Ikenne in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State is reputed to be the home of powerful and highly placed personalities in the country and the cradle of South-West politics.
The town is located between Sagamu and Odogbolu near Ilisan Remo. Ikenne is also renowned for producing the highest number of lawyers in Nigeria, many of whom have attained the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
In Ikenne, it’s a thing of great pride for a family to produce at least a lawyer. So, for the people of the town, this has become a sort of competition between the various families.
Within the Remo axis, Ikenne is also believed to be the best organised town, attracting the sobriquet “PACESETTERS.” Ikenne township is one of the 33 Remo traditional towns. There are two main communities in the town; they are Ikenne and Idotun, and both have their respective monarchs.
But presently the stool of the Alakenne is believed by many to be vacant, despite the fact that a personality has for years been laying claim to the stool.
The ruling house (Obara) has consistently insisted on Prince Ademola Yomi Odeneye Adeyiga as their Oba-elect and not Mosudi Adeyinka Onakade alleged to have imposed himself on the people of the town.
Concerned residents of the town, including indigenes, non-indigenes, and indigenes in the Diaspora, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed their opinions on the matter.
They argued that throughout the eight years of the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the stool of Alakenne was vacant, contrary to claims by Onakade.
They alleged that Onakade was even sent out of the meetings of the Ogun State traditional rulers’ council in Abeokuta on about two or three occasions during ex-governor Amosun’s tenure.
The kingmakers of the town also lent their voices, saying they never voted for Onakade to be the traditional to ruler of Ikenne, and that Onakade’s father is not from Ikenne, his father is from Epe Remo.
An indigene of the town, Jokotola Efunpero, said as far as she’s concerned the stool of Alakenne remained vacant.
She said the individual parading himself as the king was installed by the former powers-that-be in the town, who she argued were in the minority.
Efunpero said none of the town’s kingmakers supported Onakade from the onset and no ruling house put Onakade down as representing their family.
Speaking in the same vein, another indigene, Akeem Adeniyi, said, “Let us go back to the olden days regarding how to install an Oba, I know that the family will choose a candidate from their ruling house and present him to the kingmakers. That same situation still happens till today.
“But the situation in Ikenne is unlawful. Somebody here is parading himself as the Oba without getting the authority from the governor or even elected by the town’s kingmakers.”
Adebayo Adetola wondered why an individual would just unilaterally install the king of a town without the approval of the kingmakers. That’s an imposition. No kingmakers was involved and the ruling house rejected him. But the dictator who installed him as king is no more. We must all come together now and follow the normal and legal way of installing the king for peace to reign in the town.
But another indigene, Alice Ilori, opposed the demand for Onakade’s removal as Alakenne.
According to Ilori, “The man is old; if they remove him, he may commit suicide because we hear that anytime the people confront him over non-qualification for the stool, he will be crying like a baby. Please, let’s leave him alone.”
Mr Mota Odumusi, however, noted that as an elder, he would continue to say the truth because “Agba ki wa Loja ,ki ori omo tuntun wo.”
“I will explain to you the procedure for selecting our king in Ikenne and why I’m in support of Prince Ademola Odeneye, our Oba-elect. He is from a male lineage and it conforms with the Ikenne tradition and Ikenne Chieftaincy Declaration Edict 1998.
“Whereas Mr Adeyinka Mosudi Onakade is from the female lineage and since we have bonafide male child ,the female child will not be entitled to the stool.
“Again ,the Obara, the ruling lineage that will present the king, is made up of three branches, namely Ofiran Ekun, Lapo and Lifotu.
“But according to Ikenne history, the town has four ruling houses – Obara, Gbasemo, Iwaye and Moko. In 1915, it was the turn of Obara to produce Alakenne of Ikenne and that time Oba Emosu emerged as the Alakenne of Ikenne from Lapo Branch of Obara ruling house. Mr Mosudi Adeyinka Onakade’s maternal great-grandson of late Oba Emosu, who died in the year 1930.Being from a female lineage, he is not qualified to contest.”
Similarly, Mr Ope Awobajo, said he was in support of the Oba-elect, Prince Ademola Oluwayomi Odeneye Adeyiga, because he’s from Ofiran Ekun, whose turn it is to produce a candidate for the Alakenne stool.