Oba Aladelusi according to some traditional chiefs needed to stamp his authority to avoid being seen as a toothless bulldog who can only bark but can’t bite.
They said that the town is in support of the Oba’s bold move to assert himself unlike before when everybody used to do whatever he or she pleased about the traditional stool. While his “fight” with the Igbo’s in the state still ranges, the supremacy of the traditional ruler is been questions in some Akure communities.
Why is the traditional ruler of Akure, the Deji, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, fighting many battles at the same time? This is the question that is begging for answers across the state. Many are of the view that the Oba may be biting more than he can chew while others believed that recalcitrant subjects needed to be whip to line in the interest of peace in the community.
His opposition to Eze Ndigbo title: Only last week the Oba Aladelusi wielded the big stick when he issued a month notice to the erstwhile title owner, Gregory Ilohehika to consider accepting the title of “Igbo Leader” or “Onyedu Ndigbo” as against the proscribed title.
Leadership of the Igbo Before now, the Oba and the title owner Ilohehika have been at loggerheads over the leadership of the Igbo in the state and this had led to bad blood for months.
To show that he is in charge, the Oba “derobed” the title owner of the Eze Ndigbo and this further angered the Igbo who insisted that Ilohehika was elected and would remain. Oba Aladelusi went further during the week to stamp his authority by issuing the month notice to the erstwhile title owner, Gregory Ilohehika to consider accepting the title of Igbo Leader or Onyedu Ndigbo as against the proscribed title.
To make it official, a letter has been forwarded by the Oba to Ilohehika to acquit him of the renaming of his title. To show his seriousness, the traditional ruler said in the letter that; “It should be noted that this is the newly approved traditional title for any Igbo leader within Akure and its environ.
According to a statement by the Oba’s Chief Press Secretary, Micheal Adeyeye, said “a month notice has been communicated to Mr. Gregory Ilohehika to accept this in good fate taking effect from February 1, 2016. “Based on the amendment, Mr. Gregory has been advised to apply in writing for this new title if he is still interested. Failure to comply with this directive shall amount to rejection of the new title.
In view of the possible rejection of the new title, the Igbo community shall produce another Leader from among at the expiration of the ultimatum. His Majesty remains committed to ensuring peaceful and harmonious relationship with the Igbo community and all other non-indigenes in Akure Kingdom.
However, the Igbos have rallied round their leader, Ilohehika, insisting that the Deji has no right to change the nomenclature of the Igbos in the state under any guise. Some Igbo leaders who spoke with Vanguard in confidence said that the Oba “seems to be biting more than he can chew on his war against the Igbos in the state.”
They wondered why the Oba would not soft pedal on his “hatred” for the Eze Ndigbo in the state insisting that he can’t be removed until he completes his tenure. According to them the title of Eze Ndigbo is in existence in other states across the country and wondered why the Oba would want to rename it in the state.
Reacting officially, the President and the state Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chiefs Okechukwu Okorie and Alloy I.K Anoliefo respectively said, “We have considered the title of Eze Ndigbo as adopted by the Igbos outside Igbo land as sacrosanct and non-negotiable and that the title is widely recognized and used both within and outside Nigeria as approved by the association of Ndieze Ndigbo N’uzo Ije and Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide which are the parent bodies.
“It was unanimously agreed that the Igbos in Ondo State, as a body, is standing by the position of the parent bodies on the use of the title as adopted by the Igbos in diasporas, and that Sir Gregory Iloehika having been installed remain the only recognized Eze Ndigbo.” They said the leadership of Iloehika as the Eze is not limited to Akure, the state capital but to all the 18 Local Government areas of the state as he was duly elected in keenly contested election by the entire Igbo across the state.
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