THE Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned the Eesa of Ikirunland, High Chief Kareem Adetoyese, to desist from plunging the ancient town into another avoidable crisis through his unguarded utterances about the lingering obaship schism plaguing the town since the inception of the Governor Ademola Adeleke administration.
This was made known in a statement signed by Mogaji KOLA OLABISI, Osun State APC Director of Media and Information, on Sunday, obtained by this online newspaper, states “It would be recalled that Governor Adeleke through his infamous Executive Order 5 tampered with the selection and subsequent appointment of Oba Yunus Olalekan Akadiri as the Akinrun of Ikirunland, in the headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Council Area of the state.
Governor Adeleke was in Ikirun on condolence visits to the families of the late head of Ikirun princes, Dr Ismahil Adeyemi; the Asiwaju of Ikirunland ; DIG Lawal Kasali; and Chief Imam of Ikirunland, Sheikh Yunus Balogun, on Saturday.
The Eesa of Ikirunland who welcomed the governor to Ikirun derogatorily lamented the neglect of the town under the previous administration and commended Governor Adeleke for reviving the developmental fortune of the town and restoring peace amidst killings in mid-2022.
In Adetoyese’s words: “Your Excellency, we appreciate these condolence visits. This is a continuous demonstration of your love for Ikirun since you took over the governance of the state. We must speak of your good deed as a leader who saved Ikirun from violence and under-development. We cannot forget in a hurry how the previous administration relegated Ikirun and denied us opportunities.
“The previous government set Ikirun on fire through the politicisation of the kingship matters. The governor’s executive order saved us. We recorded casualties before you came in. I was forced into exile for months. The governor rescued us from premeditated violence and killings. Many died during the fracas”, the Eesa has said among other things.
It is our observation that the statement credited to the Eesa of Ikirunland was not only inflammatory, it was reckless, uncharitable, untruthful and capable of reigniting the tension that hitherto snowballed into needlessly rocking the peace of the headquarters of the Ifelodun Local Government Council Area over the already decided enthronement of Oba Akadiri as the lawful monarch of the ancient with the introduction of the Governor Adeleke Executive Order 5 of 2022.
It is a misrepresentation of fact for Adetoyese to have flagrantly stated while receiving his visitor that it was the immediate-past administration in the state that set the ancient town on fire when the obnoxious roles played by the foot soldiers of the Eesa of Ikirunland to bring down the town over the obaship crisis are yet to be forgotten by the right-thinking members of the society.
It is an insult on the collective sensibility of the good people of Ikirun for the Eesa to have distorted the fact about the lingering obaship feud in the town in order to impress the governor which in the end backfired as there is no way that the truth would not tower over falsehood.
In a saner society, Adetoyese, by now, should be behind the bar over his complicity in the disturbing of the public peace of Ikirun in general, the destruction of the Akinrun’s palace and the killings of some innocent natives of the town when his preferred candidate that he was the only one who voted for him lost the obaship election out of the seven kingmakers.
If there is another breakdown of law and order over the obaship tussle in Ikirunland based on the unguarded statements of Adetoyese, the police and the other statutory security services should know who should be held responsible for it.
How come the Eesa of Ikirunland has forgotten easily that Oba Akadiri emerged through the only available laid down procedure, by polling six out of seven votes cast by the kingmakers who participated in the selection exercise and this bestowed upon him the approval to become the Akinrun?
How could Adetoyese have forgotten that the immediate-past Governor Gboyega Oyetola had presented the staff of office and certificate of installation to Oba Akadiri who emerged the Akinrun of Ikirun at a selection process held by all the kingmakers in the town in accordance with the Chieftaincy regulations?
Record has it that no fewer than 21 Princes had vied for the vacant stool of the Akinrun of Ikirun and a selection process was conducted where Oba Akadiri received the approval of six out of the seven kingmakers who participated in the selection.
The development led to the presentation of Oba Akadiri to the state government through the authorities of Ifelodun Local Government Area, thus presented with the instruments of office including the installation certificate and staff of office which authenticated his selection and subsequent appointment as the Akinrun of Ikirun.
It would be recalled that the choice of Oba Akadiri was borne out of a judgement of an Osun State High Court presided over by Justice Jide Falola which held that the next ruling house after Gboleru should produce the candidate(s) for the stool of Akirun when it was vacant due to the failure of the Gboleru ruling house to produce a common candidate within the time stipulated by the extant law which the current government disdainfully disregarded and trampled upon.
We won’t help any one in the category of the Eesa of Ikirunland whose memory is failing him not to recollect in a jiffy that the Oyetola-led administration had executed 70 per cent completion level of its chosen segment in the Osogbo-Ikirun-Ila-Odo road rehabilitation project under the principle of the fact that government is a continuum which roles could not be absolutely completed by an administration.
The good people of Osun State are appreciative of the exhibited prudence and financial expertise of Oyetola’s tenure which total allocation of four years was far less than what Adeleke has received in just two years. Notwithstanding the low income, he touched all the towns and villages.
The administration had to wait for years for litigation to end before approving the installation of the several monarchs it installed having followed the due process.
Little wonders the court thoroughly nullified the evil White Paper on 30th January, 2025 in Oba Famodun v. Osun State Government. May the soul of Oba Famodun continue to rest in peace.”