The indigenes of Ibulesoro community in ifedore local government area of Ondo State, today, expressed their displeasure over the recent chaos and unrest caused by one of the Aspirants to the stool of Olubule, Mr. Monday Ogunlade.
The second in command to the Regent of Ibulesoro, High Chief Oyebode explained thus: "This issue started in 2019. We used to have six kingmakers, but three are late. We sought the government's opinion if the existing three form a quorum to elect a new king, and we got an affirmative response to go ahead. On 20th August 2019, we saw a letter that stopped the election that we should nominate warrant Chiefs. We agreed because we want peace. The kingmakers' families nominated names which the community submitted.
Surprisingly, we were told that two lists emerged before government. We tried every possible effort to investigate how the second list came up and discovered it was from Ogunlade. His own list was approved by the local government authority. We visited the deputy governor who ordered that the concerned kingmakers' families should go back to settle the case or the three existing kingmakers should proceed with the election. To cut the story short, on June 7 2023, Ogunlade suddenly appeared in an array of Soldiers and policemen to conduct election without my involvement as the second in command. The community disagreed for his own warrant Chiefs to install him except through the usual traditional means. We won't allow the tradition to be sidelined by installing a wrong Monarch. Government should please intervene quickly to forestall a serious crisis. "
Also speaking, the Eye-ule of Ibulesoro, Chief Mrs. Victoria Olayiwola, who is one of the existing Kingmakers, said the community won't allow him to rule over them. He can not impose himself on us. We have 7 candidates, but he didn't allow due process to take place, he keeps running from post to post lobbying his way to the throne but we won't accept it until government comes to our rescue. The government should allow the three remaining original kingmakers to go ahead with the election so we can have peace. I can't allow my traditional title of Kingmaker to be hijacked. He should desist from parading himself as an elected king. We want to effect the deputy governor's directive. "
The Odofin of Ibulesoro, Chief Akin Abuletagba, said the rite he planned to observe today was wrong, noting that the process he applied was against the tradition. "Government has instructed the three remaining kingmakers to go ahead with the election, but he wants to impose himself by all means by causing trouble. He petitioned the government's decision by taking the kingmakers to court, and government now asked for warrant Chiefs from the families of late kingmakers. He frustrated the process and appointed fake warrant Chiefs. This is how he keeps frustrating us in Ibulesoro. The community outrightly rejected him, and the youths are threatening us (Chiefs) if we allow him to perform any rites. His appointed kingmakers are ordinary people in the community without any Chieftaincy title. The government should please rescue us from him. "
Shedding light on the real families that are eligible to produce warrant Chiefs, High Chief Oyekanmi disclosed that the community inquired from oracle about him, and the revelation about him was scary.
He said : "We engaged in a demonstration of anger today because Mr Monday Ogunlade proceeded to solely pick his own kingmakers and even include his younger brother as one of his kingmakers. We've not experienced desperate move like this before. We want the recognised kingmakers in the community to elect our new king, and they are three in number who are still alive. Three are dead.
" So, the appointment of new kingmakers should come from the families of the late kingmakers (Oluoye, Amupofi, and head of Uledo called Iledo, who will serve as a representative of Elegere). Now, he went ahead to appoint his own. The community approached the Oluoye family, and they nominated the son of the immediate late Oluoye, his son must be his representative. "The Amupofi family also nominated a son of the family who is next in hierarchy. The Iledo also nominated the next in the family, who is Baba Akinyemi. But he lobbied to get approval for his own list, which we rejected.
" How will an aspirant appoint kingmakers to install himself? It means that in the nearest future, an Igbo man, Hausa or Ighorbo can come to Ibule to become the king if he's rich. This is strange, and what we want now is for the real kingmakers to conduct the election.
" We met with the deputy governor, and he instructed that the three existing kingmakers should go ahead with the election, but Ogunlade immediately went to court after the meeting to sue the Kingmakers. We are still in court in respect of this issue, and suddenly, Ogunlade came up with a kangaroo letter of approval to conduct an election. Our real kingmakers stayed clear of the election processes, and his kangaroo kingmakers went ahead to announce him as the king-elect.
"Even, the main issue is that, in accordance with the tradition, when we inquired from the Oracle, the message about him was terrible and discouraging. We were warned that if he becomes Olubule, there will be unrest in the community , and there'll be disasters upon disasters. This was evident on the day his kingmakers elected him, his best friend who expended so much to celebrate him the day of their kangaroo election died before daybreak. His younger brother's company was also gutted by fire, and one Irele guy died from the incident while the second was hospitalised. The third day, one Ibule son was shot while another died in his sleep. Some ran mad. One man fell and died. It was when we stopped him from parading himself as a king that we experienced a little peace in the community; until today that he planned to observe one installation rite, which involves taking the king-elect round Chiefs' houses. But he didn't visit the Chiefs rather kept parading himself round the community which led to serious confrontational attacks against him by the people. We quickly invited the policemen to arrest him and he was taken to Ilara police station".
The Community's Youth Leader, Mr. Ayiloge Igbekele said: " I have witnessed the installation of three kings in Ibulesoro..none took this process of forceful seizure of power by any particular candidate. I have never witnessed a situation where a kingship candidate solely appointed kingmakers. Those he picked without the involvement of the community were used to conduct a kangaroo election where he claimed to have emerged as the new king. We have been emphasising that it's impossible for his lineage to become the next Olubule because it's the turn of another family out of the three ruling houses. But he started parading himself as the king , we youths now decided to protest against his installation today that we don't want him".
One of the female chiefs, who is the Eye-jero of Ibulesoro, Mrs. Seeke Fasakin said: "we are not satisfied with the troubles Oluleke has been formenting in our community. We have due processes of installing new king and the Kingmakers are saddled with the responsibility of carrying out the processes. We have the traditionally recognised kingmakers but he appointed fake ones to elect him. None of the authentic kingmakers was part of the election he conducted. Can an aspiring king be the one to install himself and not the kingmakers? Today, the community was in chaos, and we are pleading to the government to kindly intervene once and for all before the situation becomes uncontrollable. They should allow the kingmakers to act. I don't have anywhere to go as we are now scared of sleeping and moving freely".
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