On Thursday, February 19 the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo appeared on a television station in Lagos where he criticized Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akandi for physically assaulting another traditional ruler in Osun state, the Agbowu of Ogbagbaa, Oba Dhikrulahi Akinropo.
It was as if the Alake was speaking the minds of his other counterparts in Yorubaland, because not long after on Friday, the Oluwo was suspended by the Osun state council of Traditional rulers.
By assaulting another traditional ruler, Oba Gbadebo said, the Oluwo has desecrated the sacred traditional institutions in the land, he deserved to be punished for the unruly act, the Alake said.
While placing the Oluwo on suspension, the council of traditional rulers in Osun state said it was a bad conduct for an oba to engage his counterpart in a physical fight.
The council is led by Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi who has had a running battle with the Oluwo in the past.
Apart from Ooni, the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi III had also suffered verbal assault from the Oluwo.
All the major traditional rulers, as its seems have now decided to put the Oluwo where he belongs, the magazine has learnt.
Before the decision to suspend him was reached, the magazine was told that frontline traditional rulers in the south west, met to decide the Oluwo’s fate.
The chairmen of traditional council in all the six states in the region were said to have met, where it was decided that the Oluwo must be punished, to serve as deterrent to other obas who might want to take the same path of dishonor.
“Obaship in Yorubaland is a thing of honour. What will you expect from your subjects when the custodian of a traditional institution is fighting in public? It’s a shame in our land that some traditional rulers no longer respect the values of their people,” one traditional ruler in Ogun state told the magazine in confidence on Friday.
Though, the suspension must be ratified by Governor Gboyega Isiaka, the magazine learnt that whether this is done or not, prominent traditional rulers have decided to isolate the Oluwo from their midst.
“The implication of this is that he will no longer be allowed to associate with his counterparts. When social events are called, he will not be invited. The Oluwo will now have a choice to change his conduct or be ostracized. What that means is that a recommendation will be made to the state government to dethrone him,” a second class traditional ruler in Oyo state said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Oluwo has said his suspension was politically motivated.
He said nobody has the power to remove him except the state governor.
The magazine has been informed that prominent persons in the state have started begging the state government to pardon the monarch for his alleged misconduct and not to dethrone him.
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