Olubadan ( Yoruba: ''Lord of Ibadan'') is the

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

title of the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

land in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Ibadan was founded in the 16th century, but the present

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitut ...

only took control around 1820. By 1850 they had established their unusual succession principle, which is quite different compared with other traditional Yoruba rulers in that it alternates between two lines. It usually takes decades to groom an Olubadan for the stool through stages of chieftaincy promotion, thus meaning that just about any male born title-holder of the metropolitan centre is a potential king.

History

According to the outline history of Ibadan by Oba Isaac Akinyele, Ibadan was founded in the 16th century. Around 1820, an army of Egba, Ijebu, Ife and Oyo people won the town during their wars with the Fulanis. After a struggle between the victors, the Oyo gained control in 1829. A system where the Baale line (civic) and Balogun Isoriki line (military) shared power was established by 1851, subject to a traditional council representing both lines. In 1885 C.E. the

Royal Niger Company The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the ''United African Company '' and renamed to ''National African Company'' in 1881 and to ''Royal Niger C ...

became effective rulers of the area, signing treaties with local powers such as the Olubadan, and in 1900 the British government formally assumed authority over Nigeria as a "Protectorate". The British created the Ibadan Town Council in 1897, using the traditionally powerful local chiefs to administer their town. In 1901 the Governor Sir

William MacGregor Sir William MacGregor, (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919)R. B. Joyce,', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 158–160. Retrieved 29 September 2009 was a Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guine ...

introduced an ordinance whereby the Baale became the president of the Council while the Resident was only to advise when necessary (Rulers of Ibadan were generally referred to as Baale until 1936, when the title of Olubadan was resuscitated). On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

Ruling lines

There are two ruling lines to the throne of Olubadan, Egbe Agba (civil) and Balogun (military), from where Olubadans are appointed on rotational basis to occupy the stool on the death of a monarch. The next to Olubadan and most senior on both lines are the Otun Olubadan and Balogun, who under the Western Nigeria Law are recognised as second class traditional rulers and who are included on the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

equivalent of a civil list as a result. Others are the Osi Olubadan, Asipa Olubadan, Ekerin and Ekarun, as well as Otun Balogun, Osi Balogun, Asipa Balogun, Ekerin and Ekarun Balogun, while the Seriki ("commerce minister" or "trade chief") and Iyalode, (i.e. mother of the town as "minister for women affairs" or "female chief") are also members of the Olubadan's privy council. The eleven high chiefs that formed the Olubadan-in-council, apart from the Seriki and Iyalode, are recognised as the traditional head of each of the eleven LGs in Ibadanland. It was learned that the progenitors of Ibadan frowned on the involvement of the senior chiefs in partisan politics because of the salient neutral roles they were expected to play in their domains. For instance, they are appointed as presidents of customary courts, who are expected to adjudicate on matrimonial, land, boundary and other communal disputes.

Ascension process

The Olubadan has the sweeping powers to depose or peg a chief, irrespective of the person's position on the chieftaincy line. By implication, high chiefs on the lower cadre could be promoted above a high chief whose position was pegged. Even when forgiven, in the event that he was penitent, the promotion would not be reversed while the offending high chief served his punishment. For instance, during the reign of Oba Fijabi II, between 1948 and 1952, a wealthy Balogun, who was next to Olubadan, was said to have had his chieftaincy pegged. About the same time, a holder of the title of Osi-Olubadan was also hammered for acts of disloyalty to the cause of Ibadanland, an offence regarded as treasonable felony. Spirited efforts made by a former Minister in the old Western Region to seek redress from the government and the courts when his chieftaincy title was also pegged, was reported to have failed. Although he was said to have been forgiven after seeking help outside the courts, his juniors who had been promoted above him were said to have remained his seniors thereafter. In 1983, the late Olubadan, Oba Yesufu Asanike, withdrew the honorary title of Are Alasa from the then Governor of the old

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...

, the late Chief

Bola Ige Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige , ( yo, Bọ́lá Ìgè; 13 September 1930 – 23 December 2001), simply known as Bola Ige, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He served as Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria from January 2000 till his assa ...

, for an act considered as being disrespectful to Ibadanland.

Today

Oba Ogundipe, the 39th Olubadan, ascended the throne on 7 May 1999 and died in 2007 at the age of 87. He was succeeded by Oba Samuel Odulana, Odugade I who died on Tuesday 19 January 2016 aged 101. Although the role is now largely symbolic, the Olubadan is still an influential figure and is not hesitant to attack local political leaders on issues such as violence, corruption and lack of true democracy in the region.Punch 10 August 2007: Olubadan blames Obasanjo, Adedibu for Ibadan violence
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List

* Ba'ale Maye Okunade * Ba'ale Oluyedun * Ba'ale Lakanle * Bashorun

Oluyole {{Unreferenced, date=June 2022 ''For the Local Government Area of Oyo State, see Oluyole, Nigeria.'' Chief Oluyole was a distinguished, dominating army commander from Oyo. He rose to fame as Bashorun, a title he subsequently made famous, and w ...

* Ba'ale Oderinlo * Ba'ale Oyeshile Olugbode * Ba'ale Ibikunle* * Bashorun Ogunmola * Ba'ale Akere I * Ba'ale Orowusi * Aare Ona Kakanfo Obadoke Latosa * Ba'ale Ajayi Osungbekun * Ba'ale Fijabi l * Ba'ale Oshuntoki * Basorun Fajimi * Ba'ale Mosaderin * Ba'ale Dada Opadere * Ba'ale Sunmonu Apampa * Ba'ale Akintayo Awanibaku Elenpe * Ba'ale Irefin * Ba'ale Shittu Latosa (son of Aare Latosa ) * Ba'ale Oyewole Foko 1925–1929 * Olubadan Okunola Abass 1930–1946 * Olubadan Akere I 1946 * Olubadan Oyetunde I 1946 * Olubadan Akintunde Bioku 1947–1948 * Olubadan Fijabi II 1948–1952 * Olubadan Alli Iwo 1952 * Olubadan Apete 1952–1955 * Oba Sir Isaac Babalola Akinyele 1955–1964 * Oba Yesufu Kobiowu July 1964 – December 1964 * Oba Salawu Akanni Aminu 1965–1971 * Oba Shittu Akintola Oyetunde II 1971–1976 * Oba Gbadamosi Akanbi Adebimpe 1976–1977 * Oba Daniel 'Tayo Akinbiyi 1977–1982 * Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanike I 1982–1994 * Oba Emmanuel Adegboyega Operinde I 1994–1999 * Oba Yunusa Ogundipe Arapasowu I 1999–2007 * Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade I 2007–2016 * Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji 2016–2022 * Oba Lekan Balogun since 2022

References