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Olubadan: I Wanted Kase Lawal As Aare Of Ibadan, Ajimobi Came To Beg For It At Midnight

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Unknown to many, former Governor Abiola Ajimobi begged to be made the Aare of Ibadanland.
OYO INSIGHT recalls that the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji had installed Ajimobi as Aare of Ibadan on December 16, 2016, which coincided with his 67th birthday.
The Aare of Ibadan title came three years after Oba Adetunji’s predecessor, late Oba Samuel Odugade, installed the former governor as Aare Atunluse of Ibadan. That was on May 18, 2013.
But less than three years after, the monarch has revealed that he wanted Mr Kase Lawal instead of Ajimobi.
OYO INSIGHT understands that Lawal, who hails from Elekuro area of Ibadan, is the richest black man in Texas.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Oba Adetunji disclosed how Ajimobi raced to his Popoyemoja Palace around 1 a.m when he heard about plan to install Lawal as Aare of Ibadan.
“It is a lie. Ajimobi demanded three different things from me and I obliged him. The first one was the conferment of the chieftaincy of Aare of Ibadan on him, which I did. It was Kase Lawal, the Ibadan-born American-based renowned businessman, an achiever of note that I wanted to encourage with the title of Aare of Ibadanland before he made the demand. Kase Lawal is our illustrious son and I feel he should be encouraged with the title so that he could bring more investments to the city and engage our jobless youths and made them gainfully employed. But Ajimobi said he was interested in the title. The late Aare Musulumi, Alhaji Arisekola Alao, was the last holder of Aare of Ibadanland.
“It was when Ajimobi heard about my plan to install Lawal as Aare of Ibadan that he raced to the palace one day around 1am to solicit for the title. When he arrived (at the palace), he said, “Sir, you know I am your son. I want to demand something from you. A son wants to collect something from his father”. He said he was interested in the Aare of Ibadanland title. But I told him that I had given it to someone else. He begged me. I said well, since I didn’t collect money from anybody, I would give it to him. But he is ungrateful. It is the same chiefs who were opposed to his being given the title then that are his best friends today.”
This is just as the monarch said that he did not know why his chiefs were against him.

“i don’t know. But they did. They threatened not to be part of it.”

“Secondly, despite having up to 700 magajis in Ibadan, Ajimobi begged me to elevate his younger brother, Wasiu Ajimobi, to the position of a chief. I also obliged him by conferring him with ‘Bada’. I had to give him double promotion. There were vacancies for three offices. I gave him the highest vacant office among the available positions to raise his profile among the Olubadan chiefs. I was doing all that to ensure that peace reigned. But he paid me back with evil. Ajimobi allowed the office of the governor to affect him.

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“His third request was to recognise Onijaye as the Baale of Ijaye. He said the man was his friend. For peace to reign, I obliged him.

“In spite of my efforts to maintain peace with him, Ajimobi was ungrateful to me. But let me tell you, those who pay any good deed with evil, evil will not depart from such people. Thank God, he is alive; you can ask him about these things.”

Asked if the idea of chieftaincy reform is not good, he explained that “See, one man’s food is another man’s poison. We don’t copy other people in Ibadanland. Our tradition is unique and we are proud of our heritage.

“Ajimobi said one of the reasons he took the step of reforming Ibadan traditional institution was the aspect he read from the book of Chief Theophilus Akinyele. But he didn’t read the book very well because I also read it. On page 9 or 17 of the book, the writer said if we want to reform the chieftaincy hierarchy of Ibadan, it must come from the Olubadan. He said it must come from within, but Ajimobi didn’t see that aspect. So, if a politician is now romanticising the reform, then, he has a hidden agenda and we don’t want any hidden agenda in the Ibadan traditional institution. If you look at the history of Ibadanland, you will realise that successive kings have been elderly people. We do not need to copy others. We are contented with the way we do our things. What we have been doing for over 100 years without any crisis, we love it. When the wife of President (Muhammadu) Buhari, Aisha, visited me, she said our succession plan in traditional institution had been peaceful; she acknowledged that fact. She said we had no culture of fighting or killing one another over chieftaincy succession. Our chieftaincy ascension is beyond bringing one ‘moneybags’ and saying that the oracle has picked him for the title of Olubadan.
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