A former Commissioner for Health in Oyo State, Azeez Adeduntan, has said that people from Oyo and Okeogun parts of the state have ruled in the past.
Adeduntan, who was obviously reacting to Ayo Adeseun’s speech when a governorship aspirant, Gbenga Adegbola, visited, traced the origin of former Governors Rashidi Ladoja and late Abiola Ajimobi to Okeogun and Oyo zones.
In a statement, the cardiovascular surgeon and All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, traced his own lineage to Oyo, revealing that he is a great grandson of the 25th Alaafin of Oyo Empire—Alaafin Ogbolu Akajegesin Akajewole Gbagida Onisile (Atingisi).
The Osi-Basorun of Ibadanland advised and admonished those he described as political ethnic rabble-rousers to stop disturbing public peace on the issue of zoning of Oyo 2027 governorship race to Oyo North, or any other part of Oyo State, but not Ibadanland.
Adeduntan in a release on Monday said the demand is largely due to selfish and self-centered political reasons and are not based on historical facts for several reasons.
The first of these reasons, according to him, is that “Oyo State ethnicity is interwoven and interconnected. The Olupoyi chieftaincy ruling house of Oja Oba Ibadanland, where Osi Basorun Adeduntan was born, is a descendant of Alafin Onisile, same with Onilala of Lanlate in Ibarapa, same with Onibuse of Otu land in Oke Ogun.”
He argued other zones in the state can’t claim to have been excluded from the gubernatorial seat in the state because former Governors Rashidi Ladoja, Abiola Ajimobi, and Alao Akala all hailed from outside the state.
“Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, a former Governor of Oyo State—his forefathers originated in Ipo Igbeti in Olorunsogo Local Government, before they migrated to Isale Osi Born Photo area of Ibadanland.
“The late Governor Isiaka Ajimobi—a former Governor of Oyo State—his great grandfather was Alafin Agboluaje—a former Alafin of Oyo Empire. So Oyo and Oke Ogun zones had served as Oyo State Governors before by historical facts—same with Ogbomoso. The late Adebayo Akala, former Oyo State Governor, hailed from Ogbomoso land,” he wrote.
He explained further that “Oyo State is a unique state for we are interwoven and interconnected and a pace-setter. Who Oyo State needs as Governor is a centrist, regardless of where he comes from (that will take all the seven zones of Oyo State—Ibadan urban, Ibadan less city, Ibarapa, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke Ogun 1, Oke Ogun 2) as his constituencies and spread development among all.
“The same way some unenlightened politicians are dead wrong on asking for age limitations based on chronological age rather than physiological age, similarly, those who are clamoring that Oyo State governorship should exclude Ibadan sons and daughters in 2027 are historically wrong.”
He also noted that “politicians who are misleading the public on the issue of age limitations are medically misguided, the same way those clamoring for exclusion of Ibadan indigenes are historically misguided and should go and read about the Oyos—our culture and history—Johnson and Professor Ajayi et al.”
“They should stop muddling the political space of Oyo State for personal rather than unfounded ethnic political disadvantage. The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, reintroduce history back to schools, as a guide to the past, for a nation state that forgets its origin will soon fade away.
“Oyo State is a pace-setting state where the best must emerge in any political contest. Osi Basorun Adeduntan advised all political parties when the time comes in Oyo State to conduct fair, free, and credible primaries, so the best candidates can emerge regardless of age, zones, ethnicity to ensure justice, fairness, and equity, but not for ethnic jingoism and undue self-advantage that are not based on historical facts.”
