Fayemi visits Alaafin over Ekiti traditional council controversy

• Says it’s an exchange of views between father and son
• Alawe asks Oyo monarch to stop meddling in affairs of Ekiti monarchy
• Yoruba monarchs plan resolve the impasse
• Afenifere, Ladigbolu express concern over the crisis in a traditional institution

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State yesterday visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, in his palace, Oyo town.

The visit was a follow-up to the letter written by the monarch on behalf of other six royal fathers in Yorubaland asking Fayemi to be very careful in the manner he handles the leadership crisis rocking the state traditional council.

The Chief Press Secretary to Fayemi, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, who spoke on the visit in a telephone interview with The Guardian, said the visit was to shed light on some fundamental issues raised by the royal father in the letter.

Oyebode said it was an exchange of views between a father and a son.

Meanwhile, prominent Yoruba monarchs have scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 18, 2020, to find lasting solutions to the incessant leadership tussle that had pitched Alaafin of Oyo against the Alawe of Ilawe-Ekiti.

The Chairman of Yoruba Obas Conflict Resolutions Council and Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Frederick Obateru Akinruntan, in a telephone interview with The Guardian, said the council had to quickly call a meeting to resolve the crisis.

Olugbo, however, urged all monarchs to refrain from speaking in public on the matter and wait for the resolution of the council, which he said, would help in solving the crisis.

However, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers had written to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State to caution the Alaafin against interfering in the traditional institution matters of Ekiti State.

In the letter, signed by the Alawe of Ilawe-Ekiti and Chairman, Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers, Oba Adebanji Alabi, the traditional rulers urged Makinde to stop the Alaafin of Oyo’s undue interference in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas.

He said that the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers took strong exception to the whole content of Alaafin’s letter “which is absolutely unwarranted as Alaafin cannot superintend over the monarchy in Ekiti State.

“It is on this note that Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers is respectfully requesting your Excellency to stop the Alaafin from his meddlesomeness in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas,” he said.

He said that the Ekiti State Council of Obas was highly offended by the alleged vituperation poured on Governor Fayemi through Alaafin’s unsolicited intervention in purely domestic affairs of Ekiti Obas, adding: “Alaafin has no moral right or justification to interfere in the matter of traditional rulers’ administration in Ekiti State.

Meanwhile, Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, and a retired Archbishop of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Ayo Ladigbolu, have urged caution over meddlesomeness in the traditional institution of the state by South-West political leaders.

Spokesman of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who spoke via a telephone chat with The Guardian on the development, expressed concern over the manner at which political office holders are intervening in traditional institutions, which he said, was not new.

According to him: “This scenario started as far back as 1962 when Aminu Kano said the Emir of Kano was a mere public officer who he can deal with. But it is good that the Alaafin of Oyo has said such is not possible in Yorubaland.”

Ladigbolu, on his part, appealed for understanding and the need to defend the culture and integrity of Yorubaland.