The reported confrontation between Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Ijebu kingmakers, the Afobajes, over the succession to the Awujale stool has opened a sensitive fault line between political authority and traditional legitimacy in one of Yorubaland’s most historically conservative societies.
According to multiple accounts, the Governor summoned the Afobajes late at night for a meeting that stretched into the early hours of the morning.
He reportedly presented Hon. Ademorin Kuye as the “preferred choice from HQ” and his personal candidate, instructing the kingmakers to present him as the next Awujale.
The response was immediate and firm.
The Afobajes rejected the directive, insisting on due process, ritual consultation, and the established traditional protocols.
They demanded that any directive allegedly coming from “HQ” must be communicated directly, not imposed through political intermediaries.
When the Governor reportedly responded with “No Kuye, No Awujale,” the Afobajes replied with what sources describe as a historic defiance: they would rather have Ijebu without an Awujale than accept an imposed candidate.
This is not a minor cultural disagreement. In Ijebu history, the Afobajes are not symbolic figures; they are the institutional custodians of kingship, tradition, and continuity.
Their authority predates colonial administration, modern political structures, and state governments.
The Obas Council and traditional kingmaking institutions across Yorubaland are built on centuries-old systems of consultation, divination, lineage legitimacy, and ancestral sanction.
To bypass these processes is traditionally viewed not just as illegitimate, but as sacrilegious.
In Yoruba cosmology and governance culture, the Oba is not merely a ruler; he is a spiritual institution, a bridge between the living community, the ancestors, and the unborn.
The process of selection is therefore not administrative—it is sacred.
Any attempt by a governor, president, senator, or political office holder to impose a ruler is widely regarded as an abomination within traditional belief systems.
This is not superstition alone; it is a deeply embedded civilizational principle that has preserved social stability for centuries.
Historically, communities that violate these processes often interpret subsequent crises—conflict, instability, misfortune—as spiritual consequences of broken tradition.
Many African societies, including within Yorubaland, hold the belief that when ancestral protocols are ignored, the land itself rejects the outcome.
This belief system may not fit modern bureaucratic logic, but it remains socially powerful and politically relevant.
From a governance perspective, Governor Abiodun’s actions—if accurately reported—constitute political overreach.
An elected governor derives legitimacy from constitutional authority, not cultural sovereignty.
Traditional rulership is not a political appointment; it is a cultural trust.
The Afobajes are not subordinates of the state government.
They are custodians of an older authority structure that predates the Nigerian state itself. Interfering in their process risks undermining both cultural legitimacy and political stability.
Comparative examples reinforce this boundary.
No government in Nigeria interferes with the traditional process for selecting the Ooni of Ife, currently Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.
The Ooni’s selection follows strictly defined traditional procedures, and political authorities cooperate with—not control—the process. That respect has preserved institutional stability, public legitimacy, and cultural continuity.
Paramount rulers in Yoruba history command cooperation, not coercion, from political leadership.
Ijebu society is particularly known for its cultural conservatism and strict adherence to tradition.
The Ijebu people do not joke with their traditional values. Their institutions have survived colonial restructuring, post-independence politics, military rule, and democratic transitions precisely because they are insulated from political manipulation.
Any attempt to politicise the Awujale stool risks long-term damage to social cohesion, legitimacy, and public trust.
The broader implication is clear: traditional institutions are not decorative cultural symbols—they are governance structures in their own right.
They regulate identity, legitimacy, morality, and continuity. Undermining them weakens the social fabric that holds communities together, especially in times of political and economic uncertainty.
If Nigeria is serious about preserving cultural heritage, social stability, and intergenerational legitimacy, the line must remain clear. Governments govern policy.
Traditions govern identity. Kingship belongs to the ancestors, the people, and history—not to political offices. Posterity will judge harshly any era that allowed political power to override ancestral authority.
For Ijebu, the message from the Afobajes is stark and symbolic: kingship is not negotiable, tradition is not for sale, and legitimacy cannot be imposed. In their worldview, only the ancestors select the Oba—and no government, however powerful, can replace that mandate.
In the early hours of today, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun convened an emergency meeting with the Ijebu traditional kingmakers, the Afobajes, over the succession to the Awujale stool.
According to sources present, interviewed by Headlinenews.news correspondent, the Governor presented Hon. Ademorin Kuye as both the preferred choice from “HQ” and his personal candidate, directing the Afobajes to formalise his emergence.
The council firmly rejected the instruction, insisting on due process and direct communication from “HQ” itself.
Tensions escalated when the Governor reportedly declared “No Kuye, No Awujale.”
The Afobajes responded bluntly, saying they would rather have Ijebu without an Awujale than accept an imposed choice.
Princess G. Adebajo-Fraser MFR.
Arewa O’odua of Yorubaland.
Daughter of the past Moyegeso of Itele.
