The Deposition That Never Was: How a Coup Saved the Throne of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona
On November 23, 1981, Governor Victor Olabisi Onabanjo of Ogun State issued an unprecedented order suspending Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, from office. It was the culmination of a tense and personal fallout between two prominent Ijebu sons—one a monarch, the other a politician. What began as a disagreement over travel protocol soon spiraled into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Earlier that year, Oba Adetona had courteously informed the governor of a private medical trip to London. Onabanjo, however, demanded more justification, to which the monarch sharply responded that he owed no such permission. Defiant, he left Nigeria—changing his contact details to avoid interference. The governor, interpreting the move as insubordination, swiftly set up a commission of inquiry under Justice Solomon Sogbetun. The result was damning: Oba Adetona was declared unfit and formally deposed in 1982, with his removal scheduled to take full effect by January 2, 1984.
Yet fate intervened.
On December 31, 1983, the Second Republic collapsed in a military coup. President Shehu Shagari was overthrown and Major General Muhammadu Buhari assumed power. In Ogun State, Brigadier Oladipo Diya, also an Ijebu man, was installed as military governor. With the political terrain now changed, Oba Adetona—represented by the legendary Chief F.R.A. Williams (SAN) and Chief Sina Odedina—challenged the deposition in court.
In 1984, Justice Kolawole of the Ogun State High Court declared the deposition unlawful, nullifying the Sogbetun Commission’s findings. The military government under Diya accepted the verdict without resistance. With quiet dignity, Oba Adetona was reinstated—not in disgrace, but in triumph.
From that moment forward, his throne stood unshaken for the next 41 years. Through the turbulence of military regimes, democratic transitions, and national change, Oba Adetona reigned as a symbol of resilience, lawful resistance, and enduring royal dignity—until his passing on July 13, 2025.
