Nine royal families lay claim to Alaafin stool
Nine royal families in Oyo Kingdom are laying claim to the throne. The families insisted that as members of the Atiba ruling house, and direct descendants of Alaafin Atiba, the first monarch of Oyo Kingdom, their right to ascend the throne must be officially recognised.
Occupants of the throne have been rotated between the Alowolodu and Agunloye families, but nine others – Olanite, Tella Okitipapa, Adesiyan, Tella Agbojulogun, Adelabu, Baba Idode, Abidekun, Adediran and Adeitan – have asked to be included.
They contended that Alaafin Atiba had 11 sons, not two, as popularly believed, which makes the throne rotate between the Alowolodu and Agunloye families.
The nine families urged Governor Seyi Makinde to implement the 1976 report on the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration, as a prerequisite for the appointment of the next Alaafin.
They said recommendations of the report of a Commission of Enquiry set up in 1974, and gazetted by the state government on July 16, 2001, should guide the governor in choosing a successor to the throne.
Based on the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration, as recommended by the then Oyo Divisional Council, documents show that the ruling houses in Oyo were limited to the Alowolodu (where the late Oba Adeyemi III hailed from) and the Agunloye (also referred to as Ladigbolu or Gbadegesin) families.
However, the nine other families, who also belong to the Atiba ruling house, said using the arrangement to appoint a new Alaafin is illegal and contrary to the amendment recommended by the government to the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration.
Their spokesperson, Mogaji Afolabi Ademola Adeitan of the Adeitan/Atiba royal family, said rather than two, as claimed by the Alowolodu and Agunloye families, 11 royal houses have a right to the throne and, with the first two having successively produced the last two Alaafins, the remaining nine royal families should be allowed to produce the successor.
Ademola said: “It is wrong and illegal to say the Alowolodu and Agunloye families are the only two ruling houses in Oyo.
“We have one Atiba Ruling House, consisting of 11 direct descendants of Atiba. These include Agunloye, Alowolodu, Olanite, Tella Okitipapa, Adesiyan Tella Agbojulogun, Adelabu, Baba Idode, Abidekun, Adediran and Adeitan families.
“The Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration has been declared defective, since 1976, just as the Oyo State government has, since then, pronounced that the other nine royal families are equally entitled to produce successors to the throne.
“The report of a Commission of Enquiry, as attested to in a letter written to the then Oyo Local Council on December 8, 1976, had declared the Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy Declaration defective for failing to accommodate the other nine royal families. The recommendation contained in the 1976 Report of the Commission of Enquiry was equally accepted by the Oyo State government and was gazetted in the Oyo State of Nigeria: Gazette on July 16, 2001.
“In the interest of peace, fairness, equity and justice, we appeal to Governor Seyi Makinde to look into all these documents and act accordingly. All eyes are on the governor, Oyo Kingdom and the entire state as we look forward to the appointment of a worthy 45th Alaafin who will be acceptable to all.”
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