Supreme Court Never Granted Alaafin Supremacy Rights, Lawyer Clarifies
- A legal expert has challenged the Alaafin of Oyo’s claim to exclusive authority over pan-Yoruba matters, stating it lacks constitutional and historical backing
- The controversy follows a chieftaincy title conferred by the Ooni of Ife, which sparked a public ultimatum from the Alaafin
- Abuja-based lawyer Pelumi Olajengbesi argued that Yoruba tradition and law do not support any singular stool as the custodian of collective legitimacy
A constitutional lawyer based in Abuja, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has publicly dismissed claims that the Alaafin of Oyo holds exclusive authority over pan-Yoruba matters, stating that no Supreme Court judgment supports such a position.
Olajengbesi made the assertion in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday, amid growing tensions between two prominent Yoruba monarchs—the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade.
Source: Twitter
The dispute erupted after the Ooni conferred the chieftaincy title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on Ibadan-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Engineer Dotun Sanusi. The Alaafin, interpreting the move as a challenge to his authority, issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the title be revoked or face unspecified consequences.
Yoruba heritage and legal jurisdiction under scrutiny
In his response, Olajengbesi described the Alaafin’s ultimatum as “wholly gratuitous and constitutionally unsound.” He argued that the directive not only lacked legal merit but also undermined the cultural foundations of Yoruba heritage.
“Beyond its surface provocation, the Alaafin’s order constitutes an impermissible assault on the very foundation of Yoruba heritage and seeks to revive a jurisdictional contest which neither law nor history sustains,” he wrote.
The lawyer maintained that the Ooni’s actions were well within his traditional and cultural rights.
“The Ooni of Ife acted squarely within his lawful, ancestral, and cultural prerogatives. These prerogatives are sui generis, inherent, and incapable of usurpation by any other stool. They are not the product of conquest or temporal power but derive from the very normative foundation of Yoruba civilization,” Olajengbesi said.
Ile-Ife’s primacy in Yoruba history affirmed
Olajengbesi further emphasised the historical significance of Ile-Ife, asserting its primacy as the origin of Yoruba civilisation.
“Every student of Yoruba history knows tradition and scholarship unanimously affirm Ile-Ife as the cradle of existence of the Yoruba people, the primordial seat where Oduduwa, progenitor of the race, laid the foundation of legitimacy from which all kingdoms, including Oyo, derived their authority,” he stated.
Drawing on his legal experience in chieftaincy disputes, Olajengbesi clarified that no legal instrument grants the Alaafin exclusive jurisdiction over pan-Yoruba titles. “The law recognises traditional rulers through state chieftaincy statutes, not residual claims of imperial conquest,” he said.
He added, “With the greatest respect, the oft-cited Supreme Court decision that is now exaggerated and purportedly vested authority in the Alaafin must be properly confined to its facts.
Judicial pronouncements are case-specific, and no ratio decidendi of that Court has ever declared the Alaafin the sole custodian of Yoruba legitimacy. No statute in any Yoruba-speaking state vests exclusive authority in the Alaafin to confer titles of pan-Yoruba significance, and the Court cannot by judicial fiat extend such jurisdiction.”
Olajengbesi concluded by defending the Ooni’s conferment of the Okanlomo of Oodua title on Chief Dotun Sanusi, describing it as a symbolic gesture rooted in cultural tradition.
“The conferment of the title Okanlomo of Oodua on Chief Dotun Sanusi, a distinguished Yoruba entrepreneur and philanthropist, is not a political office or military command. It is a cultural honour, symbolic of fraternity and solidarity. Such honours fall well within the Ooni’s remit as custodian of Yoruba identity,” he said.
Source: Legit.ng
