THE Gboleru Ruling House in Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government of the State of Osun has said that it is waiting for the directive of the government for nomination of a candidate to fill the vacant stool of Akinrun.
Mr. Abimbola Toki, the spokesperson of the ruling house, which is the next in line to produce the next Akinrun, said they were making preparations and arrangements aimed at ensuring a peaceful selection of a candidate within the ruling house for the exalted position.
Toki, in a press statement made available to OSUN DEFENDER yesterday, said he spoke with the Council Manager of Ifelodun Local Government, Mrs. Eunice Adedeji, who told him that the council is also waiting for the directive of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on the stool.
Quoting Ikeola, Toki said: “Akinrun is a first class stool in the state and for this reason; a careful and due processes need to be followed so as to ensure fairness.”
Reacting to a claim by the Adesekan family of Gboleru Ruling House that it is its turn to produce Akinrun, Tooki stated that the family has never been a member of the ruling house.
According to Toki, no part of history of the Gboleru Royal House can be attributed to Adesekan as a member of the family.
He said: “Gboleru migrated from Ile-Ife and settled at Igbo Irele from where he moved to Oke Agbon as final settlement place till date.
“Gboleru became a threat to others around him at that time because he gave birth to many sons who were automatically potential kings. They reasoned that if all the sons of Gboleru should become king one after the other, their own chances of becoming king would be delayed or become very remote.
“They therefore, conspired against Gboleru and started killing his sons, one after the other, with poisoned cane during Egungun festivals.
“The elders investigated the killings and discovered that the mass death of Gboleru’s sons was caused by those who are envious of Gboleru and his many sons.
“This made Gboleru and most of his family members leave Oke Agbon. While some of them settled at Ile Odofin, some settled at Oke Afo, while the rest stayed back at Oke Agbon till today. All the Gboleru children from these three locations still do things together till today as one united family.
“In fact, while Oba Kolawole was on the throne, he relocated his first son, Olatunji, to take possession of Oke Afo’s settlement and that’s how Doudu compound came into being.
“It has never been part of history that any of Gboleru’s sons settled in Ile Sekan. Therefore, no descendant of Sekan family has ever been part of Gboleru’s history and we have never had anything in common.
“The real children of Gboleru and any other person of royal blood don’t carry Irele’s calabash during the traditional Irele annual festival and it is a known fact that daughters of Sekan family have carried the calabash seven times before the late King Adedeji stopped the yearly Irele Festival.”
Reacting, a member of the Adesekan family, Prophet Gabriel Oyetunji, dismissed Tooki’s claim, describing it as an unfortunate venture that will neither yield him and his benefactors any positive dividend, nor promote the integrity and sanctity of the esteemed stool of Akinrun of Ikirun.
According to Oyetunji, facts on Royal lineage remain facts and cannot be changed by ‘millions of Tooki’s distorted and cooked story.
Oyetunji said: “It is strange to note that somebody of Tooki’s age would be talking of how our two babas; Baba Popoola and Baba Solaro became friends about 150 years ago so authoritatively as if he was there. This thus demonstrates how desperate Tooki is in perpetrating falsehood.
“The present patriarch of Adesekan Compound, Baba Sule, who was once interviewed about four weeks ago by OSUN DEFENDER is competently equipped to educate the likes of Tooki besides tapping into other authorities.
“The past patriarchs of Adesekan Compound including Pa. Emmanuel Oyetunji, otherwise known as Baba Solaro, who answered the call of Almighty God at a ripe age of 120 in late 1980s, are not the subject of current circumstances, though Baba Solaro’s records are indisputably well known within and outside Ikirunland.
“Tooki should therefore, be aware that his unfounded and cooked story is not worth dissipating energy on, and Adesekan Compound is not prepared to go on the path of distortion of history.”
