The head of the Ife kingmakers, who is the Obalufe of Iremo Quarters, Oba Solomon Omisakin, tells FEMI MAKINDE
in this interview that the kingmakers are looking for a new Ooni who
will be much better than late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who died on July 28,
in London
Who is Obalufe?
I am the second in command to the Ooni of
Ife. We are 16 traditional chiefs who are the kingmakers and we are
divided into right hand chiefs and left hand chiefs. I am in charge of
administration.
Which ruling house is the next to produce the Ooni?
The
position of the Ooni is so great, so fantastic and appealing. Let me
tell you, if I am in a position to contest, I will also want to be the
next Ooni of Ife. If I am from the ruling house , I will contest because
I like the position very well but I am not in the position to do that.
To your question, we have four ruling
houses in Ife and they are: Osinkola, Ogboru, Giesi, and Lafogido.
Almost every prince from these ruling houses is trying to occupy the
stool but definitely only one person will sit on the throne at a time.
We the kingmakers will be on the side of the law to arrive at a position
at the end of the day.
We will make use of the law and the law
will prevail in the selection of the new Ooni. We won’t do anything
outside what the law stipulates. If the law says two plus two is four,
we will go to four.
Are you saying you will abide by the Ife Chieftaincy Declaration of 1977?
We will put everything down and see which
one is correct, then we will decide. Some are saying we should use 1957
declaration, some are saying we should use 1977 and some are clamouring
for 1980. But we will put everything together and use whichever one is
correct. We will follow the current one. Let me make this one clear, I
am not the only one who will decide in this case, we have 16 traditional
chiefs. All of us will sit down and look at the whole thing and all of
us will decide together. We will follow the law strictly.
What role will Ifa play in this selection process?
When we know the qualified candidates, and they are more than one, then we will consult the Ifa to know who is the best among the qualified ones.
Who is in charge of the affairs of Ife now that the Ooni has gone to be with his ancestors?
There are 16 traditional chiefs but I am the head. All of us are running the affairs of the town. We have different duties.
Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo visited the chiefs last week and some have been saying he came
to lobby for a particular candidate. How true is this?
It is not correct. He came to commiserate
with us and that is all. The former President came to commiserate with
us and the entire people of Ile Ife and nothing more. He did not ask us
to favour any of the contestants.
What is the role of the government in selecting the next Ooni?
The local government will write to the
next ruling house to present their candidate. They will send their
candidate or candidates to us and we will do the right thing. Like I
said before, we will abide by law. Whether we consult Ifa or not, we
will do the right thing. You cannot take somebody from Ibadan to come
and be the Ooni or take somebody from Ilesa to come and be the Ooni. You
can not take somebody from America to come and be the Ooni. It is
impossible.
Can somebody whose mother is from a ruling house contest to be the Ooni?
We will examine the law about that. We will see the latest law to see the authenticity of that.
What is the role of traditional chiefs in the whole process?
You know they are running around now for
the position. They are running everywhere and struggling to be the one,
that one is not our concern. Our concern is to sit down and do our job.
We will do our job according to the law. We will abide by the law to
arrive at all our decisions in this race.
What are the basic qualities anybody who would emerge the next Ooni must possess?
We have so many things we will put into
consideration. But among them is education. We cannot elect an
illiterate as the next Ooni. We will put somebody who will be able to
maintain Ife financially. We will look at the past records of the
contestants before we choose any of them.
Is it true that Oba Sijuwade fed about 1,000 people within the palace every day?
He was a rich man. He was rich before he ascended the throne.
Are you saying anybody who will succeed him must be able to continue feeding these people?
That will help the town. It will help
Ife. If somebody was good, we have to get a better one. That will be
better for the town. Comparison of adjective comes in here. If Oba
Okunade was able to feed 1,000 people, we want somebody who will be able
to feed 10,000 people. We don’t want to go back. We want to go forward.
There are rumours that some
contestants have been buying cars for you and giving you money to look
at their direction. Is it true that this is the harvest time for you
kingmakers?
People may say whatever they want to say.
We will do what is right and be on the side of the law. If we are given
money now to do what is not right, I will not do it.
If you buy me cutlass and give me N10m
and say I should be cutting heads of the people, I will not do it. If I
take your N10m, I will not do what you ask me to do because it is wrong.
Will you take the money?
That is between you and I. But I will not
do the wrong thing even if I take the money. I know what the law says
and we will do just that. If they are giving us this and that, they are
wasting their money. If you like, waste your money. Even if you give me a
helicopter, I will take it but I will not do the wrong thing with my
little education. I will not do what will make the people to hate me. I
will do the right thing at the right time and in right places.
If they say people gave us money and all that, let them say whatever they want to say. But we will follow what the law says.
How long does it take to install a new Ooni after the death of the previous one?
Until we settle with the whole thing, we
cannot say when. We have processes. We have our own part to play as
kingmakers, the government will play its part.
I cannot tell you everything will be done in a week or two weeks. No.
Is it true that the ‘abobaku’ fled and refused to be buried with the late Oba?
There is no abobaku in Ife. This
was fabricated by those who know nothing about our tradition. Nobody
was assigned to be buried with the Ooni and nobody was buried with our
baba. Oba Sijuwade was buried alone, he was not buried with anybody.
There is no human sacrifice and all the lies you heard then were
fabrications of some people who sat in one corner and were dishing out
lies for reasons known to them.
Who is Isharun?
Isharun’s role is like the aide de camp of the Ooni and he is not expected to be buried with the Ooni.
Some say a number of people were buried with the late monarch, how many people were buried alive with him?
It is nonsense. How can somebody die and
you bury 14 or 16 persons alive with him the way they have been saying?
It is not true. Burying anybody alive with him? Will it not be against
the criminal code? Somebody died and they expect us to bury another one
with him? It is criminal and we don’t do that. If they say we should
bury 16 people with him, that means I will be buried alive with him
because I am one of the 16 traditional chiefs. The 16 kingmakers are
intact; none of us is dead, so nobody was buried with him. No stranger,
no indigene was buried with him.
The rumour is absolute falsehood, don’t believe them. They are spreading the rumour to destabilise Ife but it won’t work.
Oba Adesoji Aderemi died, nobody was
buried with him; Ooni Ajagun died, nobody was buried with him; Olubuse
the first died, nobody was buried with him. How can we now bury somebody
with Oba Sijuwade? Do they want to invent a new tradition? No! It is
not so. The rumour is unfounded and a blatant lie.
How was the late Oba buried? Was he buried in standing or sitting position?
I am not in charge of that aspect. But
what I can say is that some people told so many lies. How do you expect
somebody to be buried standing upright or in sitting position? It is all
lies.
Is the heart of Oba Sijuwade being preserved for the next Ooni to eat during his installation?
It is another lie. That statement is not
correct. There is nothing like that. It is a figment of the imagination
of those saying that.
Is it true that the ghost of
Oba Sijuwade still sits on the throne or that some people still sight
him in the palace because he was not properly buried?
Please don’t believe this falsehood.
These people are just saying anything they feel like. They open their
mouths and utter anything that comes there. It is hearsay, they just say
what pleases them. Don’t believe that. Let us be factual and leave the
realm of their fabrications.
What are the laid down procedures to announce the death of an Ooni?
When you get to the palace, you will get
that. You know that the traditional chiefs have different roles. We have
the technical side and the administrative side. I am in charge of the
administration. The Lowa will tell you that when you get to the palace.
Do you know of unfulfilled aspirations of Oba Sijuwade?
Frankly speaking, he was a human being.
But I don’t think he left anything undone. As a human being I believe he
did what he ought to do before his time was up. As a human being, you
cannot finish everything but he did his very best. Even our personal
job, as individuals, we can’t finish them, let alone the running of the
affairs of the whole of Ile Ife. But he did a lot.
Sir Adesoji Aderemi, who reigned before
him was a good Oba, Oba Okunade Sijuwade was better, we are now looking
for the one who would be better than Oba Okunade Sijuwade.
What do you consider the greatest achievement of Oba Sijuwade?
He recorded so many achievements. But he
maintained peace and stability in the town; that is the first one. He
raised the bar of obaship in Yorubaland. Even professors want to ascend
the throne of Oba now. He created that atmosphere, he made the position
attractive and that is why many very educated persons are now interested
in becoming Obas.
He lifted the throne. You know we have
many doctorate degree holders and professors now who want to be Oba, his
contributions to lift the position created this.
No doubt, Oba Sijuwade was very wealthy, but some people allege he got his wealth from politicians?
He was a great manager at Leventis in
those days. He was the manager and many white people were reporting to
him then. He invested into oil and gas, he had great companies which he
established long before he became the Ooni. So, those who are saying
politicians gave him money are ignorant of the enormity of his
investments.
He made his money in a very clean way. He did not defraud anybody. He was an astute businessman before he ascended the throne.
There was a claim that former
President Goodluck Jonathan gave the late Oba Sijuwade so much dollars
when he came to the palace shortly before the last election. You were
present at the meeting, how much washe given?
I cannot comment on that because it was not true.
But were you not given dollars then?
That is what I am saying, I was not given
any money, dollar, naira or any currency. If I was given any money, I
will say yes but I was not given. I cannot force former President
Jonathan to give me money. I am not an armed robber and I was not given
any money. If I was given, I will frankly tell you I was given. But I
was not given any kobo.
Has the crisis between Ife and Modakeke been finally resolved?
It has been permanently resolved. We may
still have some recalcitrant elements but it has been solved. With the
assistance of government and from the look of things, there will be no
problem.
What is your advice to the four ruling houses jostling to produce the next Ooni?
My advice to them is that they should
allow peace to reign. Peace is the paramount thing. When they are
peaceful, we will be able to sit down, examine them, interview them and
we will be able to take the best among them.
If they are not peaceful, we won’t be
able to pick the best to occupy the throne. This is not a political
office. But they will help us and the people if they maintain peace.
How do you assess the development in Ife?
Whatever is happening in Ife is not
peculiar to Ife; it is what is happening throughout the country. The bad
road is not here alone. That will be blamed on the government.
I will just advise all the three tiers of government in the country to make the situation better than they met it.
What is the relationship between Ife and Cuba?
People from there have their origin in
Ife here. People from many places originated from here. Lagelu had his
place here, Ekiti people had their place here, even Lagos people had
their place here.
Oba Sijuwade visited Cuba and performed
some traditional rites there. The people there appreciated this and that
is one of the reasons their ambassador came here to commiserate with us
on his transition.
The ambassador recalled how
the arrival of Oba Sijuwade ended three years of drought in Cuba in
1997. What do you think was responsible for this?
It might just be an act of God. But they ascribed it to tradition. It was very timely.
What do you think is the reason the Ooni and the Alaafin did not agree on whose position is superior?
They want to rewrite history and that is
not correct. Oranmiyan was the sixth Ooni of Ife. Oranmiyan begot the
first Alaafin if you read the history. So how can the grandson claim to
be in the same position with his grandfather?
Oranmiyan was the sixth Ooni and
Oranmiyan begot Sango who was the first Alaafin. How can somebody, the
grandson of Sango, claim to be the father of Oranmiyan? I don’t know
where they got their study.
Are you saying the Ooni is higher in hierarchy than the Alaafin?
He is far higher. You cannot compare them.
But what do you think prevents the Alaafin from recognising what you have just said?
As a human being, he has his own reason.
But his reason on this is not a good one. It is very confusing. I will
not say he is a confusionist but he must not confuse the hierarchy. He
is the one teaching heresy. If I say this water on the table is blood, I
am teaching you heresy.
But there is this claim that the Ooni is not one of the sons of Oduduwa. How do you react to this?
That is the heresy. Let us not go into that.
What is the position of the Ooni among Obas in Yorubaland?
You know that Oduduwa was the first Ooni. He begot his children and they settled everywhere as crown beaded Obas.
How many deities are being worshipped in Ife?
We have 401 deities in Ife. We sent out
200 and we are worshipping 201. The Ooni is the only living deity. That
is why he is called the Onirisa.
Were there no time when there was conflict among Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers in the town?
I have been the Obalufe for the past 27
years and there was no time we ever settled any quarrel for the
adherents of various religions in the town. No fight between masquerades
and Cherubim and Seraphim or Ansar-ud Deen or any group.
What will you say is responsible for the peaceful coexistence among adherents of various religions?
This was due to the disposition of Oba Okunade Sijuwade who allowed everybody to practise their religions without hindrance.
An evangelist of the Christ
Apostolic Church , Toluwase Akeredolu, said he preached to Oba Sijuwade
and he accepted Jesus Christ as his saviour. Do you know if this is
true?
That is correct. When you get to the
palace now, you will see a beautiful church there and by its side, we
are preparing to build a mosque and on the left hand side, you will see
Ogun shrine.
The constitution is followed at the
palace. There is freedom of association and everybody is free to
practise their religion as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of
Nigeria.
But do you believe that Oba Sijuwade died a born again Christian?
I will say yes. You can be a Christian or
a Muslim or practise any religion you like but people will want you to
use your religion to better things and not to worsen the situation.
Copyright PUNCH.
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