Princes, under the aegis of Concerned Olugbon Princes, have declared that the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon should be ahead of the Soun of Ogbomosoland in the Oyo State Councils of Obas and Chiefs, but for modernity and administrative convenience.
They also berated Soun mogajis for criticising the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Olushola Alao, on his critical position on the amendment of the Council of Obas and Chiefs Act.
The princes, in a statement signed on their behalf by Prince Olaniyi Olawale, traced the history of Soun and explained why the traditional ruler is nowhere in rank with the Olugbon.
The statement read: “The attention of Concerned Princes of Olugbon has been drawn to a release by the so- called Soun mogajis where they criticised Oba Francis Olushola Alao over his comment on the restructured Council of Obas and Chiefs in Oyo State.
“The question to ask the mogajis is: When does it become a sin for a citizen of Nigeria to air his views over a matter of concern to him or anyone else for that matter?
“We would have kept our peace over the unguarded outburst of these mogajis if they had focused on Oba Alao in their diatribe.
“But the resorted to history and in that way bit the fingers that fed their forbears and disparaged Igbon. There is the need to put the record straight for the sake of posterity and citizens who may have read their statement.
“To us, all the issues raised by Oba Alao as regards the politicisation of the restructuring of the Oyo Council of Obas and Chiefs to favour Ibadan which has dominated all sectors of Oyo State, is nothing but the truth.
“We believe that the so-called Soun mogajis would never see this because the ambition of their oba to sit as a chairman where the oba who helped their dynasty to be promoted to obaship position and oba whose forefathers had carried by head BERE grass to both Oyo Ile and Oyo Atiba to maintain his palace has been realised, though temporarily.
“Then, as regards the comment of Oba Alao on the boundary between Igbon and Ijeru and the need for Olugbon and Onpetu to have precedence over Soun in the Council of Obas and Chiefs, is there any controversy over this?
“For the information of the mogajis and others reading this, Olugbon and Onpetu have been obas of antiquity, while the first Soun to be installed an oba is the incumbent, Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, Orumogege 3.
“If not in a society where dogs lord it over lions, how can an oba of 1976 be a chairman in the comity of Oduduwa blooded monarchs?
“When Oba Olushola Alao said Soun settled on Olugbon’s land, is there anything farther than the truth?
“The fact is Soun did not only settle on Olugbon’s land but Olugbon directed him to settle on the land to oversee it for him. That was how Soun became a baale. Or how did Soun become a baale and whose baale was he?
“It appears mogajis of Soun have forgotten the history of their forebears and how they got to the present town from their Ibaruba nation.
“For their information, their progenitor, Gborungule by name, was an Ilari of Olugbon at Igbon. It was he who, when on errand to Iresa, raped an Aresa princess called Omoinla. Soun, the founder of their dynasty, was a product of this mishap.
“It is a common knowledge that Aresa of the time was angry over the relationship but had to be persuaded and remonstrated by Olugbon who adopted the son.
“For the mogajis’ information, it was Olugbon who named their father as Ogunlola Ogundiran. His oriki – praise name – is Aisa. His Orile – lineage code was Agbe.
“Soun becoming anything in life is premised on his relationship with Olugbon and Aresa. Is it therefore not an act of ingratitude for the children of Soun to disparage the throne which harbored their forebears in their hours of uncertainty?
“We can not blame the mogajis for questioning the site of Orile-Igbon because they are foreigners in this land. Oyerinde in his book, “Iwe Itan Ogbomoso,” affirmed the fact of Soun dynasty being foreigners in Ogbomoso.
“On page 256 of the English version, the Baale’s favourite adage runs thus: ‘some people in this town are inhabitants but not natives of Ogbomoso’, to it, those who disagreed replied that Baale must have been standing before a mirror.
Then would you blame the mogajis for not knowing the history of their purported land?
“For their information, Igbon has been on the spot where Orile-Igbon is hundred of years before their forefathers sojourned in this area.
The source of Oba River is at Orile-Igbon and a totem of Igbon lineage where their oriki- lineage poetry is taken- ‘Omo Olugbon Agbe, Omo Obayamu’.
Other land-owning obas like Onpetu and Aresa have rivers which have become their own family totem and which their families venerate their goddess. Oje River for Onpetu, Asa River for Aresa. Can we say this of foreigners telling anyhow history?
“There was never Igbon Saakin anywhere under the globe. Saakin was one of the 16 leading esos of the old Oyo Empire in his time. It was he whose children are praised Omo Olugbon Saakin.
“It is true that Igbons are found throughout Yorubaland. Rather than being dispersed by war, like Oduduwa’s children, whose mogajis’ father was not. These Igbon descendants left their town in search of glory in other land.
“It was in the course of their adventure that they established all those towns, including Igbeti that was not mentioned in the diatribe. “Besides, having the descendants of a kingdom in various parts of Yorubaland and beyond is a feature of classical kingdoms of the Yoruba.
“So having Igbon descendants in various parts, rather than being a curse, is a blessing for Igbon people as being one of the classical kingdoms in Yorubaland.
“But for the ingratitude on the part of the mogajis, we could have counted them among Igbon descendants. But having adopted Alapa and Aresa Oriles, we cannot do that. But the fact still remains that the first Soun was bred in Igbon.
“Other issue raised by Soun mogajis is that Ogbomoso provided refuge for Igbon during the turbulent days after the fall of Oyo-Ile.
“The question is, what was the power of Baale Ogbomoso at that time that can make about 143 towns and villages to seek refuge under him?
“Toyeje who was Baale and Are Onakakanfo, respectively, could not defend the empire because he lost all wars fought during his time as the Are Onakakanfo.
“These wars included Ogele, Mugbamugba, Kainla and Gbodo wars. Even Pamo, which was fought between him and Adegun Onikoyi, ended in disaster for him.
Baale Oluwusi who succeeded him was not a warrior. He had for his defence Ijeru forces led by Lasinmiran.
“The fact of the case for the benefits of mogajis and their likes who lack knowledge of history of our area is that it was Olugbon Olugbode Atanda Agbe, mentioned in their diatribe as the next in rank to Alaafin in the hierarchy of Oyo Empire obas that invited all towns and villages in the three contiguous provinces of old Oyo Empire – Otun, Osi, Ibolo and Epo after the fall of Oyo-Ile to converge in his land in Ogbomoso to combine their forces to defend the remnants of Oyo empire from falling prey to the enemy.
“The gathering of Oyo forces at Okeelerin for preparation for the Eleduwe War was at the instance of the Olugbon who has his palace there.
“If these towns and villages moved to Ogbomoso as refugees as these quack historians wanted us to believe, why did their fathers not stop them from moving back to their homesteads after the cessation of hostilities?
“We will like to conclude that rather than being the lord of Olugbon, Olugbon is the lord of the Soun and his father.
“As a matter of fact, father/child or landlord/tenant relationship existed between Olugbon and the Soun until 1934 as reported by Oyerinde in his book mentioned earlier.
“On page 76 of the Yoruba version, the author, while reporting on the era of Olugbon Kolawole Ajai, the second Olugbon in Ogbomoso after the congregation said: ‘Tanmoni Adio ti o koko je Olu Igbon si Ogbomoso ko ni okiki bi Kolawole Ajai ti o je tele. Ajai pe pupo, o si gbe oye re ga pupo. Baale Ogbomoso ko je fi oro re sire. Lodoodun ni baale ni lati mu owo, obi ati agbo lo si Ile Olugbon fun ẹbọ dun’.
“Do we need any other evidence of lord/tenant relationship between Olugbon and Soun when we have the above writing by one of the first educated elites in Ogbomoso and someone appointed as Otun Baale by Baale Afolabi Oyewumi after writing the book?
“The Imperial Majesty conferred on Soun, for the information of the mogajis, is a misnomer because even the Queen or King of England that once ruled over the largest empire in world history is never addressed as Imperial Majesty but merely Your Highness, the Queen or King.
“Making Soun one of the chairmen of Oyo State Council of Obas is for administrative convenience and it never erases his history of once being a baale that was upgraded to Soun in 1952 and oba in 1976.
“In addition, it is on record that Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege 3 is the first traditional ruler in the Soun Dynasty to be installed as oba.
“We would not have gone this far if the Soun mogajis’ diatribe had been directed to Oba Alao.
“But rubbishing Orile-Igbon and its chequered history forced us to go this length for the benefit of those who take appearance for reality as regards the Soun throne as well as other thrones in Ogbomoso Zone and Yorubaland at large.
“The history of Ogbomoso, pre-Soun and post-Soun are sacrosant and well kept. Any attempt to mutilate it or destroy it will be resisted.”
