A former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the late Ondo State Governor, Doyin Odebowale, has criticised the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, over his demand that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, revoke a chieftaincy title recently conferred on an Ibadan-based businessman.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Odebowale argued that traditional rulers have authority only within their local government jurisdictions and are not constitutionally superior to elected officials at that level.
“With respect to most of these rulers now, there is a misapprehension of roles. They want to be addressed as Kabiyesi, but they are not. They are under the local government chairman in their respective localities. So this idea of somebody sitting in Oyo and legislating on what happens in Ile-Ife is a misnomer,” he said.
Odebowale suggested that the Alaafin may have been misled into believing there was a jurisdictional dispute with the Ooni.
“I don’t see any justification for this distraction,” the ex-government official said.
He attributed recurring disputes among traditional rulers to what he described as a “permissive decadence” in the system, lamenting that many monarchs appear to be abandoning traditional values for titles and recognition.
“It appears to me that they are in a hurry to discard tradition. They are so happy when they are addressed as Oba, assistant pastor, or Alhaji; that is total abnegation of traditional values,” Odebowale added.
The former aide also pointed out the historical context, noting that the British colonial administration had downgraded empires into stools and limited the influence of monarchs through chieftaincy laws.
“By government structure, their powers do not go beyond their local government. The Ooni of Ife is in Osun state, and they have their traditional council. The Alaafin of Oyo is in Oyo state, and they have a traditional council. By the Oyo State chieftaincy law, only four Obas are recognised as imperial majesties. The Alaafin cannot act beyond his local government. By law, he is under his local government chairman,” he said.
The comments come after a widespread dispute between the Alaafin and the Ooni over the conferment of the “Okanlomo of Yorubaland” title on businessman Dotun Sanusi at an event in Ibadan last weekend. The Alaafin had issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding that the Ooni revoke the title, claiming exclusive authority over Yoruba land chieftaincy matters.
However, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the ultimatum as an “empty threat.”
The Alaafin’s media aide, Bode Durojaiye, later clarified that the monarch was not seeking supremacy over other rulers but was acting to preserve the sanctity of Yoruba tradition.