The disruption of the chieftaincy installation by hoodlums who are thought to have been paid by some potential Mogajis and Baales has been denounced by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun. The hoodlums are alleged to have disturbed the installation that took place on Monday, forcing the king to halt proceedings. It was discovered that there were disagreements about the selection of some of the chiefs, and the Olubadan denounced the employment of criminals to resolve the matter.
Oba Balogun expressed displeasure with the rowdy behavior of the potential chiefs’ supporters in a statement written by his assistant for media, Oladele Ogunsola. He claimed that just three out of the ten chiefs scheduled for installation that day were installed, which caused the program to stop abruptly shortly after. Kabiyesi, who reaffirmed his dedication to equity, fairness, and justice in the performance of his traditional job, insisted that anyone discovered to be responsible among his employees for whatever may have caused the obnoxious disruption would be appropriately sanctioned.
He assured them that what had occurred was merely a delay and not a denial, and added that “their installation would be performed without fail at the next exercise.” He expressed sympathy for the other chiefs, who had no contentious issue but whose installation could not be carried out due to the disruption caused by the miscreants. In addition to issuing a warning against disruptive behavior, Oba Balogun similarly charged every family offering candidates for the roles of Baales and Mogajis to do their assignments properly to prevent a repetition of Monday’s events.
He cautioned them to make sure that any family members who might go with them to the palace behave properly, since anyone found to have a practice of bringing troublemakers to the palace will face punishment. Additionally, he mandated that all chieftaincy-related communications go through Chief Isiaka Akinpelu, his assistant on chieftaincy matters.
When the palace was reorganized, the king declared to the public that he has made it clear to the members of the public the need to ensure that chieftaincy matters are made less burdensome for him and the members of the council by going through Chief Akinpelu, whose appointment was made solely to have smooth and stress-free procedures on promotion and installation of Chiefs.
The monarch argued that anyone dealing with anyone else other than Chief Akinpelu with chieftaincy concerns does so at their peril, adding that the palace would not take into account any complaints in that regard after his repeated declaration.
