The attack, last week, on the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, is foreboding of the days ahead, writes Olawale Olaleye
To assume that last Monday’s attack by armed hoodlums on the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, had political underhand may be technically hasty, however, it’s persuasively not impossible. The palace has had too many things going south for it in the last few weeks, especially when this had involved confronting the state for allegedly interfering in purely traditional matters and debatably so.
The recent coronation of 21 Baales elevated to the status of Oba by Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State had stirred the hornet’s nest in the trado-political hemisphere of the state. The traditional institution had accused the government of politicizing the idea of kingship to suit some political interest, particularly as the state projects into the next election year. But the state had argued otherwise. The idea, the state insisted, was meant to shore up the status of the Olubadan amongst his contemporaries and place him where he ordinarily ought to be.
Unfortunately, no such explanation made sense to the palace, which had concluded the move was conceived, not only to humiliate the Oba but reduce his influence within the state’s traditional institution. Indeed, the Oba held a rally, where he dismissed the coronation as mere charade and that he remained the only recognised Oba in the entire Ibadanland. And as a follow-up, the Oba had approached the court on the matter, challenging Ajimobi’s interference in the palace and its affairs.
Needless to say both parties also had their support bases respectively. While the governor was stoutly backed by those, who saw the move as some form of emancipation from what they glibly referred to as the ‘enslaving tradition’ of Ibadanland, those behind the palace and who stand to benefit from the status quo maintained the narrative that it was political and that no such move should fly without the full buy-in of the palace. And so, the situation had remained chaotic until the Monday attack on the palace, which further exacerbated the situation and completely introduced a new slant to the phase.
According to reports, four yet-to-be identified gunmen had stormed the Olubadan palace and shot at everything on sight. Curiously, this happened during an installation ceremony of new Baales as the Olubadan had just conferred chieftaincy titles on two of the four Baale-nominees, when the hoodlums reportedly drove into the palace in a black Toyota Sienna.
Many people including a former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Sarafadeen Alli, and three journalists, amongst whom was the THISDAY correspondent in the state, Ademola Babalola, narrowly escaped death, during the attack.
Immediately, the state government condemned the development in a press release by the Special Adviser to the governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka. The governor, who later convened a security meeting, had directed all security agencies in the state to ensure that the masterminds of the attack were brought to justice.
Also, addressing journalists at the end of the security meeting, Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Segun Abolarinwa, pointed fingers at those he called failed politicians as masterminds of the attack. Although he said the security agencies had not come to any conclusion yet, preliminary reports suggested that political opponents bent on disrupting the peace of the land were behind the attack.
A former Governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who has been unapologetically opposed to the review of 1957 Olubadan chieftaincy declaration condemned the attack, saying: “What the gunmen did was very bad. Anyone who is aggrieved about what the Olubadan is doing in his palace should go to court instead of resulting to violence. Sending gunmen to the palace to scare people is not the right thing to do. They want to scare people away from the palace, because they know that the people are on the side of the Olubadan.â€
However, the fact that the state government had also alluded to opposition politicians as the likely masterminds gives credence to the assumption that the development could not be insulated from political undertone. And the fact that this is coming as the state looks forward to another election year is therefore disturbing and worrisome.
That Ibadan and indeed, Oyo State boasts an unsavoury history of political violence makes the Monday attack one that must be diligently investigated and ensure that the culprits were brought to book. The palace is a civil authority with defined affiliation to government and its functionality. Whatever transpires between the state and the traditional institution should not provide a cover for mischief, either by elements of the state or those in the opposition camp.
The attack was incontestably senseless, meaningless, mindless, needless and uncalled for, particularly during a solemn function. It is for this reason and more that government should not just order the security agencies to do the needful, it must take it upon itself to follow up on the order and ensure that those unscrupulous elements are made to account for their sins in a manner that is just and fair. It is then that the state can be completely exonerated from what has happened.
