Ojomo from the Odugeri Ruling House was appointed by government as the regent of Ifon, while the Idaniken Ruling House was directed to nominate and present its candidate or candidates to the Ifon kingmakers in line with the recommendations of the Morgan Commission as enshrined in the approved and gazetted Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1981.
In an unprecedented manner, the contest for the Olufon vacant stool was exclusively preserved for the Idaniken Ruling House in 1997 and Oba Adegoke Adeusi subsequently emerged as the preferred choice of the Ifon kingmakers among the four candidates that were thrown up by the Idaniken Ruling House as he was unanimously selected by the Ifon kingmakers on the 27th of August, 1997, to succeed Oba David Adegbera Odogiyon of the Umaugba Ruling House and the process was well adjudged as the most peaceful, straight forward and seamless succession in the history of Ifon town.
Consequent upon the demise of Oba Adegoke Adeusi in November 2020 and in a manner that was primarily and deliberately aimed at enhancing the emergence of a preferred candidate of the Akeredolu-led administration from the Umaugba Ruling House, government faulted the approved and gazetted Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1981 that is in support of the Ogenuwa Ruling House and also frowned seriously against the domimance of the Erunogbe Ruling House over the other Ruling Houses in Ifon to suggest the reordering of the rotational sequence in a well calculated attempt at clearing the coast for the Umaugba Ruling House just to achieve a predetemined goal and objective.
Consequently, the Umaugba Ruling House was directed by government to nominate its candidate or candidates for presentation to the kingmakers.
On the 22nd of May, 2022, members of the Umaugba Ruling House converged on the palace of Oba Adegbera Odogiyon and nominated three candidates from the family as directed.
However, the head of Umaugba Ruling House withdrew the nomination of two candidates and presented his preferred choice to the kingmakers as the family’s sole candidate.
The other candidates whose nominations were unjustly withdrawn by their family head quickly wrote a protest letter to the Ondo State Government calling for its urgent intervention in the matter, but their protest letter was reportedly greeted with a deafening silence, hence the decision of the aggrieved members of the Umaugba family to drag their family head to the court of law.
In spite of the issues raised against the process by the aggrieved candidates of the Umaugba Ruling House that were unjustly sidelined and disenfranchised, the head of the Umaugba Ruling House went ahead to present a sole candidate from the Umaugba Ruling House to the kingmakers and the sole candidate ended up being overwhelmingly rejected by ten out of the thirteen Ifon kingmakers for various reasons.
The Erunogbe Ruling House had since dragged the Ondo State Government and the Umaugba Ruling House to court to determine if it was proper and lawful for the Umaugba Ruling House to be made to succeed its own successor, ( Idaniken Ruling House) pursuant to the registered Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1968, in contravention of the order of rotation therein that is in favour of the Erunogbe Ruling House to succeed Idaniken Ruling House as the next in line.
The Ogenuwa Ruling House had also been joined as an interested party in the matter as the Ruling House is relying heavily on the provisions of the approved and gazetted Olufon chieftaincy declaration of 1981 that is in support of the Ogenuwa Ruling House to succeed the Idaniken Ruling House in its order of roration which has a precedent of past compliance and consistency.
We are not unmindful of the fact that the Ondo State Government is interested in having the next Olufon selected from the Umaugba Ruling House, despite the fact it is well seen as a step that is in violation of the Olufon chieftaincy declaration and one that has also been denied in the court of law by the same government that came up with such an idea.
If government is truly interested in the Umaugba Ruling House as we were made to believe, why has it failed since 2022 to look into the complaints made against the process by the other two candidates of the Umaugba Ruling House whose rights were trampled upon with a view to resolving the matter with the family head?
If government is truly interested in the Umaugba Ruling House, why did it deny the authorship of the letter written to the Umaugba family and also distanced itself completely from same in the court of law?
If government is truly interested in a particular contestant in the Umaugba Ruling House, how far has it intervened in the matter to address the concerns of the kingmakers, the rigidity of the head of the ruling house as well as the grievances of the other nominated candidates of the ruling house?
It’s about time we approached the Olufon selection process in a very lawful and transparent manner that will be acceptable to our ancestors and well applauded by the good people of Ifon Omima Kingdom. We have waited long enough.
MAN’S GREATEST ENEMY IS SELF-DECEIT. I HATE BEING DECEIVED, LET ALONE DECEIVING MYSELF!
Hon. Olaniyi Eni-Olotu writes from Okerogho quarters, Ifon, Ondo State.
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