The Olubadan of Ibadan, HRM Oba Mohood Olalekan Balogun, has died.
Aged 81, Oba Balogun was the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadan the land of the ancient and biggest city in West Africa.
The first-class monarch died at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan on Thursday evening, shortly after being admitted for treatment over an unnamed aliment.
Oba Balogun reigned for two years.
He was handed the staff of office by Oyo State’s Governor Seyi Makinde on March 11, 2022.
Governor Makinde has mourned and announced the passing in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, on Thursday.
He wrote, “With total submission to the will of God, I announce the passing unto glory of our father, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland.
“A mighty Iroko has fallen; Oba Balogun has joined the ancestors.
“In Kabiyesi, Ibadanland had a cosmopolitan and well-experienced Olubadan, who made indelible marks on the sands of history and achieved greatly within a short while.
“On behalf of the government and good people of the state, I condole with the immediate family of the Oba Balogun, the Olubadan-in-Council, the state Traditional Council and the people of Ibadanland. It is my prayer that God grants repose to the soul of our late monarch.”
“The passing of Oba Dr. Balogun marks the end of an era for Ibadanland, leaving behind a profound void in its rich history and heritage.”
Born October 18, 1942, Balogun succeeded the late Oba Saliu Adetunji.
OBA BALOGUN CELEBRATED SECOND ANNIVERSARY ON MONDAY, MARCH 11
On Monday, the late monarch thanked God for the grace and privilege to clock two years on the throne, just as he thanked members of his advisory council for their unflinching support so far.
Balogun, in a statement by his Personal Assistant on Media, Oladele Ogunsola, in Ibadan, the state capital, said the second anniversary, which coincided with the commencement of this year’s Ramadan fast, was also used as an opportunity by the monarch to ask for prayers for the country by the Islamic faithful and expression of love for one another to make the period stress-free for the adherents.
OBA BALOGUN SUPERINTENDED THE DEPOSITION OF MOGAJI OLADOJA ON SATURDAY
Five days earlier, Oba Balogun stripped Wale Oladoja of his title as the Mogaji Akinsola of Opopo Labiran family compound, directing the originating family to present another candidate to fill the vacant position with immediate effect.
The development came barely six months after Oladoja’s later lifted suspension as Mogaji by the Olubadan Advisory Council.
The decision followed the emergency meeting of the Olubadan Advisory Council, attended by representatives of the Association of Mogajis of Ibadanland.
The congregation was led by its President-General, Chief Asimiyu Adepoju Ariori and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Suleiman Iyanda Raufu, who stood in for Chief Barr. Niyi Ajewole, the President-General of the Council.
A press statement in Ibadan on Saturday after the meeting by the Personal Assistant (Media) to the Olubadan, Oladele Ogunsola, said that Oladoja was sanctioned over his recent media outbursts considered disrespectful to the Olubadan stool and by extension the traditional institution of Ibadanland.
It said the media reports by the deposed Mogaji were divisive, disparaging and insulting and unbecoming of a supposed leader.
According to the statement, the conduct of Oladoja since his short suspension about six months ago was not suggestive of any sense of remorse.
It would be recalled that the same Olubadan Advisory Council ordered the suspension of Oladoja over inhuman execution of supposed court judgment on a land matter and for which he threw out some residents of Akinsola village in Akinyele Local Government area of the state, a conduct then described as untoward and a breach of the peace.
Although the suspension placed on him then did not last long because of his perceived genuine remorse and principally, because of His Imperial Majesty’s peaceful disposition, the statement submitted that, “The recent outbursts by the same person have shown him as somebody without no iota of respect for constituted authority and any failure to bring upon him the full weight of the Council’s power would amount to condoning of indiscipline”.
His Akinsola Family was subsequently asked to present another person to replace him as the Mogaji if it was still interested in having a substantive title holder.
The deposed Mogaji was invited to the meeting but failed to show up on an excuse that his mother died about 24 hours to the meeting, an alibi that failed to convince the Council.
