Professor Gbolagade Abiodun is the Provost of Adekunle Ajasin University affiliated Ibadan campus. He was installed as the Mogaji (head) of Lako family, Labo, Ibadan by the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun (Alli Okunmade II) on Monday 31st July, 2023. He spoke with Rulers’ World News Media about the uniqueness of the Mogaji title in Ibadan among other related issues. Oyedapo Oyewole brings in the excerpts. Enjoy:
How did you feel when you heard about the demise of the late Olubadan, His Imperial Majesty Oba Lekan Balogun who installed you as a Mogaji?
Actually I got the information through a friend in the United States of America (USA), he called me around 1.00.am and said; “so, honorable e don happen now, dey don kill your king”, I asked which king? He said Olubadan of course; I said you guys have started spreading fake news again. He now said I should confirm, after which I started checking social media platforms and saw like eight different platforms reporting that the Olubadan had passed, it was then that I believed the story.
I waited till around 5.am before I called one of the late King’s sons to get the true picture of how he died. It was quite amazing that he said it was true and he said even the governor had announced it officially and that’s how I believed that it was true. Kabiyesi has been wonderful and we did not expect that he was going to leave the throne so early having spent just two years. It was a pathetic story.
His two years reign as the Olubadan, how would you describe it?
I felt so bad because he was one of the best monarchs that has ever ruled Ibadan land and if I should start counting what he did I will never stop counting but let me just summarise what he was able to do. One, in the history of Ibadan we have never had all the High Chiefs being crowned as Oba.
This is what his predecessor, I’m referring to Aje ogungunluso 1 Oba Adetunji could not achieve during his reign, Oba Lekan Balogun succumbed to pressure and said there is nothing bad if I can grant the High Chiefs to be wearing beaded crown just that they can’t wear the crown when coming to my palace because we can’t have two Obas in the palace. He summounted the pressure and gave opportunity to the High Chiefs. What that means is that even if at all you have not reached the level of the Olubadan you can still say categorically that you are an oba, and that is a plus.
Secondly; it has never happened in the history of Ibadan that we will now have more Obas, we used to have Baale (village head), but during his own reign he said for us to have a state in Ibadan which we are clamouring to have, he said one of the indices to have a state is to have numerous kings and what late Olubadan did was such a step towards the actualisation of Ibadan state. Oluyole local government alone where I came from is actually bigger than Bayelsa State. When Olubadan is going out of course many Obas will follow him and it will not be Baale. He was able to achieve that, although we have some Baales crowned while we have some that will be wearing crowns but as the case may be I’m very pleased and proud that I’m an indigene of Ibadan.
Also, late Olubadan was able to sanitise the forceful acquisition of land by some arrogant Mogajis who abuse the powers given to them because of their belief that Mogajis are bigger in hierarchy than Baale but that does not mean you will now be abusing the system when it comes to land matters. So, late Olubadan was able to remove some Mogajis who could not follow due process and I’m happy we have somebody who would not think twice before taking certain decisions. So, he achieved that and we are very pleased.
Also, in the aspect of security late Olubadan ensured that he will first called all the stakeholders in Ibadan including the Mogajis and he warned them that they should inform all the youth in their localities that on no condition should any Mogaji go to the police station to bail whoever must have violated the law within Ibadan setting. If Olubadan could say I’m giving an order and my order must be followed to the letter. So, I can say during the period of the late Olubadan Ibadan was very peaceful and may his soul rest in perfect Peace, for the fact that he left us so early it’s very unfortunate.
You were installed as the Mogaji of Lato family on July 31st 2023, how did your family arrive at your choice as their Mogaji?
Thank you very much! What I always say is that whoever that would be king would definitely be king because no matter what you do in life. Let me just say it is the handiwork of God. At times they might propose to you that they want you as their Mogaji because of your antecedent. As a person I’m a cheerful giver right from my childhood, even before I became a Special Adviser to the former Governor.
I recollect that I used to spend over a million naira from my personal money when I was in government which is far far above what we were collecting as salary as Special Advisers from the government to show that it is not about the appointment but the passion. Whoever that wants to be Mogaji will be someone that is ready to carry the responsibility of the family on his head and ready to help the downtrodden. So, that is just the essence, and when they were looking for whom to give that responsibility to they found no other person other than Professor Abiodun Gbolagade and they have never regretted that they chose me.
Over the years there has been talk about the need for reform of the Olubadan chieftaincy system such as for the ascension line to the throne to be shortened. What kind of reforms do you think should be done?
I will not be a party to such by trying to change the procedure that has been the best that can happen in the history of mankind, even this development other towns are trying to emulate what Ibadan has instituted because if you look at the administration you will see that we do not have a problem.
It was when they introduced a federal system of government that we started having issues. In fact the government has tried to consider a parliamentary system of government but for now Ibadan has an institution that is why there is no crisis. Go to Oyo town now up till this moment Oyo is yet to produce the new Alaafin because of this issue and there is nothing like a court case when it comes to Olubadan ascension.
Everybody now know that Oba Owolabi Olakuleyin is the next Olubadan despite the fact that he is old and that is why we keep saying that they should be putting the younger ones like us as Mogajis so that when it gets to our turn we will still be able and agile to function as a king. Although it is not easy to become Mogaji at the same time we just need to shun the issue of unnecessary acrimony within the family settings so whoever that has been chosing they should know it is the destiny and other people should rally round and support the person.
A Mogaji position is not a position you will just give to a younger person like that, if that person does not have leadership qualities. When we say leadership, leaders themselves are the people that see visions and can be able to turn that vision into reality, not those that will become leaders and start to abuse the power given to them, turning things upside down and trying to make people cry instead of making them laugh.
Looking at how busy you are; as a scholar, as a politician, as a family man, how do you compare all these with your traditional title as Mogaji?
Honestly! There is another one you even forget to add and that is farming because currently I’m a stakeholder when it comes to farming. I deliberately delve into it because I noticed that Nigerians are suffering, why are we suffering? How can a bag of rice be N80, 000:00? It’s arrant nonsense! It’s ridiculous! You know we have a fertile land, we have everything, how can we now be saying we want to buy vegetables when we can plant it by ourselves? A crate of egg is being sold for as high as N4, 000:00, why? Why would somebody say I’m hungry in our own country? It shouldn’t be so, we may not have money but we should be able to buy food.
The combination of all these has not been easy because I work from Monday to Sunday but the only thing we need is whoever that loves us should keep praying for us. What we are only after is for us to keep supporting the good policy.
My own religion is when I do good I feel good but if I do bad I feel bad and again I have a policy and my policy is by combining all those roles and become one I can still function effectively simply because anything I’m doing that I don’t want people to meet me there is bad so I will move away from it. If other people can emulate that policy Nigeria will be good, it has always been my own tonic that moves me forward because I’m here I’m doing the right thing and people have always been telling me to continue doing the right thing.
Look at the late Olubadan, during his reign there were Mogajis before I came but when I got there I was able to do certain things and make the kabiyesi to pronounce me as his son. If you have a father and you are not doing what he likes he will see you as a son but not a beloved one but if you are doing things that the father likes he will say this is my beloved son. So, that is the type of person I am in the eyes of late Olubadan. Since he installed me as the Mogaji there’s hardly any function that he needed a reliable person to represent him that he would not call Gbolagade to represent him. That is royal respect.
Now talk of academics; I’ve never seen my peers who can stand side by side with me when it comes to academics. When it comes to making life meaningful for the people, take for instance other institutions have increased their school fees but Adekunle Ajasin in Ibadan we have never increased ours because we know Nigeria will be better and thank God the dollar is now coming down, so, if we have increased our school fees the students will now be saying oga what happen dollar has come down won’t you reduce our school fees? But here we are not the type because we want people to be happy.
Since 2017 it is the same amount we are collecting because when you put the round peg in the round hole you get the desired result, but in a situation where you are making life difficult for the people they will see you as dealer not leader but let them be seeing us as leaders not dealers.
Aside from what you have said, what other things have you brought to the society around you and your family as Mogaji?
I can’t count it but you said society, in the family and in politics, let me just summarize it; I’m a philanthropist, my priority is on humanitarianism and if they say humanitarianism you know what it means; those are the people that are ready to help people to solve problems. Anywhere I can never withstand seeing my fellow human being crying I cannot bear it. Something happened two days ago; I dished out fifty bags of garri in my locality because garri is now expensive, how I wish you witnessed how people were collecting it with joy.
You can see there is a problem in this country. One of my members visited one of the beneficiaries and the woman told him that when she heard that gbolagade was giving out garri she now trekked one kilometer before she reached the place where we distributed it. The woman said she had not eaten for two days, which is 48 hours. It was that garri that she and her grandchildren ate and she started praying for me.
That is enough to show that we have issues in this country and whoever that is ready to help should continue helping because the more you help the greater the opportunity God will be bringing to your side. I have been able to dish out semo vita during the month of Ramadan fasting, and I spent nothing less than a million naira to buy those things that I’m telling, including rice, beans spaghetti, indomies and others that I dished out.
There is no function they invite me to as the mogaji that I would not go to, if you can not see me there I will send a reasonable amount of money there. There is someone that said he wanted to do an operation that required N200, 000:00. I sent N250, 000:00 naira so that he could take care of the family with the remaining N50, 000:00 after the operation. I am not expecting anyone to reciprocate the kind gestures but my intention is what God wants to see. If my intention is that I want the person to reciprocate, God will not reward me but let him keep thanking God so that when he’s okay he can be able to help other people and God will keep on blessing me.
So, that has been my intention. Moreover, I don’t like saying I have done this and I have done that. The more you keep helping people the greater the blessing that comes your way. So, when it comes to this one we’ve been so excellent in anything one can think of. Is it in academics? Is it in the royal aspect? Is it in the field of politics? Is it in the aspect of farming? Just mention and we are there.
How will you react to this insinuation that money is now key in people becoming chiefs, kings or ascension to traditional positions?
If anyone has told you that money is not the key, that person might have come from another planet. As at today in Nigeria if you don’t have money you can’t become anything, if you are not an affluent person forget it, let’s come down to marital affairs, the woman can only say that ok I’m happy the way you are and by saying it and after three years she’s expecting your life to change because she have a kind of subconscious memory that in the next three years if your life still remain the same she’s going to change.
That is how God has created human beings. Take for instance let me use our lecturers as a case study; here if our lecturers are not happy do you think we will sit down, no we will not, same thing is applicable to a so called Ministers that are working with Tinubu, look at what Tinubu did to the Senators and the Reps members that are working with the federal government immediately they got there, he first of all gave them palliative, gave them vehicles that what millions of naira and also gave them palliative that worth two hundred millions to the Senators, some of them got five hundred million so that when he is now asking for something he will be able to get it, if he’s now telling them that we want to help the masses and you must not take anything do you think they will follow him?
Do you know how much he spent? Tinubu spent trillions in naira because the money he spent is in dollars and virtually those that wanted to contest for presidency he was able to buy them to his side at the Eagle Square. You want to be President and you don’t have the money, you are just wasting your time.
You say you want to become the Chairman of Oluyole Local Government of which we have over two hundred polling units and you started visiting all those political leaders and gladiators and landlords and after meeting them and they all say yeah! Yeah! We will support you and you are leaving without giving them money you are wasting your time. You must still give them something no matter how small.
If you are ready to do the right thing money must also be involved, that’s how it is in Nigeria setting. You say you want to be the Mogaji and you do not have money, don’t forget that you are still going to obtain form despite the fact that the kabiyesi has accepted you, you must still obtain form, if you don’t obtain the form automatically they can’t give you and there are many people that want to become the Mogaji.
Why do you think many people cannot become Mogaji or Baale? It is because there is still certain money that they must still pay and if they don’t have the capacity the next thing is that they will look for somebody that will take over, that’s just the simple thing.
Not only that, the day you will also say you want to visit all the Mogaji, you must still bring something when you are coming and if you don’t have that thing they will say it is not yet time for you to join the Mogaji caucus, the same thing is applicable when you want to be a councillor, despite the fact that you can’t compare councillor to the chairman you must still do certain things, you must be able to produce posters, you must be able to run advertisements, you must do publicity either on radio, social media or whatever people must know that you are contesting and all those things are not for free, money must also be involved.
So, in Nigeria today we have 774 local government areas in Nigeria and you say you want to contest for anything that has to do with presidency or senatorial, those that will be under the condition of your ballot you must give them something for them to stay because if you don’t give them those who have money will buy them over from you. So, in Nigeria today whoever says money is nothing that particular person is not saying the reality.
There is a kind of polarisation among the Mogajis in Ibadan; some call themselves authentic Mogajis while some refer to themselves as the recognised Mogajis. Which of the two do you belong to? Secondly, what do you think can bring a permanent solution to this polarisation brouhaha?
As far as I am concerned there is nothing like polarisation. Yorubas used to say something like; “Oruko tobawu omo eni lonje leyin odi” if you like you call yourself original Mogaji, as long as your name is on the list of Mogajis we are all Mogajis. So, there’s nothing like one is authentic and one is recognised. It depends on where your interest is.
Can you tell us the roles that Mogajis are playing towards the development of Ibadan and to the throne of Olubadan?
Any Mogaji that is doing something contrary to the directive of Olubadan is not Mogaji. The kabiyesi will say this is where I’m going and the Mogajis must go there. If you don’t go there then you are not authentic, are you getting the logic? It is like in politics, once you have picked a candidate that candidate is now your President, your governor and everybody must be loyal to the candidate which is the position of the party but if you are now saying I’m this or I’m that if your governor says all of you this is where we are going then all of you must go there.
For instance Governor Seyi Makinde said he was not going to work with Atiku during the last Presidential election heaven did not fall and virtually all his commissioners and aides followed the same route and that’s what we called loyalty but in a situation where Seyi Makinde is saying Tinubu is the candidate everybody should vote for but you are now voting for Atiku what should we call that? Disloyalty! In fact, in the military it is treasonable offence, it’s like violating the law of government.
The President says he wants everybody to be buying Nigerian goods, for instance, did you see any Nigerian goods in this office? I even checked very well which one did Nigeria produce? And we keep saying the dollar should come down, now Tinubu has given directives that we should start buying Nigerian goods. If we fail to follow the same thing, what are we doing? Are we demarketing Nigeria or we are promoting Nigeria?
Coming down to your question that has to do with the authentic Mogaji and recognised Mogaji, those are the politicians that are inside royal settings and they know the only way that they can let people know they are there is by coming up with the acronym that they are authentic, can we say those that are there are not authentic? Didn’t they have “eke” in their house?
If you want to know authentic Mogaji go to their compound, when you visit them you will now say please I want to know if this person is Mogaji or not, when you enter you see “eke” there, if you didn’t see the eke that means the Mogaji is late and as soon as he is late, the Olubadan will send delegate to the place to go and remove that eke and once another Mogaji has been installed they will go back there and put the eke there.
So, anybody that doesn’t have the ‘eke’ is not authentic. If some are now saying they are authentic or not that’s a political statement but when it comes to affirmation they cannot say it within the palace of Olubadan that some are not authentic. The only thing they can do is that we have something they call grade, we have grade, recently they said all Mogajis should contribute towards the establishment of “gbongan mogaji” (Mogaji auditorium) we want to build a nice building that will serve as our own edifice.
So, if we are doing this definitely everybody is elevating their grade. We have the President, PRO, General Secretary and many like that, so, anybody saying they are authentic Mogaji are just making a political statement, I’m not condemning them but I’m just stating that when it comes to politics anybody can do anything but when it comes to issue of arrangement of grade they will be looking for who can add values to the development of town, development of Olubadan palace, development of Ibadan in general.
Everybody will now come together, so mogaji will be moving from grade to grade, the Olubadan that just died started from Mogaji 40 years ago, now he has died and the next Olubadan is Olakulehin. It is my prayer that God will spare his life to mount the throne of his forefathers and may his reign bring about further development to Ibadan land.
Your party, APC is yet to get its bearing having suffered defeat in the 2019 and 2023 gubernatorial elections, what are you doing to reposition the party ahead of 2027?
Let me tell you this, APC defeated APC in the last election. I would say there was no election in Oyo state; it was just an affirmation especially in 2023. If you notice when President Tinubu came to Mapo for the Oyo State rally he didn’t campaign for Teslim Folarin, our gubernatorial candidate. What he did was that he only held Teslim’s hand up and dropped it because Tinubu believed in Governor Seyi Makinde, and he had already anointed him. When he came for campaign instead of going to Mapo straight he headed to the government house for you to know that he wasn’t supporting our own gubernatorial candidate.
