The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun Oyetunji Larooye II, has expressed dissatisfaction over what he described as a distortion in the hierarchy of traditional rulers in Osun State, faulting the elevation of the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi (Telu I), above his rightful position.
Speaking in a viral video during the anniversary lecture of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), the monarch recalled how the late Ataoja, Oba Iyiola Oyewale Matanmi III, was abroad when his seat in the traditional rulers’ council was sidelined, allowing the Oluwo to occupy it.
“Late Ataoja Iyiola Matanmi III travelled abroad and before his return, his seat was put aside and Oluwo was put on it. That’s how Oluwo became the fourth in the hierarchy. But that position belongs to Ataoja. That’s how I met it,” he said.
Oba Olanipekun stressed that the Ataoja of Osogbo has always occupied the fourth position in the traditional rulers’ hierarchy in Osun, insisting that no narrative of coronation order should alter the arrangement.
“I told journalists that I don’t belong to another position aside the fourth because my predecessors occupied that position, and they turned everything around for me. Since then, I’ve been silent about it without any way out. But regardless of everything, the Ataoja’s seat is the fourth in Osun,” he declared.
He further emphasised the historical significance of Osogbo, recalling that the first Ataoja, Oba Gbadewolu Larooye, brought the crown from Ipole, which solidified the authority of the stool.