Some aggrieved residents of Imasayi community in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State have rejected the installation of Oba Olalekan Kuoye as the new Olu of Imasayi.
This is coming barely two months after the Ogun State Government presented the staff of office and instrument of appointment to the new Oba, whose coronation ceremony holds on Saturday.
But, the residents, who were armed with various placards with various inscriptions, said Kuoye was not a native of Imasayi, let alone being a member of any of the ruling houses in the town, saying that was why people of the community “now die like fowls.”
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The protesters demanded that Kuoye’s installation be reversed, saying, “Please, help us in Imasayi, our rights are being infringed. No to Kuoye as Olu Imasayi. We don’t want a political king in Imasayi, kangaroo election process was done at Ayetoro, follow due process.”
The Balogun of Imasayi, Chief Timothy Akinleye, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, maintained that the installation of the new Oba was against the norms, customs and traditions of the land.
Akinleye claimed that the embattled Oba was only installed as a chief by the late monarch because they were friends, declaring that he was not entitled to the throne in any way.
According to him, there are two ruling houses in the land – the Aribioyo and the Oyesoku family, saying the former produced the last Oba and it was now the turn of the Oyesoku family.
He maintained that there was no family called Kuoye within the Oyesoku ruling house.
He also claimed that the current king was chosen by an uncertified chief of the land.
His words: ‘What is actually happening is that we have an age long process, traditions, customs and norms before we appoint anybody as the Oba, but this processes are being eroded and all of a sudden, we heard that the government appointed somebody who is a stranger element. He has no family, no house here, nothing whatsoever here.’
‘At present, we have two ruling houses, Aribiyo ruling house produced the Oba that died. It is the turn of the Oyesoku ruling house and they have not presented any candidate to the Regency Commitee. How Kuoye became the Olu of Imasayi is mysterious and unknown to the norms, customs and traditions of Imasayi. This is why people are dying like fowls.’
‘Government has presented a letter to Kuoye. We have written so many letters to the government but we have no bigwigs to assist us. Letters were written to the Governor’s office, to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; we even went ahead to the Governor’s office to protest two times, we met the Deputy Governor.’
Reacting, the embattled monarch, Oba Kuoye debunked the claims of the protesters, saying he is a bona fide son of Imasayi and member of the Oyesoku ruling house.
According to him there were eleven families that made up the Oyesoku ruling house, among which was his own Kuoye, adding that he was entitled to the throne.
‘I am a son of this land, my family belongs to one of the branches of Oyesoku ruling house. There are eleven family in the Oyesoku ruling house which Kuoye family is one.’
‘Kuoye is my surname and I have been using it since birth. It is in all my documents since primary school. Kuoye is a direct descendant of Oyesoku ruling family. Whoever said that Kuoye is not an indigene should retrace history.’
‘I was supported by 8 families out of the 11 families that make up the Kuoye ruling house, from there we wrote to the head of the family and the head of the family wrote to the local government and a date was set for the nomination, which was done in an open, well accredited environment. Nobody was restricted from attending. All the documents were signed by the Head of the family and the Local Government Secretary as an observer.’
‘I have opened the window of reconciliation with everybody. If truly we are interested in the development of Imasayi, bringing it from the shackles of oppression, all we need to do is to come together to build the Imasayi of our dream with the new Oba,’ he said.\
Africa Today News, New York can report that plans are still underway for the Oba’s coronation.