‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creatures that moves on the ground’, so commanded the Lord after creating man and woman in his image and likeness[1].
Allah, ‘thee do we worship, and thine aid we seek. Show us the straightway, the way of those on whom thou has bestowed thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray[2].’
The command of God and the supplication of his offspring as reflected in the religious literature in reference above remain the foundation of the existence of the Owu people and nation with their constant and continue request for divine guidance in all they do to enhance the prospect of humanity.
Ancient and contemporary history recognize Owu people as primus inter pares among the children or grandchildren of the legendary progenitor of the Yorubas – Oduduwa – as AjibosinAsunkungbade, first son of Princess Iyunande, daughter of Okanbi, first son of Oduduwa, was granted,inter vivos,Oduduwa’s coveted Royal Crown.
As spontaneous as the devolution of Oduduwa’s original crownto his grandson, AjibosinAsunkungbade was, so also was the voluntary release of six Ife chiefsby Oduduwa to accompany Asunkungbade to his parents’ home with a Royal order to cater and protect him.[3]
The six chiefs were Akogun, the leader of the traditional Palace Guards, Omolaasin, Obalufe whose pseudonym was Orunto, Obamaja, Oyegaa and Osupori. In Ajibosin’s parent location, Akogun became the chief of security and defense, Omolaasin was a special carer of Ajibosin while Orunto dropped the Ife title’s name of Obalufe (since he was no more in Ife) for Orunto and resumed responsibilities for commerce and financial management of the kingdom. Obamaja became information officer extraordinaire, as a forerunner of Olowu, with his traditional insignia of ‘aaja’ a ceremonial rattle (hollowed metal with pendulum object) to announce the presence of Olowu and echoing the king’s message. While Oyegaa was responsible for chieftaincy affairs, Osupori administered local government and land matters[4]. In addition to these traditional responsibilities of the chiefs, they are the bona fide kingmakers on whose shoulders lie the mandate to select a new candidate for Owu stool in accordance with the prescribed declaration and local government and chieftaincy law.
In the contemporary Owu settlement in Abeokuta after their exit from their war-torn OrileOwu, not only have the Ruling Houses been increased from three to six, the kingmakers too have increased from six to eight with Olosii, the Ifa Priest, who, besides being the traditional spiritualist and guidance of the stool, becomes a kingmaker. So also the BalogunOwu, now accorded a political generalissimo position as Prime Minister in the Owu cabinet, is a kingmaker.
A legendary Orunto of Owu in Abeokuta was Pa Simeon OrisabadeLasile of blessed memory. Pa OrisabadeLasile was a raconteur with endowed capacity to douse tension of any dimension in the palace; a noble wise-man whose character and mien placed him in the orbit of honour and respectability throughout his service as Orunto of Owu Abeokuta. He lived to witness in company of Obamaja, Lawyer AdejojuAdeyemi of blessed memory, the installation of the first Olowu from the Lagbedu Ruling House in Abeokuta in 1983.
Today, AbodunOladimeji a scion of Pa OrisabadeLasile has grown from a morsel to a humongous feed for humanity and has been elected to put his feet into the shoes of his father as OruntoOwu, Abeokuta where he is expected to give dedicated and honest service to Owu Kingdom with 100 per cent loyalty to Olowu, the paramount ruler of the ancient Owu Kingdom, Abeokuta, Oba Professor SakaAdelolaMatemilola, Oluyalo I, OtiletaVII.
Relatively young, effervescent and skilled, Abiodun is literarily backgrounded with his tentacles spread in the public space that bearing no inherent human fallibility, his enduring tutelage for the traditional position in Owu during and after the life of his father will stand him stead on Orunto’s seat.
I am enthusiastic about his success.
Oba OlufemiAdewunmiOgunleye,PhD, BL, FICMC, FNIPR
Chartered Mediator and Global Peace Ambassador
TowuladeAkinale, Lapeleke, Delesolu Dynasty
[1] Genesis 1: 28 NIV Engagement Bible, Zondervan Publishing House (Michigan 49530, USA).
[2] Holy Quran, Chapter 1: verses 5-7, Roman Transliteration of the Holy Quran, HallimEliasii, translated by Abdulla Yusuf All (Revised edt. 2000, Eliasii Family Book Service, India).
[3]S. Johnson, The History of Yorubas(CSS Limited, 2017).
[4] Oral interview with Pa Yemitan, the Baapitan of Owu Kingdom.
