The following excerpt is from a currently trending post on social media. The post surfaced after Mr. Obasanjo's public humiliation of Yoruba Kings, commanding them to stand up at governors and presidents' entrances anywhere at all times on September 15, 2023:
"Oba Ademuagun was installed as Deji on October 28, 1957. In the same year, 1957, he was inducted into the Western House of Chiefs, which we know as "Ipade Lobaloba".
"The incident happened during the very first meeting he attended. All the selected Oba in the region attended the meeting with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was the Premier of the western region. In Ondo province, only five Obas attended the meeting, namely, Deji of Akureland, Olowo of Owo, Osemawe of Ondo, Ewi of Ado, and Elekole of Ikole. At the meeting, all the Obas were already seated before Awolowo walked majestically in his usual way. Immediately he arrived, all the obas stood up except Oba Ademuagun and Ekun oko Eyesorun. The other Obas were surprised to see this new and young Oba from Akure seated when Awolowo came in. Awolowo himself was surprised and asked who he was, and he replied, "I am the Deji of Akureland, Ademuagun Adesida II."
"Awolowo queried his audacity, and Oba Ademuagun responded, "Was it polite seeing the likes of Kabiesi Adesoji Aderemi or Alaafin Ladigbolu, who are older than us, standing up for you while you walk in? In London, where we both studied law, have you ever heard that someone walked in, and the Queen stood up? In fact, Queen will enter the venue last. Even if Nigeria's system of government is different from theirs, respect must be given to whom it is due. We here inherited our father's stool, and only death that can remove us, but for you, your time on this seat will soon lapse. You got there by thumb, and through thumb you shall be removed." "I, Ademuagun, will never stand up for you."
The Awolowo family disputed the account of any altercation between the Deji of Akure and Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1957. So, we looked into it, and here is what we found and analyzed:
First, let us introduce the subjects to understand the background of the controversy. Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo was the first Leader of Government Business, Minister of Local Government and Finance, and Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria's parliamentary system, from 1952 to 1959. He was highly respected by all Nigerians for the role he played in the independence movement (1957–1961). He was born on March 6, 1909, and died on May 9, 1987. Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Omo Oduduwa. Oba Ademuagun Adesida II was born in 1925 and died in 1973. HRM, Oba Ademuagun Adesida attended the prestigious King’s College Lagos and studied Law in Britain. He was the 42nd Traditional ruler (Deji) of Akure and reigned from 1957- 1973. He was the first Nigerian lawyer to be king.
The Deji of Akure, Oba Ademuwagun Adesida II, and his wife,Olori Adebola Asake Adesida (OFR), the Eyesorun of Akure, with Sir Thomas Butler, Resident Governor of the Tower of London, during their visit to the Tower of London.
The first meeting of the Yoruba Obas took place in the ancient city of Oyo at the palace hall of the Alafin of Oyo in 1937. This meeting usually takes place once a year in January, April, and August, and it only went on until 1941. It seized and restarted only during the Western State period, and it seized again, according to the attached audio from HRM King Aderemi Adeen Adedapo, the Alayemore of Ido Osun, who served as the secretary for the council of Yoruba Obas in the mid-1990s. Oba Adesida was installed as Deji on October 28, 1957. Note the age difference.
The conferences of Yoruba Obas usually consist of Obas, so there would have been more Obas in attendance as well as sufficient members of the press. But let us assume that there might have been a special meeting that year, and the Deji would have been the youngest, newest, and freshman in the circle of the Yoruba Royals at the time. Such an action from him would have been serious misconduct that would have haunted him throughout his tenure. Especially for the five first-class Yoruba Obas who were in attendance, there would have been dire consequences because all these people were working together towards nation-building, decolonization, and independence. The Ooni Aderemi was the most senior of the Yoruba Obas; he was also the permanent chairman of the Yoruba Council of Obas as well as the Governor of Western Region at the time.
The only recorded account of Chief Obafemi Awolowo ever meeting a Deji was in the early 1950s, when he met His Majesty, Oba Afunbiowo Adesida I, the Deji of Akure and father of Ademuagun Adesida II. In order to encourage support for his government's free primary education policy, the Western Region's then-premier visited Akure. The visiting premier was called to the Deji of Akure's palace while in Akure to discuss the free education program that was implemented in the western region in the early 1950s. According to the narrative of this incident, the Deji "was carried to the throne, frail and weak," to welcome Chief Awolowo and his entourage.
“…I do not stand here as the man who gave your land to the people of Idanre. I stand here as your servant, the servant of all children of Oduduwa in Nigeria. What we have planned is for the good of your children and therefore your own good too. Education is the only way in which we can make progress in the new world. It is this education that my government promises to give your children, free of charge to all of you. I want you all to go and register your children who are over the age of six for this opportunity. Do not let anyone deceive you, it is not a trick to cheat you. It is for the good of your children,” Chief Obafemi Awolowo declared and waited for a response.
Oba Afunbiowo (He that is clear as money) Adesida asked to know what he, and his subjects would pay to have the “free” education for their children. “Just 10 Shillings”, they told the Deji. “All Kabiyesi has to pay for all his children to get education is 10 Shillings and all of them will go to school free of charge.”
The Deji agreed and instructed the people of Akure and districts to accept free primary education. The Deji ordered town criers to go to work at once to announce the good tidings (See Kole Omotoso’s “Just Before Dawn,” pages 194-195). All the Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964) of Akure and all over Yorubaland are beneficiaries of this policy. Chief Awolowo took the policy to a higher notch with his Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) policy of free and qualitative education up to secondary school level. Many of the Generation X (1965-1980) were beneficiaries of that policy till 1983, when General Muhammadu Buhari truncated that Republic through his December 31, 1983, coup d’état and introduced 20 Naira school fees, which he backdated to September 1983. This was the beginning of the drop on the trajectory of the literacy rate gained in Nigeria as drop out skyrocketed.
See the details of Nigerian education here
The free education that Awolowo provided was transformative and accelerating. It enabled extremely poor children to attend school and succeed in life, even generations after them continue to benefit from the standard the boomers and X have reached from the provisions. These benefits are now out of reach for the average person in Nigeria, leaving the extremely poor behind. According to the Western Nigeria Annual Abstract of Education Statistics (1955–1966), the Awolowo administration increased the percentage of grants for primary education to 52 percent in 1955–1956; it then increased to 60 percent in 1958; 69 percent in 1969; 82 percent in 1960; and 80 percent in 1966. The region's budget for education received between 28.9 percent and 41 percent of all expenditures over that time period. More kids were enrolled in school as a result of these intentional practices, and their parents paid nothing. In a paper titled "The Development of Free Education in Western Nigeria," Ademola Ajayi refers to the program as "the boldest and perhaps the most unprecedented educational scheme in Africa south of the Sahara," quoting a report written by the late Babs Fafunwa in 1974.
That is how history would remember Awolowo's initiative from 1955, which helped the Western Region advance in terms of civilization. More crucially, this was the Premier's and Deji's official stance on their relationship. Therefore, for the new Deji Ademuagun II to treat Awolowo in the manner outlined in the text, it would be a dreadful act of ingratitude. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was revered by the Yorubas as the wise visionary, the prophet, the founding father of the Yoruba country, and the foremost statesman of Nigeria's independence.
As a result, it is risky and irresponsible to paint Deji as a haughty legal monarch and Chief Awolowo as an attention-seeking, respect-demanding political miscreant in today's post-truth world. Dr. Wale Idris Ajibade Executive Director African Views Organization