After Oyomesi’ bribery scandal, Ifa revealed to me Owoade as Aláàfin – Prof. Wande Abimbola

By Samuel Ogunsona

Former Vice Chancellor Obafemi Awolowo University Professor Wande Abimbola,who is also a renowned academic and traditionalist, has shed more light on how the new Alaafin emerged.

He revealed that the Oyo State Government asked him to consult the Ifa Oracle to choose the next Alaafin.

The 92-year old professor made this revelation in video clip available to Irohinoodua.

He noted that the decision came after the Oyomesi Kingmakers were compromised by bribery from interested individuals.

According to Prof. Abimbola, the kingmakers were initially swayed by hefty sums of money from a particular prince, but two of them later backtracked after discovering their leader’s dishonesty.

This led to a crisis, with citizens of Oyo expressing outrage over the monetization of the traditional institution.

Prof. Abimbola quoted Governor Seyi Makinde as saying, “Was it not through Ifa divination that the King was chosen in the past?”

The Governor felt that if the traditional process was not followed, the institution would be bastardized.

According to Professor Abimbola, “Yes, it’s the Oyo State Government that asked me to consult Ifa. By April this year, it will be three years that our King, Aláàfin ilu Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, joined his ancestors. The kingmakers were consulted to pick a successor, and then interested individuals started giving hefty money to the kingmakers to influence their decision.

“This later divided the rank of the kingmakers because they discovered tht the money their leader shared to them was a far cry from what he collected. The five kingmakers had earlier supported a particular prince who gave them the heaviest sim but after discovering the act perpetrated by their leader, two of them backtrack. They reached out to the Government to say they were no longer in support of the candidate, adding that they just discovered that the money their leader collected from the said prince was incredibly heavy from which he gave them peanuts.

“That’s where the crisis started. Citizens of Oyo too started writing in newspapers to call out government that ‘it’s money you want to use to elect Alaafin into office, is that good?’” he recounted, adding that at that stage the matter became messy.

Prof. Abimbola recollected that Gov. Makinde pointed to him and said: “Is this not our father sitting down here who, we know, does not lie or deceive. In all the places he has worked both in government and in the academic community, he never took what does not rightly belong to him and he is an Ifa priest who holds the title of Àwísẹ Awo Àgbàyé . Why not let him go and consult Ifa. If we do it according to the tradition, it would bring appropriate result.”

The 92-year-old professor currently lives in the United States.
Prof. Abimbola lamented the erosion of the traditional institution’s integrity, stating, “We don’t know of Hausaland or any other land elsewhere, but in Yorubaland today, the system has been corrupted with money… The kingmakers may collect money from a hundred candidates, it’s the highest bidder that they will give the stool to.”

Governor Makinde reportedly asked Prof. Abimbola to consult the Ifa Oracle, saying, “Is this not our father sitting down here who, we know, does not lie or deceive… Why not let him go and consult Ifa. If we do it according to the tradition, it would bring appropriate result.”