Next Awujale To Emerge After 3-month Mourning

The Fusegbuwa Ruling House is expected to produce the next Awujale of Ijebuland in November 2025, officials have said.

It was gathered that those seeking to emerge as the next Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland might have to wait until mid-November 2025 due to the long processes that must be followed in selecting the next monarch.

Revelations emerging from both the state government and sources from  Awujale’s Palace confirmed that the selection process for a would-be Awujale must conform to certain norms, traditions, and the existing Chieftaincy Declaration law guiding the Obaship affairs of the Ijebu-Ode kingdom.

The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ganiyu Hamzat, who spoke with LEADERSHIP yesterday on the phone, confirmed that the state government would not compromise its role in installing the next Awujale but would strictly comply with the laws guiding the emergence of whichever candidate is presented to it by the Ijebu Ode Council of Kingmakers “as stipulated in their chieftaincy declaration law.”

A source at the Awujale’s Palace corroborated the position of the commissioner, Hamzat, saying that the Ijebu-Ode kingdom’s chieftaincy declaration law must be considered and strictly adhered to during the process of selecting the new Awujale.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the source explained that the Chieftaincy declaration law stipulates that the selection process allows for a three-month mourning period, during which the Ijebu Ode Regent-In-Council would oversee the kingdom’s affairs before the next ruling house presents its crown prince to the 13-member Council of Ijebu Ode kingmakers for onward installation as the next king.

“I must tell you that this is in tandem with the 1960 declaration under the then Timothy Adeola Odutola as the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, which was in practice during the period the immediate past Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, emerged as the next Awujale. The records are still there to follow, and I’m sure that the state government will not do otherwise,” the source added.

Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP reliably gathered that out of the four ruling houses, the Fusegbuwa Ruling House is the next in line to produce the next Awujale, based on the Chieftaincy declaration law guiding the Obaship selection process of Ijebu Ode kingdom, which is hinged on a rotational process.

Sources within the Awujale’s palace confided in LEADERSHIP that the Ijebu Ode regency, under the leadership of Ogbeni Oja, Chief Olorogun Sunny Kuku, would oversee the affairs of the Ijebu Ode kingdom for the three-month mourning period.

One of the sources disclosed that the head of the regency, Olosha of Ijebuland, was suspended for nearly five years because he paraded himself as the Awujale of Ijebuland while the late monarch, Oba Adetona, was still alive.

Our source, however, stated that part of the selection process for a would-be next Awujale significantly dwells on the Ijebu people’s customs and traditions of consulting the oracles, as evident in the choice of the late Oba Adetona.

“There must never be a vacuum; there will be a regency, who are the “Adele Oba” for a period of three  months. They are chosen among the high chiefs. After they have completed the mourning period, they will call on the Fusegbuwa Ruling House,  which is the next, to bring forward their candidate.

“Where we have many candidates signifying interest in the stool and it becomes hard for the family to trim down, then the next ruling house will forward names of all the interested Princes to the 13-man Council of Kingmakers, who are called the “Panpas,” for them to do some background checks and finally settle for one among them.

“All the ruling houses in Ijebuland believe, according to our tradition, that culture has to be respected and so they must consult the oracle and other deities before choosing one among many interested princes – just to guarantee peace and development of our town like that of the late Oba Adetona whose tenure will forever remain a reference point “.

Likely Candidates From The Fusegbuwa Ruling House Of Ijebu-Ode

Contrary to speculations in some quarters, investigation conducted by LEADERSHIP clearly indicates that the popular Fuji musician, Alhaji Ayinde Wasiu, popularly referred to as “KWAM-1”, who is a likely candidate to become the next Awujale, is from the Fidipote Ruling House and not Fusegbuwa.

As the Olori Om’oba of Ijebuland, speculations were rife that KWAM-1 would ascend the throne as the next Awujale. Since his ruling house, Ijebu-Ode, is not the next, he may definitely not be in consideration unless otherwise politically influenced “from the powers that be.”

LEADERSHIP’s findings indicated that out of the several likely candidates, Prince Bolaji Surubomi Balogun, the second son of the late business mogul Otunba Surubomi Balogun, who founded First City Monument Bank (FCMB), is keenly interested in ascending the throne.

Bolaji is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham, an independent investment banking firm, and the Chief Investment Officer of the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF).

Our investigation further revealed that Bolaji’s interest may not be unconnected with his late father’s aspiration to ascend the throne or have one of his sons become the next Awujale before his demise.

“But inasmuch as his elder brother, Ladi Balogun, is not interested in the throne, nothing stops Bolaji from contesting the throne, and I must tell you that their family is already working hard within the Fusegbuwa Ruling House to actualise this”, our source revealed.

Another prince eyeing the throne is the veteran journalist and legal luminary Fassy Yusuf, who, until the transition of Oba Adetona, was the palace’s spokesman.

Speaking in an interview with LEADERSHIP, Fassy Yusuf said, “There is nothing wrong with me becoming the next Awujale if the council of kingmakers finds me worthy of such a position. I have served my father’s kingdom for over 45 years, but I believe that the will of God must be fulfilled.”