Oyo Prince, Sheriff Ajibola Adebayo-Onisile has shed light on the supremacy battle between the Alaafin of Oyo and Ooni of Ife.
The Oyo born prince disclosed that the British colonial rule recognized Alaafin of Oyo as the King of Yorubaland.
Prince Adebayo, who is from the Onisile Royal Family in the Old Oyo Empire, disclosed this while featuring on Olayinka Agboola’s ParrotXtra Hour on Radio, an interview programme aired on Splash FM, Ibadan on Tuesday.
Reacting to the submission of Prof. Mathew Amusan, he disclosed that people who have half-knowledge of history and wanted to distort the history to suit their personal gain are behind the alleged supremacy battle.
Prince Adebayo noted that Ooni of Ife was not in the Oba leadership position from the onset when the Alaafin was enjoying the imperialist power to expand the kingdom, adding that Oyo evolved from settlement, to kingdom, and to empire, which made it unique.
While urging people to put sentiment and emotion aside, he said that Ife belongs to all Yorubas. He also clarified that a leader that is ruling over an empire is not equal to a leader ruling over a kingdom.
The Pan Africanist maintained that the position the British colonial master met the traditional institution in Nigeria is what they used to recognize each town and the kings, which they did without favoritism.
Adebayo revealed that there is no monarch in Yorubaland that challenged Alaafin as the king of Yorubaland when he was appointed as head of province by the British colonial rule which Ife and Ilesha were under him as districts.
He also said that there is no monarch in Yorubaland that challenged Alaafin as the King of Yorubaland when he signed a treaty signed with the British colonial masters.
To demonstrate the position of the Alaafin as the King of Yorubaland, the Oyo born prince said that the first Council of Obas meeting was held in Oyo, not Ife.
He said that though Ife is the source of Yorubas but it has no value in terms of providing security to the people or added to the expansion of territory of the sect, and can not be compared to the Alaafin who established an empire and placed the name of Yoruba in the World History Map.
Prince Adebayo revealed that it was partisan politics that changed the narrative by putting the then Ooni, Adesoji Aderemi in front of the then Alaafin because he was not educated.
He also added that hatred by some people in the position of authority towards Oyo aided the plan to succeed. He said that the federal government opened the first motorway in Yorubaland, Oyo-Ibadan Expressway to honour the Alaafin.
Prince Sheriff Adebayo charged Yoruba to be united for its progress, saying that we should not allow the supremacy battle between the Alaafin and the Ooni to disunite them.
He, however, urged them to respect the contributions of Oyo towards the development and civilization of Yorubaland.
