Exemplary conduct of three Yoruba traditional rulers

 

On April 19, last Sunday, I arrived in the ancient town of Ile-Ife via Ibadan. I was there on official assignment courtesy of The Kukah Centre. It was a stakeholders’ validation meeting on the Context Analysis and Compliance Assessment of Political Parties Reports that had been drafted by the centre. Recall that the off-cycle governorship election in Osun State is scheduled for August 15, 2026, by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The interest of TKC is to know if due process was followed by the political parties in the nomination of their candidates, as well as the security and political climate of the State of the Living Spring.

I am not a stranger to Ife. I have been to the town several times, but it’s been a long time since I had the privilege of sleeping over in the ancient town. Ile-Ife is believed to be the cradle of the Yoruba race. Online sources have this to say about the town: Ile-Ife is recognised as the spiritual and cultural “cradle of civilisation” for the Yoruba people, serving as their ancestral home and the mythological site of creation. Founded over 1,000 years ago, it is significant as the source of Yoruba kingship (via Oduduwa), renowned for naturalistic ancient art, and a centre of religious tradition.

According to Yoruba cosmology, Ile-Ife is where the creation of the world began. It is called “Ife Oodaye”, the spot where deities descended to create land. It is the spiritual home for all Yoruba people and a major pilgrimage site, embodying their ancestral identity. It is considered the origin of Yoruba kingship, founded by Oduduwa, who was the first Ooni (king) of Ife. Renowned globally for its ancient, highly sophisticated naturalistic bronze and terracotta sculptures (12th–14th centuries), these artworks demonstrate advanced early civilisation and metalwork. While its political dominance as a city-state spanned the 6th–12th centuries, it maintained its position as a cultural epicentre that shaped Yoruba political and religious structures.

In the evening of last Sunday, I paid a visit to the Obafemi Awolowo University, jokingly called Oba Awon Universities, meaning the king of all universities. I’ve been there too, but it was decades ago, in 1999. I had been at the university’s conference centre to train the newly elected local government chairmen and councillors under the auspices of USAID-Office of Transition Initiatives. So, I decided to see what the institution currently looks like. To have a proper feel of the ivory tower, I walked from the campus gate to the Oduduwa Hall. The atmosphere was serene, with well-paved lawns, and the Oduduwa Hall is currently under renovation.

I saw some of the 80 Renewed Hope CNG buses and electric tricycles recently donated by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, which were aimed at improving mobility within the university. The interesting thing I saw is that you have to buy N100 tickets from the vendors before you can access the buses. So, instead of the drivers collecting money, they collect the tickets from passengers and perhaps get reimbursed for the number of tickets collected at the end of the day’s work. I saw that OAU has a Department of Local Government and Development Studies, and I wonder why the numerous challenges facing our local government systems remain unsolved despite the number of experts the department must have churned out. Perhaps the problem lies more with a lack of political will than expertise to drive good governance at the grassroots level.

Now to the main reasons for this piece. In the olden days, traditional rulers, once appointed, became the responsibility of their communities to cater for. They do not work again but live on the isakole, an indigenous form of tribute, ground rent, or agricultural tenancy paid to landowners or chiefs.  But in contemporary times, rather than taking from their people, some traditional rulers are now the ones given to their people. They establish businesses that provide jobs for their people, while some offer free education to the children of the indigents. It is to salute the courage and exemplary conduct of some of these traditional rulers that makes me handpick at least three royal fathers of Yoruba extraction. They are the Ajagbusi-Ekun, Owaloko of Iloko-Ijesa, Oba Oladele Olasore of blessed memory, Orangun of Oke Ila, Oba Abolarin Adedokun and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.

Oba Oladele Olasore (February 17, 1935 – June 2, 2012) was a Nigerian banker, educator, philanthropist, and traditional ruler. He served as the 19th Ajagbusi-Ekun, Owaloko of Iloko-Ijesa, a town in Osun State. Olasore was a former managing director of First Bank of Nigeria and the founder of Lead Merchant Bank. He also established the Olasore International School, a private secondary school designed to provide quality education in rural Nigeria. He was a recipient of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger. I am saluting the courage of the late Kabiyesi for choosing to put his hometown on the global map by establishing a world-class educational institution in his rural and rustic town of Iloko way back in 1994. Today, many know that town through the lens of the Olasore International School, which has produced students who are today movers and shakers of Nigeria.

Until his installation as the new Òràngún of Òkè-Ìlá in 2006, Oba Adedokun Abolarin was the principal partner of Dokun Abolarin & Co., a firm of Solicitors and Legal Consultants, which had served as company secretary to various corporations.

Oba Abolarin is the founder of Abolarin College, Oke-Ila-Orangun, Osun State, a school set up to fight poverty through free education for indigent students of Nigeria. In a July 10, 2025, post on his Facebook page, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has this to say about the Kabiyesi, “Oba Adedokun Abolarin, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, is a role model. A rare example of how tradition could be an agent of change in a modernising world. Education is the greatest asset that God has deposited on the planet. I endorse Kabiyesi’s initiative. It’s a passion that I share. And I wish his students the best in the great future that lies ahead of them. -AA”

I have watched the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, speak truth to power about the imperative of youth empowerment. The 51st Ooni is not just asking people in political authority to do the needful but is leading the charge. Kabiyesi is a business octopus with substantial investments in real estate, hospitality, manufacturing, and agribusiness, largely under the Grand Imperial Group and Ojaja Group. His investments include the Ife Grand Resort and Industrial Hub, which is a 1,000-acre project featuring a 3,000-seater MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) centre.  Some of the local industries he is promoting are the Adire Oodua Textile Hub. He also established Ojaja Soft Drinks. He has launched Ojaja Malls and Ojaja University in Kwara State to foster education and economic growth in the region. Coming from Ibadan last Sunday, I saw some of these businesses, such as the Ojaja University, Ife Campus and Ojaja Malls. This is to mention just a few of the foremost oba’s business interests. Just imagine how many Ife youths the Kabiyesi would have empowered by siting these investments in his home town, state and Nigeria.

Am sure there are many more traditional rulers across tribes and religion in Nigeria doing what these aforementioned traditional rulers are doing that needs to be saluted and encouraged. While other traditional rulers are selling ancestral lands and chieftaincy titles to make money for themselves, these three highlighted Yoruba Obas chose to tread a noble path of giving back to society. Kudos to them and other philanthropic traditional rulers.

I.G: @jideojong