Dear Bishop Ladigbolu, facts of Oyo’s succession history should not be distorted

It is disturbing and worrying to learn about some of the very highly flawed claims made by the respected Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu pertaining to the succession rights to the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo, as bequeathed to all his sons by our great ancestor, Alaafin Atiba. And, so as not to allow facts to be stood on their head and to reclaim a truth that seems to have been overridden by wilful acts of distortion through time, I have decided to put down a few inviolable facts of the history of the Atiba Dynasty in Oyo, as also authenticated by the repositories of these information/knowledge. These are the following:

Alaafin Atiba did NOT leave a declaration in terms of which of his children IS NOT entitled to his throne!

The DEFECTIVE chieftaincy declaration of 1961 stated that two royal houses were entitled to the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo. Yet, this declaration did NOT state that the NINE other Atiba royal houses are NOT entitled to the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo.

If Aremo Adelu Agunloye (the first son of Atiba) became king after Alaafin Atiba, and Aremo Adeyemi Alowolodu (the fourth son of Atiba) also became king, then Aremo Adelabu (second son of Atiba), Aremo Adesiyan (third son of Atiba) and the other Atiba Aremos are also entitled to become kings. What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. It is worth noting that Aremo Adelu Agunloye and Aremo Adeyemi Alowolodu, who have been kings were from different mothers.

The DEFECTIVE declaration of 1961 was a fraudulent attempt by Alaafin Bello Gbadegeshin to monopolise the stool of Atiba for the Agunloye royal family. Then when Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi Alowolodu became king, this dishonest declaration continued to be recognised! No action was taken on this declaration, after it was rendered DEFECTIVE and replaced by the 1976 declaration. These were highly illegal actions and inactions on the part of both kings.

Then, there are the very critical questions:

Were ALL the representatives of the Atiba royal houses in attendance (or did they offer their signatures or consent) when the 1961 declaration was being written or activated? Or was it just one king (Bello Gbadegeshin) who used his connection with the foreign white man to come up with this decision, in the absence of the representatives of the other Atiba royal houses?

Were the Oyomesi in attendance (or did they offer their signatures or consent) when the 1961 declaration was being written or activated?

For how long will this fraud continue in Oyo Alaafin?

The Baba Iyaji (the vicegerent of Alaafin Atiba) is an upright man and he knows his role. He knows his history enough to identify and name those who are traditionally entitled to Alaafin Atiba’s throne. He has not fallen on the side of the fraudulent and monopolistic claims of Alaafin Bello Gbadegeshin and Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi Alowolodu. The Baba Iyaji is definitely not afraid of telling the truth and is fit to execute his role.

According to Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, in his interview, there was always an ‘orogun (polygamy) rivalry issue’. This is exactly what happened to Adelabu, the second son of Atiba and the privileged grandson of Oja!

Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu keeps hammering in the said interview that it is the Aremo who should be made the king. This is evidently not true for the biological children of Alaafin Atiba, because Adeyemi Alowolodu (Atiba’s fourth child) was not an Aremo and his lineage has ruled THREE times!!

Obviously, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu must be speaking ONLY for his own family, the Adelu Agunloye lineage (and NOT the entire ATIBA lineage), whereby only the children of his Aremo, Lawani Agogo Ija have ruled in their own lineage.

If Atiba had wanted only Aremo Adelu and his lineage to inherit the throne, then Adeyemi I wouldn’t even have lasted a day on the throne. He would have died immediately. In fact, three generations of Adeyemis successfully inherited and lasted between nine and 51 years on the throne. This renders the unhistorical claim of Bishop Ladigbolu null and void!

On the contrary, Atiba’s oral declaration that ALL of his children are entitled to his inheritance, including his throne, is reflected in his oriki: ‘Gbogbo omo oba l’oro Atiba yoo ka l’ori…’

If the Agunloyes and Alowolodus claim that Atiba wanted only two of his children (numbers one and four) to inherit the throne, then the Agunloyes and Alowolodus should go with the Mogba in the presence of the Oyomesi, other kingmakers and all the 11 Atiba families, to the shrine of our mutual forefather, Alaafin Sango, and swear that this is the TRUTH!

It will be my greatest pleasure to have our father, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu to be the first to swear by our mutual ancestor, Alaafin Sango!

Finally, in case the Agunloyes and the Alowolodus are unaware, I have attached a copy of the 1976 document that overrides the 1961 declaration.

We, the remaining Atiba royal families are simply waiting for the 1976 declaration to be duly implemented.

Ire o!

Adelabu is a prince of the Adelabu Ruling House of the Atiba Dynasty in Oyo Kingdom.