Says a rejoinder authored by one Chief Rufus Ibinola (The Obariwajoye of Oweland) on behalf of Obaro-in-Council and published by nigerianpost.com lacks substance.
The attention of the Odolu Ruling House has been drawn to a rejoinder authored by one Chief Rufus Ibinola (The Obariwajoye of Oweland) on behalf of Obaro-in-Council and Chiefs, published by an online blog, nigerianpost.com on the 15th January 2024 on the report submitted by the Head of Odolu Ruling House to the Obaro of Kabba on the Selection of the new Obadofin of Oweland.
The committee would have not bothered itself to dignify the baseless rejoinder authored by one Chief Rufus Ibinola (The Obariwajoye of Oweland) that has no cultural and traditional rights to speak on behalf of the Obaro of Kabba and Chairman, Okun Area Traditional Council, but to keep the reading public abreast of the true position of things as regards the report recently submitted by the Head of Odolu Ruling House recommending Chief Julius Arokoyo as the most preferred candidate of the ruling group for the vacant stool of the Obadofin of Oweland.
The committee noted that it was not surprised with the kind of response that greeted the submission of its reports to the appropriate quarters, knowing fully well the kind of pressure mounted on the authority concerned before he agreed to transmit a letter to inform the Head of Odolu Ruling Group to commence the process in line with Local Government Bye-Law, 2001.
The letter was dated May 3rd, 2023 and received in Odolu on the 20th of August, 2023, it took the letter more than three months to arrive in Odolu which shouldn’t have taken 30 minutes which has shown clearly that there was an undisclosed agenda which could not scale through the committee that took its time to do a thorough job on the assignment.
The committee did not engage any media to herald the reports of the committee as submitted by the Head of the Ruling Group but the author of the rejoinder will also agree with the committee that the subject matter has become contentious and has attracted the attention of all lovers of Owe culture and tradition since the authority concerned deliberately delayed the process despite the BYE-LAW FOR THE DECLARATION OF CUSTOMARY LAW RELATING TO THE SELECTION OF THE OLOLU TITLES OTHER THAN THE OBARO TITLE, HEADS OF RULING GROUP, CLAN HEADS, VILLAGE HEADS AND OBALUGBO IN KABBA DISTRICT AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 2001 gave a time frame for the Obadofin and Obajemu Ololu’s emergence immediately their burial rights are completed in line with Owe culture and traditions, hence the media being the fourth estate of the realm and as part of their social responsibilities to have a just society heralded it to douse the growing tension in the land occasioned by the delay of the process.
Chief Ibinola may not have known that the Edict 12 of 1995 on the rotation of the Ololus in Kabba, is strictly for the nomination/recommendation of the Obaro of Kabba stool while the Obadofin and Obajemu are not inclusive which is why the Kabba-Bunu Legislative Council in their wisdom enacted the bylaws in 2001 to address the lacuna created for the Obadofin and Obajemu stools, maybe he wouldn’t have bothered himself to author the rejoinder as he succeeded in exposing his ignorance about the process stipulated in the bye-law.
It is no longer news that the final burial rights of His Royal Majesty, Oba Michael Yusuf, the Obadofin of Oweland were concluded on the 28th of April, 2023, and it is expected that after three months the new Obadofin of Oweland should have emerged in line with the bye-law but surprisingly, the authority concerned deliberately delayed the process for unknown reasons for nine months.
However, the process provided by the BYE-LAW FOR THE DECLARATION OF CUSTOMARY LAW RELATING TO THE SELECTION OF THE OLOLU TITLES OTHER THAN THE OBARO TITLE, HEADS OF RULING GROUP, CLAN HEADS, VILLAGE HEADS AND OBALUGBO IN KABBA DISTRICT AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 2001 is not ambiguous, is very clear for all to understand hence the Ruling House concerned have the responsibility to set up a Selection Committee of the heads of the families in the group to select a credible and acceptable personality through a transparent process. It is also good to note that the ruling group selection committee can only attend to those who might have paid the fees to the Ololus for their intentions to contest for the stool.
It is also good to note that the Edict No.12 of 1995 “Obaro of Kabba (Filling of Chieftaincy vacancy Declaration of Indigenes of Kabba / Oweland, Guidelines for the rotation of Ololu titles and other miscellaneous provision, Edict, 1995.” only deals with the nomination and recommendation of the Obaro of Kabba stool whereas that of the Obadofin and Obajemu, the bye-law captured it appropriately, that when the families concerned in the ruling group could not agreed on a particular candidate, then names of the candidates will be sent to the selectors to decide but in a situation where the families concerns agreed on a particular candidate, the Head of the ruling group will send the recommendation to the Selectors/Local Government Council for onward transmission to the Executive Governor of Kogi State through the Honourable Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for final approval.
The committee noted that the four heads of families that make up of Odolu Ruling Group signed for Chief Julius Arokoyo as the most preferred candidate of the ruling group in line with the BYE-LAW FOR THE DECLARATION OF CUSTOMARY LAW RELATING TO THE SELECTION OF THE OLOLU TITLES OTHER THAN THE OBARO TITLE, HEADS OF RULING GROUP, CLAN HEADS, VILLAGE HEADS AND OBALUGBO IN KABBA DISTRICT AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 2001 which is in conformity with the Edict 12 of 1995.
Signed
Matthew Ojo
Secretary Selection Committee
Odolu Ruling Group
