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Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III has asserted that only the Alaafin has the exclusive right to confer chieftaincy
titles that cover Yoruba land on deserving people.
Oba Adeyemi stated this while conferring the titles of Ayedero of Yoruba land and Atobaase of Yoruba land on Hon. Shina Peller and Dr. Babajide Agunbiade respectively, at his palace over the weekend.
While Peller is representing lseyin/ltesiwaju/ Kajola/lwajowa Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Agunbiade is a United States-based Oil engineer.
The monarch said both Yoruba sons were deserving of the titles, having proved to be outstanding in their chosen careers.
“These great Yoruba sons have proven themselves in their various fields of endeavours, hence, as a mark of recognition and in advancing the Yoruba cultural heritage, I, the custodian of the history of the Yoruba nation, in consultation with my Oyomesi have deemed it fit to recognize them by conferring these titles on them today,” he said.
Justifying the titles which cover the entire Yoruba land, Oba Adeyemi said: “As I have always made known at every occasion and event such as this one, our pride as Yoruba is in our intrinsic traditions and cultural heritage. Yoruba as a race or nation evolved a superb constitution which though unwritten, but is daintily and unequivocally observed by strong convention.
“The Yoruba chieftaincy institution is the pillar indeed, the bedrock of our system of government. A traditional ruler cannot, therefore, afford to be despotic without dire consequences. He, therefore, must rule within honourable norms of our traditions.
“The Alaafin from time immemorial is the king and head of the Yoruba nation. He is the only king in Yoruba land who can confer chieftaincy title to a worthy individual, man or woman, to cover the whole of Yoruba land. In exercise of this right, successive Alaafin of Oyo had been guided by due process in appointment of Yoruba to chieftaincies that cover the whole of Yoruba land.”
The monarch pointed out that the recipients were both recognized sons of Yoruba nation, adding that they were trusted with the mantles to bear the cultural heritage of the Yoruba race in a worthy manner.
“As I end my speech, I will like to emphasize that this title serves as recognition but most importantly, a mantle for service and posterity of the culture which you today here bear,” Obama Adeyemi added.