According to attorney Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja, no Supreme Court ruling renders the Alaafin of Oyo‘s stool the final arbiter of pan-Yoruba disputes.
Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, the Alaafin of Oyo, and Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, recently bestowed the Okanlomo of Yorubaland chieftaincy title on Ibadan business magnate Engineer Dotun Sanusi, sparking a contentious debate on social media.
The Ooni was given a 48-hour ultimatum to renounce the chieftaincy title or face dire consequences by the Oyo supreme monarch, who viewed the action as an insult to his authority.
The Abuja attorney, however, called the Alaafin’s warning completely unnecessary and unconstitutional in a statement that was uploaded on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
Beyond its seeming provocation, he contended, “the Alaafin’s order constitutes an impermissible assault on the very foundation of Yoruba heritage and seeks to revive a jurisdictional contest which neither law nor history sustains.”
The Ooni of Ife behaved in accordance with his legal, ancestoral, and cultural rights. These are innate, unique generis prerogatives that no other seat may usurp. They originate from the fundamental normative basis of Yoruba civilization and are not the result of conquering or temporal power, according to Olajengbesi.
“Every student of Yoruba history is aware that tradition and scholarship unanimity confirm Ile-Ife as the birthplace of the Yoruba people, the ancestral home where Oduduwa, the race’s progenitor, established the legitimacy that all kingdoms, including Oyo, derived their power from.”
As a lawyer who has argued cases involving chieftaincy law, he emphasized that he could confirm that no legislation, ruling from the Supreme Court, or constitutional document gives the Alaafin unique pan-Yoruba jurisdiction.
Through state chieftaincy statutes, not lingering claims of imperial invasion, the law acknowledges traditional rulers.
“With the utmost respect, the frequently mentioned Supreme Court ruling that is now inflated and allegedly gave the Alaafin authority must be appropriately limited to its facts. No ratio decidendi of that Court has ever proclaimed the Alaafin to be the exclusive keeper of Yoruba legitimacy, and judicial rulings are case-specific. “The Court cannot by judicial fiat extend such jurisdiction, and no statute in any Yoruba-speaking state gives the Alaafin exclusive authority to confer titles of pan-Yoruba significance,” the attorney said.
Chief Dotun Sanusi, a well-known Yoruba businessman and philanthropist, was given the title Okanlomo of Oodua; nevertheless, this is neither a military command nor a political position. It is a cultural honor that represents unity and fraternity. As the guardian of Yoruba identity, the Ooni is well-suited to receive such honors,” he continued.
