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Lawyer Counters Alaafin’s Claim On Pan-Yoruba Supremacy
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Ooni acted within cultural rights to honour Ibadan businessman Dotun Sanusi.
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Supreme Court ruling never declared Alaafin sole Yoruba custodian.
An Abuja-based lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has dismissed claims that the Alaafin of Oyo holds supreme authority over pan-Yoruba affairs.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that in a statement shared on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Olajengbesi argued that no Supreme Court judgment has ever conferred such power on the Alaafin, describing the monarch’s recent threat against the Ooni of Ife as “gratuitous and constitutionally unsound.”
The controversy began after the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, reportedly conferred the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on Ibadan businessman, Engineer Dotun Sanusi. The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, viewed the action as an affront to his authority and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni to revoke the title or face “severe consequences.”
Reacting, Olajengbesi said the Alaafin’s threat undermines the dignity of Yoruba thrones and contradicts constitutional law. He noted that the Ooni acted within his cultural and ancestral rights, stressing that these rights are not subject to conquest or usurpation by any other stool.
“The Ooni of Ife acted squarely within his lawful, ancestral, and cultural prerogatives. Every student of Yoruba history knows that Ile-Ife is the cradle of existence of the Yoruba people and the foundation from which all other kingdoms, including Oyo, derived their legitimacy,” Olajengbesi said.
He further explained that no statute, constitutional instrument, or Supreme Court ruling grants the Alaafin exclusive pan-Yoruba authority. According to him, chieftaincy laws are defined by state statutes, not historical claims of conquest.
He emphasised that the much-referenced Supreme Court judgment often cited in favour of the Alaafin has been misinterpreted. “No judicial pronouncement has ever declared the Alaafin the sole custodian of Yoruba legitimacy,” he said.
Olajengbesi added that the conferment of the Okanlomo of Oodua title on Chief Dotun Sanusi was a cultural honour and not a political position or military role. He maintained that such honours fall within the Ooni’s prerogative as custodian of Yoruba heritage and identity.
