Awujale Succession in Peril: When Tradition, Law, and Ambition Collide - Sponsor Post

In Ijebuland, the crown is never merely a symbol of authority. It is the pulse of history, the echo of ancestors, and the embodiment of centuries of culture, law, and spiritual mandate. Yet today, that sacred stool—the Awujale throne—is vacant, and the air is thick with tension, uncertainty, and the whispers of ambition untempered by tradition.

Since July 13, 2025, when Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona passed into the great beyond, Ijebuland has been navigating a delicate interregnum. His sixty-five-year reign was a beacon of stability, a model of fidelity to law and custom, and a testament to the sacred covenant between ruler and people. But with the Fusengbuwa ruling house next in line, the process meant to usher in a new Awujale has been stalled, beset by contested kingmakers, incomplete rites, and the shadow of political interference.

The Voice of the Ancestors

Oba Adetona, in one of his last public addresses at the Ojude Oba festival, delivered a warning that transcends mere words. He declared that his successor must not be chosen through wealth, influence, or the sway of “money bags.” These were not casual admonitions. They were ancestral mandates, the voice of generations speaking through the living king, a reminder that tradition and character, not affluence, determine who may sit upon the Apere.

Ignoring such pronouncements is not only culturally reckless—it is spiritually perilous. Yet today, some stakeholders appear to treat these mandates as optional, prioritizing expediency and political convenience over the guidance of ancestors whose watchful eyes still linger over Ijebuland.

Procedural Paralysis and Legal Quagmire

The process has been halted twice by the Ogun State Government, citing failure to comply with the Obas and Chiefs Law and the 1959 Registered Chieftaincy Declaration. Reports indicate disputes over the legitimacy of the thirteen Afobajes, the kingmakers with the sacred duty to select the Awujale, and confusion arising from multiple Apebis and Jagirins where tradition allows only one of each.

Further complicating matters, essential pre-installation rites remain incomplete. Yoruba custom dictates that any king enthroned without full ritual observance is ritually defective—a defect that no political endorsement, court affidavit, or administrative approval can rectify.

The Interregnum Committee and Political Shadows

Into this delicate matrix has stepped the Awujale Interregnum Committee, a body unknown to both the 1959 Declaration and Ijebu custom. It convenes selective meetings, influences nominations, and projects informal decisions as binding, usurping the authority of lawful kingmakers.

Political actors, too, have been implicated in attempts to push preferred candidates, marginalizing both the Fusengbuwa ruling house and legitimate kingmakers. The result is a succession process contaminated by illegitimacy, threatened with judicial nullification, and vulnerable to inter-family discord. History warns us: shortcuts, unauthorized committees, and political expediency never yield enduring monarchies.

Money, Influence, and the Erosion of Culture

Whispers of bribery, gifts, and inducements cast a pall over the process. If true, these actions would directly contravene the warnings of Oba Adetona and erode public trust. Succession determined by wealth rather than virtue risks converting the sacred exercise of enthronement into a transactional spectacle, undermining both tradition and communal confidence.

Spiritual and Communal Stakes

The Yoruba worldview recognizes enthronement as a dual reality—spiritual and temporal. Errors in selection invite not just political and social consequences but spiritual reckoning. Fractured communal relations, protracted litigation, and ancestral displeasure are the inevitable outcomes of flawed processes. The people of Ijebuland, standing tall on the shoulders of their ancestors, expect the next Awujale to embody culture, humility, and a devotion to communal life. Those removed from the pulse of Ijebu society cannot—and will not—be permitted to occupy this sacred stool.

The Way Forward

To safeguard law, tradition, and public trust, immediate and decisive corrective action is imperative:

1. Suspend the ongoing process until the legitimacy of all kingmakers and palace officers is fully verified.

2. Invalidate all decisions taken under disputed authority and dissolve the Interregnum Committee.

3. Enforce strict adherence to the 1959 Registered Chieftaincy Declaration and Ijebu customary law.

4. Ensure completion of all traditional rites before considering any candidate.

5. Call on political actors to respect the sanctity of the process, allowing tradition and law to prevail.

Anything short of this is not reform—it is cultural sabotage. The Awujale stool is sacred, not a prize for expediency. Federal oversight, if exercised decisively, is not overreach—it is the defense of heritage, law, and national stability.

Ijebuland is watching. History is watching. The choices made now will determine whether this revered institution survives the ambitions of the present or becomes a cautionary tale for generations yet unborn.

Olumide Adekunle Fashina is a Lagos-based public affairs commentator writing on power, institutions and legitimacy in Nigeria