The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has described the burial of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, as a historic liberation for the Yoruba traditional institution, praising the process for upholding dignity and rejecting what he called the “ritual bondage” often associated with the passing of monarchs. In a statement issued through
The procedure for selecting the new Awujale of Ijebuland in Ogun State has come to light following the passing of the revered Oba Sikiru Adetona, the immediate past Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland. Oba Adetona, who was Nigeria’s longest-serving monarch, died at the age of 91 on Sunday and was laid to rest at
In Nigeria’s political history, very few traditional rulers have faced the kind of test that came upon Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona in the early 1980s. As the Awujale of Ijebuland, his position seemed secure, until a political fallout with the Ogun State Government led to a dramatic and highly controversial attempt to remove him from
Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the revered Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, remains an extraordinary figure in Nigeria’s traditional and democratic history—an icon whose reign redefined what it meant to be a monarch in a modern republic. Far from the ceremonial stereotype often associated with royal stools, Oba Adetona stood out as a king of
