The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, is currently mobilsing fellow traditional rulers in Yorubaland to stop a plan to install a Yoruba Oba in France.
To this end, he has written a strongly worded letter too them, saying the scheme could rubbish the traditional institution.
The genesis of the mobilisation is a letter the Alaafin received from a man referred to as the the Mayegun of France, said to be residing at 1 Pare D’Orgemount 95500-Gonesse, France, seeking Alaafin’s approval for the appointment of a Yoruba monarch in the European country.
The Alaafin, regarded as an encyclopedia of history and tradition, said, ““The challenge before us as keepers and custodians of our cherished tradition is to emphasise the monarchical structure of the Yoruba society. In a nutshell, the Yoruba system does not provide for honorary obaship. It is institutional just as it is traditional.”
“In the Yoruba custom, the Obas are rulers over a homogeneous community, such as Ibadan, Oyo, Ijebu, Ijesha, Egba and so on. The Oba, being proposed, can only be heterogeneous of mixed Yoruba varieties.
“As I raised my response to that letter of request, what will be material affluence or age – neither of which is acceptable to Yoruba tradition and custom.
“To me, the request is as ridiculous as expecting the British citizen in France for whatever reasons to appoint a Queen or King in France. I deliberately chose that analogy between Yoruba and the British because we have common history of monarchy, both in age and value. We should not allow any negative modernity take us back from our cherished values and customs.
“Let me appeal to all of us to raise various protests in whatever form we can adopt, including the media, to frustrate the emergence of any pseudo Oba in the Diaspora. They should content themselves with elected officers for their welfare and interest in countries of their abode.”
“For our information and careful consideration, kingmakers in Yorubaland have their respective dynasties or hereditary lineages… The Yoruba central authority system is a delicately balanced system of inclusive and representative government. It is equally important to ask the central question about Consenting Authority for the appointment of the Yoruba Oba of France. Would the consenting authority be the president of France, who himself exercises power under a Republican Order?
“It will be equally interesting to know the pattern or order of succession to the proposed stool of Yoruba Oba of France. How many ruling families are being proposed and what are the processes and procedures for their emergence?”
