The Olukere of Ikere-Ekiti, Ganiyu Ayodele Obasoyin, has appealed to the Ekiti State Government to grant him recognition as an Oba in the state.
He insisted that he is the owner of Ikere-Ekiti, describing the present monarch of the town as his errand boy.
He said: “I am the owner of Ikere-Ekiti, I used to send Ogoga some errands which he accepted to do until government gave him recognition.”
He stated this in his welcome address to the state’s Council of Obas who was on a fact finding mission to the palace of Olukere, led by the chairman of the state council, Oba Samuel Oladapo Oyebade.
Obasoyin, who defended his claim with facts, historical pictures and traditional artifacts in and around the palace said his Obaship exited long before the Ogoga came to Ikere-Ekiti and later given recognition by the state government.
Among the historical facts presented to the council to buttress his fact,included for their first the hunting bag given to Ogoga, palace pictures, market place around the palace, the post office, and other official places of historical importance around the Oba’s palace in the town.
When confronted with some questions on why some chiefs are with him and others with the Ogoga, Obasoyin noted that some chiefs who were with him ran away to Ogoga because of what they would eat and the five percent allocations to Obas in the local government.
He pointed out that for a very long time, they have been running the palace with what they have without getting any financial assistance from government, adding that he still has majority of the people in Ikere-Ekiti with him.
He added, “Thee mistakes of the past can still be corrected once and for all since the error was committed a long time ago”, saying “If we go by some unique parameters by which we identify authentic traditional rulers in Yourbaland, the Olukere, fits into them all.”
He debunked the smear campaign that the Olukere is a mere priest of Olosunta, saying every Oba has a priestly function aside political and administrative functions that Olosunta annual festival is the chief unifying social event in Ikere land.
