Ibadan High Chiefs, others want an Olubadan not dependent on govt funding

JOSEPH OKWUOFU, Ibadan

Olubadan High Chiefs, prominent indigenes as well as associations have concluded plans to have an institutionalised Olubadan stool that will be independent and completely insulated from government funding.

A former Secretary to the Oyo State Government and Ibadan Senior Chief, Akogun Sarafadeen Alli, dropped the hints on Thursday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while featuring as a guest Speaker to mark 100 days of Olubadan in office.

Alli also disclosed that the leadership of Ibadanland has set up neighbourhood security network to tackle insecurity in the land.

The programme tagged: “Ibadan yesterday, today and tomorrow”, was organized by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Oyo State Council.

The Ibadan senior chief noted that Ibadan indigenes were finding a way to insulate the palace of Olubadan from government funding.

The Oyo South Senatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said Ibadanland would take a cue from the Southwest Governors who recently created Amotekun corps to fight insecurity.

According to him, “One of the things we are looking at is having things that will fetch money for the institution and as such, no Governor or anybody will be able to say or do anything to the Olubadan.”

He further said; “Today, our fathers, the High Chiefs are the heads of the traditional councils of the 11 local government areas in Ibadan land. We are also thinking of ways of instituting reforms for that and a lot of work is being done by the present Olubadan and his Advisory Council. One of the things we are looking at is having things that will fetch money for the institution and as such, no Governor or anybody will be able to say or do anything to the Olubadan.

“The fate of Ibadan land has been left too long in the hands of nobody. But, today, we have the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) that is doing these things.

“Also, we have the native security network in Ibadan; those of us in town will know the effect of some of these things. This is because we all have a focus for the Ibadan of tomorrow. We took a cue from the Governors of the South West in setting up Amotekun to say let us have our own neighbourhood security network. We are working with the police and Amotekun to ensure that this works.”

In the same vein, the President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigene, Prince Oluyemisi Adeaga, said there are measures the people of the land are putting in place to fight insecurity.

He said: “Security is a very technical issue. It is not about physical perspective. A lot of things are being deployed to resolve security challenges in Ibadanland and state at large. Apart from the psychological aspect, we have deployed information technology for fighting insecurity. At Ibadan level, we have a network of security consciousness involving round all the Ibadan Mogajis, Bales and chiefs.

“In any community, when there is crisis, it is not always difficult to zero in on the culprits because the Mogajis are involved and they know their subjects to easily track down criminal elements that cause problems in that area. That is why the incidences of internal banditry are reducing now. But when it comes to external affairs, that is where we have a few challenges because we cannot control people coming to the state. There is internet monitoring of movement in the forest.”

In his own contribution, the Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Senator Kola Balogun, charged the people of Ibadanland to engage intellectual battles rather than hooliganism.

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