Group asks Adeleke to address injustice in Osun monarch selection

The Iree Cultural Frontiers has urged the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to correct what it described as historic injustice by allowing a “sidelined” royal house to fill the vacant stool of Aree of Iree.

ICF, a socio-cultural group from Iree in the Boripe North Local Council Development Area of the state, revealed that the Olubonku Ruling House has been sidelined for over 200 years and should be allowed to produce the next traditional ruler of the town.

The group made the call in a statement on Saturday jointly signed by its Chairman, Ilori Adanlawo; and Secretary, Oluwole Adisa, in Osogbo, the state capital.

ICF, however, expressed appreciation to Adeleke for nullifying what it described as the illegal installation of Prince Ademola Raphael as monarch for the Iree community by the last administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

The statement read, “Recall that Governor Adeleke had on Thursday sacked three traditional rulers, namely the Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Yinusa Akadiri; the Owa of Igbajo, Oba Adegboyega Famodun; and the Aree of Iree, Oba Ademola Raphael, based on a government white paper faulting their installations.

“The ICF, in making a case for the Olubonku Ruling House for the Iree Obaship stool, also stated that the royal household had long fielded Prince Afolabi Ali as its preferred candidate.

“It particularly anchored its plea on the need to give justice to the sidelined Olubonku Ruling House of Iree and also attract development to the town, bearing in mind that Prince Afolabi Ali is an international lawyer, a philanthropist businessman, and an estate developer par excellence.”

According to the ICF, Oba Olubonku, who ruled about 200 years ago, is the forbear of Afolabi Ali, a man who has committed his resources and international connections to develop Iree and empower many homes, especially the youth.

It said that whereas the Olubonku Ruling House in Iree ruled only once 200 years ago, some of the other ruling houses had ruled six times, five times, four times, three times, and two times, respectively.

“We are eternally grateful to Governor Ademola Adeleke for preventing another historic injustice from taking place by halting an attempt by the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola to foist a candidate that was not wanted by the people of Iree on us.

“But we urge the governor to complete the process by allowing the Olubonkun Ruling House to produce the next Aree of Iree,” the group enjoined.

Explaining how Prince Raphael was made Oba before his final sack, the ICF stated, “We recall how under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the then Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Adebayo Adeleke, also known as Banik, who is from the community in Boripe North Local Council Development Area, wanted to foist their crony as new Aree.

“Then, all 11 aspirants to the vacant stool were asked to pay N500,000 each to the Boripe local council and N150,000 to the Osun State Government.

“They were also ordered to pay varying amounts of money to cover their three-year tax clearances, respectively.

“However, the contestants soon smelt a rat when the then Oyetola government, having siphoned various sums of money from them, made a volte-face by subverting the community’s convention through the appointment of a new female chief, an Iyalode, to join the Iree kingmakers.

“Meanwhile, it is taboo for a woman to be a kingmaker as such, which has never been witnessed in the history of the community.”

The group claimed that the then state government imposed a preferred candidate of the governor as monarch and installed him before the governor left office, despite a court order stopping the installation.

The group urged Adeleke to revisit the Iree issue, pick Afolabi, who is the preferred candidate of the youth and generality of the community, and install him as Aree to further enhance peaceful coexistence and the progress of the Iree community.

Meanwhile, the Olubonku Ruling House in 2023 rejected the call by the Iwo Traditional Council, led by the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, which had appealed to the governor to rescind the suspension of the monarchs.