As the world looks forward to who becomes the next Alaafin of Oyo after the demise of the late Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, there are strong indications that there may be crisis within the Agunloye’s Ruling House in whose turn to produce the next king.
Ayo Ladigbolu, a retired archbishop of the Methodist Church and prominent elder of the Ladigbolu’s family, one of the families within the Agunloye’s Ruling House, hinted in a recent interview with The Cable that though it may be too early to talk about the next Alaafin, when the time comes, the new King is likely to be Ladigbolu III, as “the late Alaafin Gbadegesin was the son of Alaafin Ladigbolu. The full title was Oba Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II.
“The father was the first and the next one from the family will be the third.” He stated.
According to him, the Agunloye’s Ruling House has two prominent families, Ladigbolu and Gbadegesin, adding that it is from these two families that Alaafin stool usually rotated.
However, this is far from the truth as there are other families within the Agunloye’s Ruling House which are equally entitled to the Alaafin stool.
A prominent member of Agunloye’s family, Adeniyi Muftau Agunloye said there are other lineages like Owoade, Tella and others that Bishop Ladigbolu failed to recognise in his interview. He said the Agunloyes are many especially the descendants of Alaafin Adelu Agunloye.
“It’s a deliberate distortion of facts by the retired Bishop Ladigbolu to have said that the next Alaafin will be Ladigbolu III when it is not only Ladigbolu that is classified as Agunloye Ruling House.
“For the sake of equity and justice, the Ladigbolus had consecutively reigns two terms after the reigns of Alaafin Adelu Agunloye. For Bishop Ladigbolu to proclaimed that it will be Ladigbolu III is an injustice to other Branches of Agunloye Ruling House.
“So as the Agunloye Ruling House will produce the next Alaafin, it is natural that other Branches in Agunloye Ruling House should bring their candidate after Ladigbolu lineage had become Alaafin twice.
“I want to believe that retired Bishop Ladigbolu was misquoted by the reporter who interviewed him, but if not, this is a deliberate attempt by the Ladigbolus to distort facts.
“For the record, Adelu Agunloye reigned from 1859 to 1875. Definitely he was not Ladigbolu, which is just a nickname. Oba Siyanbola Onikepe Oladigbolu reigned from 1911 to 1944, while Oba Bello Gbadegesin Oladigbolu II reigned from 1956-1968. Other branches of Agunloye includes Owoade, Tella and others.
“What happened was that Adeyemi branch of Alowolodu and Ladigbolu branch of Agunloye had ascended the throne more than other branche. Bishop Ladigbolu in his interview attempted to limit the Agunloye Ruling House to Oladigbolu alone. It will be unfair and unacceptable,” Muftau Agunloye concluded.