An Ibadan High Chief and former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, has declared that the next Olubadan of Ibadanland is known but the date for the coronation has not been fixed.
Ladoja, who is the Otun Olubadan, spoke on Friday against the backdrop of the death of the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadan Land, Oba Mashood Olalekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, on Thursday night.
The Otun Olubadan, who spoke on behalf of other members of the Olubadan Advisory Council shortly after a meeting of the Olubadan-in-Council following the demise of the monarch, said the coronation date for the next Olubadan would be announced as soon as the burial rites for Oba Balogun were completed.
“The departed monarch (Oba Balogun) came from the Otun line, the next monarch will be from Balogun line, so, the head of Balogun line is the Balogun of Ibadanland, who has become the Olubadan-designate.
“We all know that Ibadan does things accordingly. If a king dies, we already know who is next, we refer to him as designate.
“We are here to formalise what next, after the burial rites of the deceased would have been completed. We also discussed how to give a befitting burial to the deceased.
“Since the deceased is a Muslim, he has to be buried in an Islamic way, and the Islamic way is that he has to be buried today (Friday), so, it has been decided that he will be buried today at Aliwo, which is his ancestral home, by 4:00pm today.
“There will be a lying-in-state at Mapo Hall from 12:00pm to 1:00pm before they move to Aliwo for burial. After that, there will be prayer for the monarch,” Ladoja stated.
