why I contested for Olowo of Owo’s throne -Leke Olateru -Olagbegi

                     

……..I am missing my father

……..Oba Ajibade Ogunoye III  is ordained by God

….. My father’s crisis was caused by the then governor

……..They did not cut my father’s head

          PRINCE OLALEKE

             The  beads on his neck  and wrists  were  dangling   like pendulum as he  was responding cheerfully  to  the barrage of questions thrown to him. He    exhibited a   high level  of maturity with  sense of humour. He still enjoys  the royal dignity, respect and honour  from his kinsmen wherever he goes.  Despite the fact that his father is no longer the  traditional ruler of  the ancient town, Owo, Prince Leke as he is popularly called is respected and loved by Owo people as his  relationship cuts across all  social  status: rich or poor,young or old and above  all the Olowo lineages:  Ogunoye , Ajike and Olagbegi .He is called a bridge- builder ,  a very straight forward man and Man of the People.                

               INTERVIEW

  As the smooth -faced Prince wiped his brow with handkerchief , adjusted his embroidery Yoruba traditional agbada  and cap he answered all the questions thrown at him without bitterness.

              

    During the  impromptu interview the Prince who  is a Senior Lecturer at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic  in the department of Public Administration  brilliantly, meticulously   and technically   delved into history and archive  thus  challenging   researchers and lovers  of History . .Infact Prince Leke Olateru- Olagbegi is rich in Owo history.

   Taiwo  Abiodun spoke with him , a year after his father’s death.

 

        .

  Leke  with his late father during Igogo festival

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE YOUR FATHER,THE LATE OBA DVF OLATERU -OLAGBEGI III’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ?

   “In Owo tradition technically  the Olowo is always on the throne (Oba kii ku) that is king don’t die”. He continued “on daily basis , whenever I remember my father who   was a very, very good father  and  was a quintessential man. He was  too good  even to a fault .He was very nice and generous .He was  a disciplinarian .I am proud that he was my father and I  give glory to the  almighty God, so celebrating him is just like looking into mirror and flashing back to my daily routine  and activities  and memories of him , these are the ways I will remember him.

“But in respect to tradition , you know after the royal tussle for  the throne we now have my father Oba Gbadegesin Ajibade Ogunoye  III so I am also celebrating him.  He  is also a perfect gentleman and  a great father  to look up to and the entire community is looking up to him .So that  how the position  is  if I can submit  that way.

The late  HIM Oba  DVF  Olateru -Olagbegi III

  MY FATHER ASKED ME TO CONTEST

    The prince gave a graphic detail of   the last days of his father , he said  “I saw him   last on Sunday and I think he passed away about  48hours later. Em, em after church service    he called me and in the presence of  one of his  Chiefs, precisely Chief  Osuporu  and  he asked us to go upstairs because the church service was downstairs and we went upstairs. He went as usual into discussions , he loved to discuss  issues to clear positions. I was very happy that I  had that opportunity, he continued to  teach me the normal  traditional ways , the normal ethical ways of life . And I was surprised when he mentioned that if ever the throne was vacant  that I  should definitely make sure that I  vie for it ,because whoever   is going   to be king  would first of all have to vie and then  if he had been ordained from heaven it would be his.  And I  was shocked to my bones as he discussed with me at the last minute and he also admonished that myself and my siblings ,my senior sister and  rest of my junior ones  should  hold ourselves together and continue to meet and hold in high esteem all  he has taught us throughout his life.

                  

BUT YOU LOST IN THE ELECTION, HOW DID YOU FEEL?

        When reminded that he lost in the election and how he felt, The Prince laughed ,  and went into  Owo History of electing  their monarchs , he  said “Well ,that itself is another story. In Owo we have a  democratic way of traditional installation ,so  it is not  like directly from father to son like my father  had inherited it. We have  precisely three Ruling Houses and anyone could have been chosen out of the Ruling Houses  so  I was very  ready  for whatever  the outcome could have been . I went into it with clear mind and  I was still  standing with a clear mind as my father had  always said  that  whoever would be king would definitely have  to have been ordained from heaven so I believe Kabiyesi Ajibade Ogunoye  III  had been ordained from heaven for him to be sitting on the throne in the palace”.

 DON’T YOU THINK OWO PEOPLE WOULD FROWN  and COMPLAIN SAYING IT IS BECOMING A FAMILY AFFAIR: YOUR FATHER , YOUR GRAND FATHER  AND YOU AGAIN . ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE (RULING HOUSE) IN  OWO?’

Reminded that his late  father and  grandfather were there before and now  and he  was coming to vie for it again,  …… In response , the Prince laughed  and said   “well for those who  don’t  sincerely understand our culture per se , yes ,may be  they can feel like that but if you  study Owo  ancestry  the throne had passed  down from father to son,from father to son(repeat)  and then at some point it even  became  from brother to brother  but we don’t necessarily have  a specific direction -it could be anywhere, it could be cousins to cousins, brother to brother , father to son. Like I mentioned earlier , my father inherited the throne   in 1999 from his own father , so I don’t think people from Owo would have had  any objections .Although yes , like you have rightly cited,  the other ruling families might also have some sentiments that ha! , how can it continue  in  that direction but as far as I am concerned it could have gone into any direction because  the Owo traditional stool is decided by  the Senior Omolowos and whoever is chosen is final”.

  DON’T  YOU THINK IT COULD HAVE RESULTED TO  ANOTHER CRISIS IF ANY OF THE OLATERU- OLAGBEGIS COMES THERE?

His response    “Haa , you are going into contemporary politics, when  it comes into  contemporary politics ,it seems we have to make it a rotational  affair or we have to satisfy this side of the family , that side of the family but  I just think take for instance in the olden days when the oracle  was the one to choose and if oracle says its that direction who is anybody  to go against the Oracle? .But in terms of satisfying the human nature , yes I can agree  that  may be after a particular lineage had been there for  a while .Yes, if   Ifa  Oracle chooses another lineage , it’s welcome .But  what I am stressing is that  if Ifa Oracle so  chooses  from that same lineage it is also welcome because we are all from Elewuokun Dynasty”.

EVERYBODY LOVES THE PRESENT OLOWO  OBA GBADEGESIN AJIBADE OGUNOYE III,WHAT IS YOUR TAKE

“Personally I am excited about him.I have known him all my life , although he is older than me but we grew up together . I am very familiar with the Ogunoye lineage and I am also very close to  the Ajike lineage so I am not a novice to any of the lineage family . But he particularly​   is a very kind person , very soft-spoken person ,you can rarely found him  any place where there is violence , where there is any form of disgruntlement , no, he was a very private person ,very hard working and he is very honest .When he was chosen ,if you look at the video  if you play it back you will notice that I immediately embraced him when he won . And that was exactly my position .”

HIM OBA OGUNOYE III

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEW OLOWO

On the relationship ” I am very close to him .At any point in time when I need to see him because he is a father figure to me .Now he has inherited our father’s position,he has become the head of the Elewokun Dynasty.By and large he has also become my father .I relate to him the way I would relate to my father and discuss lot of issues that I normally would  discuss with my father, and with him now in that position and if there is any issues  that comes up as such I go to him and discuss it with him .Recently I was with him  and we always have  a good time  anytime we were together and I am very close to him as usual from time and would for ever be”.

THE NEW OLOWO IS BRILLIANT,GENTLE, HUMBLE AND WISE , IS THIS PECULIAR TO ALL OWO KINGS 

The Prince responded “It is a good thing you cited that, because  if we go into the history of Owo from time immemorial most especially from the very first Olowo which was Olowo Ojugbelu , history tells us that Olowo Ojugbelu’s father gave him the name ,Omo Owo by the  virtue of his noble character : he was a  handsome prince , very soft spoken person, he was ahead among his peers, he has all the qualities that you will admire in the current Olowo and also in my father which will also seen in most of the Olowos .I agree with you that he has the peculiar  characters of a noble King of  Owo”.

YOUR FATHER WAS A DEVOTED CHRISTIAN AND TRADITIONALIST, WAS HE BURIED ACCORDING TO CULTURE?

What was the form of his burial , he was asked , the Senior lecturer responded ”I can tell  you categorically  because   I  was a party to it  and  everything that  the Adanigbo and the  entire Iloros requested was met and the duration of time in which it has to be preserved was met and during the time he has to be interred  and everything that has to be done traditionally was also done so throughout the Ogbigbo the whole process and procedures,the way its been done traditionally  was done so  I can categorically say yes  he was buried exactly how the tradition says.”

PEOPLE BELIEVE WHEN AN OBA DIES THEY HAVE TO CUT PARTS OF HIS BODY.DID THEY CUT PART OF HIS BODY?

The prince screamed “No, no , no. that one is an old tradition, (laughed ). He died in 2019 ,so I doubt if there is anybody that can do  that and get away with it  .I  think  that is old tradition . There was a time in Owo when an Oba dies some individuals  would go along with him that was at one point in our tradition but I think  tradition has stopped that.

DID THEY BURY ANYBODY ALONG WITH HIM?

Leke shouted  “No, no,nobody was buried along with him(laughed)as  far as I know o”.

WHEN THE NEW  OLOWO OBA  OGUNOYE III WAS INSTALLED  THERE WAS  NO CRISIS, PEOPLE NEVER EXPECTED THERE WOULD NOT BE  BLOODSHED  COMPARED WITH YOUR FATHER’S PERIOD

       The Prince intelligently answered ”  Well, you know for every Oba there  is always circumstances surrounding it , in the time  of my father , the history says the  incumbent  governor of the state( Governor Adebayo Adefarati) was actually against my father’s ascension to the throne ,that was the reason why there was a bit of disgruntlement​ and at that time  it wasn’t actually the people ,because  Owo kingmakers actually chose my father .Since Owo chose him , there was no cause for fighting but because of  outside influence . In the current Kabiyesi ‘s time remember we have an Owo man as a governor  in person of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu  and the senior Omolowos chose him and the Oracle has spoken and the  governor is not against them..”

To be continued next week

 

 

 

 

Author: Taiwo Abiodun

I am a blogger . taiwoabiodun.com and TAIWOABIODUN.BLOGSPOT.COM

10 thoughts on “why I contested for Olowo of Owo’s throne -Leke Olateru -Olagbegi”

  1. This is very interesting and intriguing. I’ll be looking forward to the concluding part of this educative interview. Good job bro!

  2. This is very interesting and intriguing. Good job ore mi, Prince Adeleke is my childhood and very close friend. “I appreciate you and the many years of friendship you’ve provided.” “I appreciate your compassion and understanding. “When it comes to true friendship, I couldn’t have asked for a better friend than you. I wish you long life in good health and prosperity. A wise man and good leader.

  3. This is a good interview from a witty prince. God bless you and increase your wisdom.

    Signed:
    Comrade Ademola Taofeek Adewale
    Abuja.

  4. Indeed a good interview, an interesting and intriguing one too, from an intellectual, OWO STUDENTS are always proud of you, More wisdom Sir.

    Owasanoye Damilola O
    OLGASU Global President

  5. Nice piece, Prince Leke is showing the real quality of Prince in him, very sound, although I doubt if you will see anybody in the lineage of Elewokun that can be rubbished anymore.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *