Culture
New Installed Monarch In Ogbomoso To Spend Seven Days In Traditional Rites
Ghandi Laoye, a former pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, who was on Friday installed as the new Soun of Ogbomoso in Oyo State, has begun his set of traditional rites.
The pastor, who was based in the United States, arrived in Ogbomoso early in the morning on Friday in a private chopper, which landed at the Ogbomoso Grammar School, before moving to the palace.
The Soun of Ogbomoso stool became vacant after Oba Jimoh Oyewumi passed away on December 12, 2021.
The new monarch would spend seven days in seclusion, after which he would receive the staff of office from the state government, PUNCH reports.
Few days ago, the General Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has instructed Laoye to stepped down as a pastor and handed over to Pastor Olumide Ogunjuyigbe.
Meanwhile, a member of the family opposed to Laoye’s nomination by the kingmakers, Muhammed Laoye, headed to court, arguing that the process that produced him was inconclusive. They added that a minority committee performed the task instead of the whole family members.
Governor Seyi Makinde had on September 2 in a statement by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Olusegun Olayiwola, approved the selection of Laoye as the next Soun.
But on Thursday, a state High Court in Ogbomoso restrained the governor, the Attorney General of the State and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters either by themselves, agents or officials from presenting any instrument of office in any form of ceremony or issuance of certificate of installation to Laoye until the final determination of the mandatory injunction already filed before the court.
Meanwhile, the new monarch was at the palace on Friday for official installation, which was performed at Abata by the kingmakers, led by the Areago, High Chief Sobalaje Otolorin.
The kingmakers however said they did not receive any court injunction restraining them from installing Laoye as the new Soun of Ogbomoso.
The Oyo State Government has pledged its full support for the annual celebration of the Iyemoja Festival in Ibadan, saying it will ensure it attracts the attention of UNESCO.
The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun gave the assurance during the celebration of this year’s Iyemoja Festival at the River Bank of Popoyemoja in Ibadan.
He explained that the government threw its weight behind the festival in order to promote and preserve the cultural heritage, as well as remember the forebears in the state.
The Commissioner promised that, to make the approval of UNESCO a reality, the next Yemoja Festival would be well packaged to attract a mammoth crowd to grace the occasion.
Olatunbosun added that this singular act would attract sponsorship to the Festival from different brands.
Also in their goodwill messages, the Chairperson, House Committee on Culture and Tourism, Hon. Mrs. Michael Olubisi Margaret and Hon. Mrs. Olajide Olufunke eulogized the Governor for fulfilling his promise to approve and support Isese day which is a way to promote Oyo State’s rich cultural values, which in turn may be a money spinner for the State.
Earlier in her opening speech, the Yeyelorisa of the Festival, Omitonade Ifawemimo Egbelade said that the festival is an avenue for every son and daughter of yemoja, both at home and in the diaspora to converge and celebrate their past heroes and also plan on ways to move the belief forward.
The highpoint of the Festival was the appeasement to Iyemoja deity by Baale Iyemoja Omikunmi Egbelade, who took the propitiation and dived into the river, a symbolic representation of the sacrificial rites.
Prayers were offered for the Government and the people of the State.
Other highlights were cultural displays by different masquerades such as Ayelabola, Danafojura, the Olorisa Yemoja, Gelede and a host of others.
South West Nigeria has been bereaved as a prominent chief Fidipote of Ijebu Ode, Otunba Wahab Osinusi has reportedly died.
Reports obtained revealed that a family source confirmed the Chairman of the Council of Otunbas in Ijebuland, Ogun State, died on September 30, 2023.
Otunba Osinusi had just celebrated his 90th birthday on June 2, 2023.
The Otunba Fidipote of Ijebu hails from the popular Osinusi family in Ijebu-Ode and one of the Otunbas of the Awujale of Ijebu, Oba Sikiru Adetona.
He was also the Chairman, of the Ojude-Oba Festival Committee and was usually the one who welcomed guests to the colourful festival.
Osinusi attended Reverend Kuti Primary School in Abeokuta and later went to Abeokuta Grammar School for his secondary education.
He worked briefly at the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Yaba, Lagos, before proceeding to London in 1958, where he read law and was called to the Bar in 1962.
A document has emerged revealing the identity of whom the Oyo Mesi, a group of kingmakers in Oyo State, selected as the new Alaafin of Oyo, Nigeria Updates has learned.
According to the document, the Oyo Mesi, reportedly picked Lukman Gbadegesin from the Agunloye Ruling House and forwarded his name to the government last year.
In the document sighted by Premium Times, the name of the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi’s likely successor was sent to the Oyo State government on September 30, 2022.
The document, believed to be a proclamation document and a court judgment, was signed by the five living Oyo Mesi members and two warrant chiefs selected by the government to replace deceased Oyo Mesi members.
The proclamation reads, “We hereby proclaim Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin the new Alaafin.”
The kingmakers said they received a list of 82 aspiring princes from the Baba Iyaji of Oyo, the head of all princes, Mukaila Afonja.
As the proclamation shows, all the kingmakers signed for Mr Gbadegesin, whose grandfather, Alaafin Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II, was the predecessor of the immediate past Alaafin Adeyemi III.
By Oyo tradition and the Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration, Baba Iyaji is empowered to collect the names of aspiring princes from the next ruling house and transmit them to the Bashorun, the head of Oyo Mesi.
The Bashorun would then convene a meeting of the kingmakers to take a vote, and the prince, with a simple majority, is to be proclaimed Alaafin.
According to the law, an aspirant or the ruling house has 21 days to petition the government to challenge the selection. But no such petition was written.
However, after the expiration of the 21-day window, a prince, Hakeem Ladigbolu, approached the court to set aside the selection process.
But in a judgment given on December 19, 2023, an Oyo State High Court in Oyo Town, upheld the process leading to the selection of Gbadegesin, court papers show.
Nigeria Updates gathered that despite the proclamation by the Oyo Mesi and the court judgment upholding the process, the government has yet to make a formal stand.
Meanwhile, the Bashorun of Oyo, Yusuf Akinade, confirmed the process has been concluded.
He told the platform, “We have submitted everything to the government, direct all other questions to the government, but we have completed the process.” He, however, refused to disclose the name of the prince selected.
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