Accepting kingship was not an easy decision to make – Oba Adeleye
You have served as a police officer, magistrate and now you are a traditional ruler. Which of these is the most interesting experience? I had my primary and secondary education here in Oka, at the African Church Grammar School. The trend at the time was to go job hunting in Lagos after secondary, which I did. In July 1966, I enlisted into the Nigerian Police as a constable and attended 6-month training at the Police College, Ikeja.
In January 1967, I was posted out to Apapa which was my first station. I was there when the Civil War broke out and majority of our brothers and sisters who were then working at the Force Headquarters, Moloney, left for the East and some of us with School Certificates were deployed to the Force Headquarters to man various departments. I was then in the open registry where I got in touch with colleagues of like minds and we discussed the need for us to improve our educational level. That’s how I got my Advanced Level in 1970 and gained admission to read Law at the University of Nsukka, graduating in 1973. Upon my return to the Force, I was promoted from the rank of constable to acting Assistant Superintendent. I decided to go to the Law School. Umaru Shinkafi and I were among the first set of police officers to attend the Law School. Shinkafi went to the Ministry of Establishment to request that the Law School, lasting not more than one academic year, should be regarded as in-service training for police officers, which they agreed to and about seven of us attended the Law School in Victoria Island at the expense of the Federal Government.
I was called to the bar in 1974 and I returned to the Force CID (Criminal Investigation Department) and worked with Sunday Adewusi, who later became the Inspector General, to start up the legal unit. In the course of that, I had to travel to Britain and America.
Around 1978, the then Chief Judge of Lagos, the late Adefarasin requested for some of us with legal training to be released to take up appointments as Magistrates, in order to decongest the courts. As a young man, it was an adventure to experience life on that end. That’s how I went into the judiciary. I discovered there was freedom there, unlike the regimented life of a police officer.
There were no orders to obey against your will as in the police and your work was done based on your conviction. I opted to remain there and rose to be Chief Magistrate I, working in various courts from Yaba, Surulere, up to Badagry. I was at Tinubu Chief Magistrate’s Court when the clarion call came for me in December 1987 to be Oba. How did you receive the news? In as much as I’d expected it, it wasn’t an easy move to make. I left Oka a very young man and stayed in a city like Lagos. Returning to a place like Oka, which was hardly as developed as it is now, was tough.
But with prayers and support from my chiefs, I was able to settle in and begin making progress.
What has given you the most fulfilment in your life?
It is service to my people. I’m grateful to have had the basic training which I did. Discipline from the police and being a lawyer prepared me for the challenges of administering my people. One is able to relate and blend with the traditional institution. My trainings and past experiences have been a huge assistance to me and I’m also fulfilled to be serving my people at the grassroots.
It could be very challenging; sometimes you wake up with a specific agenda for the day but that gets reorganised and you have almost no control over the new events because you must attend to them. What is your typical day? I wake up at 5am, have a bath, and say my prayers. When I can, I take a walk around the palace grounds. I listen to news, both state and national and then look at my diary for the day before going on to have a light breakfast. In looking at my agenda for the day, I may get a call from the police about a complaint that needs my attention. This means I have to put my original plans on hold to attend to that and take prompt action, otherwise you’ll be inviting crisis.
This morning, I was having a meeting when the DPO (Divisional Police Officer) called to say some people had blocked the road and were extorting money in the name of Oka Day. I had to ask that they be arrested because we had not sent anybody to do such. With or without appointment we listen to everybody who comes to us.
Every Tuesday I meet with the chiefs to discuss issues across the community and also settle those that could arise and cause crisis.
If there are issues we need to discuss with the local government council or the state we let them know. Apart from attending meetings, I’m also the chairman of the chieftaincy committee of my local government which is made up five towns, each having a chief. We meet monthly to discuss issues that affect the traditional institution and the local government.
At the state level, I attend meetings at the Council of Obas of Ondo State, where I’m a permanent member. I was also Pro-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University for about seven years. Asides my traditional responsibilities as an Oba, I’m also saddled with many other responsibilities.
What is the most common issue you have to resolve?
We’re an agrarian community. But if you look around, we’re surrounded by rocks all over. So we farm in other people’s lands. That’s the reason I ensure I have a very good relationship with my neighbours.
We farm as far as Ekiti and even Ope in Edo State. Last year, the Olope was the royal father of Oka Day as a way of bonding our relationship with my people working in his domain. The most common issue pertains to them having problems with their landlords or problems amongst themselves. Every Tuesday we settle such issues.
During Oka Day, one of the issues we raise is to emphasise that they maintain good relationships with their landlords and take part in the development of those communities because that is where they live and earn their daily bread.
Oka is made up of 15 quarters, Okia, Korowa, Ibaka, Ikanmu, Agba, Ikese, Owase, Iboje, Iwonrin, Ebinin, Okado, Iboje, Owalusin, Owake, Ibo and Idofin. As the prescribed authority over them, I approve their appointment based on their community’s recommendation.
To reduce my workload, these high chiefs preside over issues that arise in their localities. But where they can’t handle them, they refer to me.
What is the most challenging aspect of being an Oba?
I’m a Muslim and when I ascended the throne, I met the Muslim community divided. Having been to Mecca, Lagos and seen what was happening in other Muslim communities, I believe our way of worship and lifestyle are basically the same. I decided that they should come together, have one leader. But it hasn’t worked out as I would have wanted. It’s one thing I’m unhappy about space each time I remember. We’re not fighting, but we don’t have a common leader. A new imam was recently appointed and another went to court; whereas they are the same people who said, ‘you don’t struggle for this thing.
Whoever emerges, it’s the will of God.’ I’m very embarrassed about it. Another issue is that for a period of about 15 to 17 years of interregnum when we didn’t have an Oba, that was before I came in, a lot had happened. To fill some of the vacant stools in these quarters hasn’t been easy. So far, we still have one or two that have not been occupied for the past 26 years. I decided to make do with what I have. It could be very interesting and at the same time challenging. If 13 stools have been filed out of the 15 quarters, I think it is a pass mark. But I would love a situation where we’d have everybody in one place, in the interest of peace of the community.
Going around the town, there seems to be as many Muslims as there are Christians and also a happy cohabitation. How have you sustained this?
Oka is about 500 to 700 hundred years now and we came from Ife. We met them living together as you observed. My grandfather was neither Muslim nor Christian; he was a traditionalist to the core. But my father was first a Christian before he converted to Islam. I was born into Islam. But his own elder brother was a Christian. We lived in the same house. At Christmas we all celebrated the same way we did at Sallah. There’s not a single house in Oka with only Christians or only Muslim members. There is a mix and several intermarriages. Last Sallah, the Bishop of the African Church celebrated with me.
There is religious harmony. That’s why it worries me when people fight over faith. It’s unnecessary.
What’s was the experience observing Ramadan
It was quite okay. When the Sultan announced that the moon had been sighted, I woke at 2am to say prayer at that time and heard the announcement that it had come to an end. I began receiving calls. We went to the praying ground and it was celebration galore. Christians had joined in the fast and on that day, which was a Sunday, majority of my chiefs are Christians but about 10 of them joined me in the celebration.
Another distinct feature is that a lot of the colonial architectures are still in their original form. How have you preserved them?
In the old days, burnt mud blocks were what we used for buildings which were also designed according to trends in that era. Overtime, innovations and renovations have come up to maintain these structures so that our people of the coming generation know that this is where and how we started. This is the main reason people have maintained them whilst building modern ones alongside. Which is the oldest of them? It is the old palace of Orimolade, close to the market, which was built with corrugated iron. That was the palace used by my own great, great grandfather and is the ruling house I came from. It is well over a hundred years old.