The Needless Traditional Rulers Power Tussle In Yorubaland

By Kazeem Akintunde

In the last couple of months following the installation of Oba Akeem Owoade as the Alaafin of Oyo, the Ooni of Ifa, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi added new nomenclature for himself. He is no longer just the Ooni of Ife, he now goes about with the unnecessary and mouthful titles of The Permanent Chairman of the Southern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Council (SNTRC), Arole Oodua Olofin Adimula, and the Natural Head of the Oduduwa race worldwide.
Not to be outdone by the craze for highfaluting words that actually mean nothing, the Alaafin of Oyo soon added his own. Oba Owoade is now not just the Alaafin of Oyo, but must be addressed as the Paramount Ruler of Oyo Kingdom and the Superior Head of Yorubaland.
Since his installation on April 16, 2025, Oba Owoade has found himself at the centre of a power tussle with the Ooni of Ife over who has the authority to install a chieftaincy title that goes with ‘Yorubaland’. The circus started when Ooni gave a chieftaincy title of ‘Okanlomo’ of the Source to a businessman, Dotun Sanusi. Oba Owoade issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni to revoke the title, claiming that only he has the right to confer Yoruba-wide titles. In the August 25th edition of The Discourse, I had cause to write an open letter to the Alaafin on the need for him to tread with caution, and that what should be uppermost in his mind should be the unity and development of the Yoruba race.
But that open letter seems not to have any meaning to the first-class traditional ruler, as he has been in war-mode with his fellow traditional rulers. As expected, the 48-hour ultimatum given to the Ooni has elapsed and nothing has come of his threat. He however went ahead to install Seyi Tinubu as ‘Okanlomo’ of Yorubaland.
In what appears to be another brewing crisis, this time within the Oyo State Traditional Council, Oba Owoade was conspicuously absent when the state governor, Seyi Makinde, inaugurated the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs with the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, as its new Chairman for a two-year period. The governor stated that by virtue of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs (Further Amendments) Law 2025, the Chairman of the Council would now be rotational amongst the three first-class traditional rulers in the state. These are the Alaafin of Oyo, Olubadan of Ibadan, and the Soun of Ogbomoso. He told his audience that following wide consultations, it was agreed that His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, the Olubadan of Ibadan, should be the first chairman for the next two years. Makinde’s revelation that the Council had been inactive since 2011 goes to show the root cause of the power tussle amongst Yoruba Obas in Oyo State alone.
Few hours after the inauguration of the Council, Oba Owoade responded, challenging Makinde to provide proof of where they met to discuss the rotational arrangement. His media aide, Dotun Adekanbi, put out this statement: ‘’The Palace hereby wants to state clearly that there was no time that Oba Owoade held any meeting with either the state governor or any of the two traditional rulers mentioned. Alaafin did not tell the Governor or make a categorical statement on his endorsement of rotational Chairmanship amongst the three traditional rulers in the state. The position of the Alaafin and the entire Oyo Community on the issue of the state Council of Obas and Chiefs has been enunciated in a memo delivered to his Excellency by the Oyo Council of Elders’’
The position of the Oyo Council of Elders according to findings is that the Alaafin should be the permanent Chairman of the Council. That was the same tug-of-war that the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi fought with the now late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade that led to the polarisation of the Council until Osun state was carved out of the old Oyo State.
Few days before Makinde inaugurated the Council, there was a public spat between Alaafin and Oba Ladoja. What began with a seemingly harmless greeting at a state inter-faith event, metastasised into a broader dispute over customary respect, sovereignty of institutions, and historical interpretation of royal standing. At the heart of the current controversy is an incident at the Agodi Government House in Ibadan, where the Alaafin, already seated at a ceremony, extended his hand to greet Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, the Olubadan of Ibadanland. The Olubadan did not respond and instead, proceeded to greet other dignitaries before calmly taking his seat.
For many present and for observers across the country, the moment spoke volumes about mutual respect and the expectations of protocol. To Ibadan traditional stakeholders, the gesture was more than awkward; it was disrespectful to a monarch whose age, experience, political service, and traditional standing far exceed that of the Alaafin in that setting. Following the episode, Ibadan traditional leaders, including monarchs, Mogajis and Baales, issued a stern warning to the Alaafin of Oyo, describing his conduct as “an embarrassment of the highest order”, and insisting that any further affront would be met with strong resistance from Ibadan’s institutions. They stressed that stretching out a hand to greet the Olubadan while seated was inappropriate and insulting to the Olubadan stool as well as the dignity of the Ibadan traditional establishment. They noted that Olubadan’s seniority in age and contributions as a former Governor, former Senator, and respected elder warrants the highest respect at public functions.
However, the Olubadan, in dousing the tension, said that he actually did not see the hand gesture greeting from the Alaafin and that there was no animosity between them. Traditional institutions in Yorubaland, once revered as the sacred custodians of culture, history, and conflict resolution, have recently faced significant scandals, public ridicule, and an erosion of their sanctity. These scandals often involve political interference, corruption in the selection process of monarchs, and clashes between traditional, religious, and modern authorities.
How to revive the dying traditional institutions that they occupy should be the priority of the traditional rulers, rather than fighting needless wars amongst themselves. It is indeed sad that another first-class traditional ruler in Osun State, The Apetu of Ipetumode, Oba Joseph Oloyede, is presently serving a four-year prison sentence in the United States of America. Oloyede, 62, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenships, and resides in Medina, Ohio, was on August 26, 2025, handed 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the monarch was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution. He also forfeited his Medina home on Foote Road, which he had acquired with proceeds of fraud, while an additional $96,006.89, also believed to be proceeds of fraud, was seized.’’
In the same Osun State, another first-class traditional ruler has been caught on video smoking marijuana. One would wonder how they qualify to be custodians of our culture and role models to our youths.
In parts of the South-West, some traditional rulers are heavily involved in illegal mining and land-grabbing, and their support for criminal herders and bandits are well documented. There has been a wave of royal scandals of late, and it is now common to hear a monarch being called out by a victim; arraigned before a court, and even sentenced to jail within and outside Nigeria for malfeasance. How shameful!
Few years ago, the public assault on Abraham Areola, 73, by the traditional ruler of Orile-Ifo, Ogun State, Abdulsemiu Ogunjobi, laid bare, the oppression and subjugation that subjects endure at the hands of some unscrupulous monarchs. A viral video clip showed Ogunjobi with some of his aides, ordering Areola, a Chief, to kneel at the roadside as he was accused of conspiracy and betrayal. The impunity with which the Chief was dehumanised; with his principal raining vituperations and curses on him, drew the ire of many.
Not long ago, the Ogun State Government lamented the proliferation of illegal traditional rulers in the state. That development further confirmed that like other sectors, the traditional institution is not immune to atrocities and fakery. Governor Dapo Abiodun told the third Quarterly Statutory Meeting of the Ogun State Council of Obas that some people were securing fake appointment letters and parading themselves as monarchs without following the stipulated processes and laid down procedures.
In most of these South-West states, some royal fathers have been indicted for arbitrary selling plots of land with deposits of natural resources. This has, in most cases, led to crises between illegal miners and farmers in states like Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo, while some of their counterparts in Lagos and Ogun states are notorious for the illegal mining of sand.

In a move that suggests that the nefarious activities of these monarchs were not going unnoticed, the Oyo State government suspended the Onido of Ido, Oba Gbolagade Muritala Babalola, over alleged links to the activities of illegal miners in the Ido Local Council of the state.
Many Nigerians are now openly questioning the relevance or otherwise of the traditional institutions in the country. In Yorubaland, where their focus should be on how to revive the dying culture of the race, they are more at home being at loggerheads over irrelevant issues that add little or nothing to their office or improve the lot of their people. The Yoruba dialect is almost dying, but that is not of importance to them. Our culture is on the brinks of collapse but the battle of who is senior and junior is their major priority. Our history is almost eroded but little attention is paid to that.
There is a Yoruba adage that says: Agbalagba kin se lagbanlagba. Our elders should not continue to behave as children. If they do, they should be sure that the little dignity the office presently enjoys would soon be eroded. Now is the time for them to close ranks and work for the peace, progress, and development of the region. They should not be seen dancing naked in the market place as they are presently doing. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.
See you next week.