THE struggle for the headship of Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs is a long one. In the days of the old Oyo State comprising the current Oyo and Osun states, the battle over who was the rightful head of the council was bitterly fought between the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo.During his days, the former Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, was made the permanent chairman of the council. The simmering then was mild.But when the late Ooni was succeeded by the incumbent, Oba Okunade Sijuwade and was also made the permanent chairman of the council by the Bola Ige-led administration in the state, the murmuring became quite loud, as the Alaafin had been joined by the Olubadan of Ibadan, the Soun of Ogbomoso and the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland, who all wanted the chairmanship rotated.The situation remained unchanged until 1991 when Osun State was excised from the old Oyo State. That paved the way for the Alaafin to become the permanent chairman of thethe council.But the Alaafin only enjoyed the unchallenged headship of the council for a while, as both the Olubadan of Ibadan, as well as the Soun of Ogbomoso agitated for the council chairmanship becoming rotational.Alaafin railed vehemently against this, asserting that his claim to the permanent chairmanship of the council was a divine and unquestionable right, adding that his suzerainty included a consenting authority over all chieftaincy titles in the state.The road to rotational chairmanship of the council began in 1992 when Chief Kolapo Ishola, the then governor of Oyo State, set up a committee to look into the issue of the councils chairmanship. Though a report was submitted, the adminsitration could not implement the recommendation of the committee before it was booted out by the General Sanni Abacha government.However, shortly after Alhaji Lam Adesina assumed office as the state governor, he set up the Oloko Panel, which was asked to look into the matter of the chairmanship and make recommendations to the government. The administration came up with a White Paper on the report, making the chairmanship rotational. The government could not, however, implement the recommendation before it left office.The administration of Rashidi Ladoja inherited the problem and came up with a novel solution, a zonal arrangement which would see the chairmanship rotated among the Alaafin, Olubadan and Soun. But the Alaafin sought refuge in the court, as he asked for the nullification of the zonal arrangement. The Soun attempted to validate the rotational chairmanship at an Ibadan High Court, but the effort produced no worthwhile result, as the suit was thrown out. So, the status quo ante was maintained.The failure of the Soun to get a favourable judgment with respect to the chairmanship being rotational has almsot paralysed the activities of the council, as neither the Olubadan nor the Soun attends any activity of the council. The first class traditional rulers also instructed other traditional rulers under them to shun the meetings of the council.The latest effort to liberalise the chairmanship of the council was the the amendment carried out by the Oyo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, which was immediately signed into law by the state governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala. With the amendment, the chairmanship has become rotational and it takes effect immediately.With the passage of the law, the chairmanship will now be rotated among the three first class traditional rulers; the Olubadan of Ibadanland, the Soun of Ogbomosoland and the Alaafin of Oyo in that order. Each chairman spends two years in office.The amendment also makes the vice-chairmanship of the council rotational among the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, the Eleruwa of Eruwa, the Okere of Saki and the Aseyin of Iseyin in that order.It is, however, left to be seen what the reaction of the Alaafin to this development will be. Whether he will deploy the old startegy of seeking judicial protection to retain the permanent chairman-ship or not is in the belly of the future.
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