Alaafin’s Authority Limited To Oyo, Says Ex-gov Aide

A former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, Doyin Odebowale, has faulted the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, over his recent call for the Ooni of Ife to withdraw a chieftaincy title awarded to an Ibadan businessman.

In an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Odebowale argued that monarchs exercise power only within their local government areas and cannot claim superiority over elected officials.

“With respect to most of these rulers now, there is a misapprehension of roles. They want to be addressed as Kabiyesi, but they are not.

“They are under the local government chairman in their respective localities. So this idea of somebody sitting in Oyo and legislating on what happens in Ile-Ife is a misnomer,” he said.

Odebowale added that the Alaafin must have been misinformed about an alleged conflict of authority between his throne and that of the Ooni of Ife.

“I want to believe that the Alaafin of Oyo must have been misled into believing that there is an extant issue to be resolved between that office and that of the Ooni. I don’t see any justification for this distraction,” he noted.

The former aide blamed recurring disputes among monarchs on what he described as “permissive decadence” in the traditional institution.

“It is a very pathetic situation in the sense that most of those who parade themselves as traditional rulers do not even know their function. It appears to me that they are in a hurry to discard tradition.

“They are so happy when they are addressed as Oba, assistant pastor, or Alhaji; that is total abnegation of traditional values,” he lamented.

He explained that the erosion of monarchs’ powers can be traced back to colonial rule, when the British reduced empires to stools and enacted chieftaincy laws restricting their influence.

According to him, rulers who accepted colonial titles and knighthoods forfeited their claim to supremacy.

“By government structure, their powers do not go beyond their local government, if you want to, by their letter. The Ooni of Ife is in Osun state, and they have their traditional council. The Alafin of Oyo is in Oyo state, and they have a traditional council.

“By the Oyo State chieftaincy law, only four Obas are recognised as imperial majesties. The Alaafin cannot act beyond his local government. By law, he is under his local government chairman,” Odebowale said.