•The Pastor Adeboye connection
From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Intriguing
On Friday September 8, 2023, Ogbomoso, one of the major towns in Oyo State, was agog, as Prince Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye was installed as Soun of Ogbomosoland, following the approval of the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, who made the approval known on Saturday September 2, this year, through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Segun Olayiwola.
The installation came barely 21 months after the demise of the immediate past Soun, the late Oba Jimoh Oyewumi Ajagungbade III, who joined his ancestors on December 12, 2021. The former Soun, who was born on May 27, 1926, was crowned on December 24, 1973, spending 48 years on the throne.
The new Soun was installed as Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye, Orumogege III. By records, he is the 28th Soun of Ogbomosoland. At his installation, prayers were said by the Bishop of Ogbomoso Diocese of Methodist Church Nigeria, Right Rev’d Ademola Moradeyo; the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheikh Talihat Oluwashina Ayilara; and the Araba Oluawo of Ogbomosoland, Chief Opeyemi Ifamakinde.
The king then proceeded to Ipebi, a form of seclusion, for seven days. He came out from the seclusion on Thursday September 14, 2023. The event attracted illustrious sons and eminent daughters of Ogbomoso who rejoiced with the new king, including the renowned Nigerian non-denominational preacher and author, Bro Gbile Akanni, who is the founder of Peace House in Gboko, Benue State, and hails from Masifa in Ogbomoso.
But a serious controversy trailed the selection and installation of the new king from his own Laoye Royal Family. Available information revealed that there are five royal families in Ogbomoso that have been producing monarchs for the town on rotational basis. The new king, as gathered, is from Laoye Royal Family. But the selection of the new king from the family was greeted with political intrigues that probably divided the family into two, with each queuing behind different princes.
Prince Oluwakayode Olatunji Olaoye said there are 10 houses in the Laoye Royal Family, and the new king is from Kape, which is one of the house. He added that he was aware that his name was sent to the government in April 2022 for approval.
Investigation revealed that each of the five royal families has a Mogaji as traditional head. The Mogaji is always installed by the reigning Soun of Ogbomoso. In the case of Laoye Royal Family, Chief Amos Olawale Olaoye, is the current Mogaji.
Some of the leaders in the Laoye Royal Family and other critical stakeholders, however, spoke on the controversy. They put the records straight. The new monarch of Ogbomoso also spoke on why he chose to become Soun, after being a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) for 30 years in Washington, United States of America. He made the explanation to his congregation in March 2022 in Washington.
Why I left the pulpit for the palace
The new king in early 2022 revealed that he received a divine call to become the Soun of Ogbomoso Kingdom.
His words: “I was born into the royal family. But one way or the other, the Lord took me on a completely different path. He made me a pastor.
“In December 2021, I was on vacation in Nigeria, like I normally do every August and December. If I was not in Nigeria, I would be in other parts of the world.
“So, I was in Nigeria when the king of our town joined his ancestors. We have five royal families in Ogbomoso. After the Ajagungbades, we know that it is my royal family – Olaoye, that is the next. “Everybody in Ogbomoso who knows about the tradition knows that. Of course, I knew about it. But I was not interested in it at all because I believe that I have gone in a completely different path. My father never sat me down to say Ghandi, if you want to become Soun of Ogbomoso, you can be. He never told me and I never bothered. My dad tried to be Soun of Ogbomoso in 1940. But it was not what God wanted for him. The people rejected him.
“But in that December 2021, people started calling me, saying: ‘Ghandi, why can’t you do this? -especially people who were close to me and knew that the Laoye Royal Family would produce the Soun after the Ajagungbades. I insisted I did not have interest because I believed I had a different path.
“Sometime in 2021, I said in the church that I was going to retire. I said that at the age of 60, I was going to retire. People asked me what I would retire into. I said I have done 30 years as a pastor. I felt there are other expressions of ministry. I planned that I was still going to do other things in the ministry. It was that time that I appointed Pastor Chinyere as the Executive Pastor, and Pastor Olumide as the Lead Pastor of the Church.
“When I was doing all that, I did not have a plan of what I was going to do. All I knew was that I have 30 years of pastoring, and Pastor Olumide has been my assistant pastor for 21 years; that is a long time to be somebody’s assistant. Twenty one years! That is nearly a generation, since a generation is about 25 years.
“When I was being told to come and be Soun of Ogbomoso, I told them the life I wanted to live after 60 years is very simple. I wanted to travel the world because I like travelling. I tell people that I was born in a car, and maybe that is why I am just restless as a person; that is my nature. It has been a little difficult to change that. Today, I am just restless. I just want things to happen. I just want to be on the move. I know that is the way God created me. So, that was my plan for 60.”
How Pastor Adeboye encouraged, endorsed my decision
The pastor-turned-king also revealed how the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor EA Adeboye encouraged him to accept the call to become Ogbomoso’s new traditional ruler. hear him: “Then, people started calling me a lot. I insisted I was not interested. Of course, as a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, I didn’t want Daddy G.O (Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the church) to hear. Of course, he is my spiritual father.
“So, I called him, and told him what is going on. I said: ‘I don’t want you to hear. People wanted me to come and become Soun of Ogbomoso. But I just want you to hear. It is not because I am interested, but I don’t want you to hear. ‘
“Then, he stopped me, saying: ‘Don’t say you are not interested.’ I asked why and he continued: ‘No, this kind of thing, you brought it from heaven.’ I asked what he meant by that and he said ‘You were born into a royal family, you brought it from heaven. Don’t ever say you are not interested. He told me to go and pray and fast about it. I didn’t pray and I didn’t fast because it’s not what I was interested in.
“The next I asked him was if he knew of any pastor, who left pastoring and went to become an oba. He said of course, he could tell me four. He told me two among them. He then said: ‘You can go ahead. That is all I have to say.’ He also told me that he never wanted to become General Overseer, and I can see what General Overseer is today. He told me: ‘Go ahead and do whatever you have to do.’
“To cut the long story short, I had planned that on January 2nd, 2022, which was first Sunday of 2022, I would tell the people calling me to become Soun my final stance. I was going to tell them to stop bothering me. So, I woke up around 6:30am to pee. When I finished peeing, I laid down on the bed, thinking about how the service was going to be.
“Then, I prayed: ‘Lord, I am at a crossroads of life. These people are saying I should come and become Soun of Ogbomoso. Today is the day I am going to give them the final answer that I am not doing.’ “ To me, how would Jesus say leave Washington and go and live in Ogbomoso? The next thing I heard was: ‘You are born for this. This is the reason for your birth.’
“Of course, that was not what I was expecting. But let me tell you this; when I hear, it is 10/10. So, I got ready for church. I came to the church. I called Pastor Olumide, Pastor Chinyere, and Pastor Tunde. I called the three of them to my office on January 2nd, 2022, and I said to them what the Lord told me, and I told them I am 10/10. I never miss it. There is time when I don’t know, I’ll say let’s go ahead and do it. When I say God told me, it has never changed in 30 years of ministry. People that are close to me know exactly what I am saying.
“When God spoke to me, what I said was very simple. ‘If it is not you, stop it.’ The next thing I did was I got into the process because I am following God. “There is nothing in this world that anybody has to offer me than what I have committed half of my adult life to do; absolutely nothing. If you know me very well, I am not doing this because I have nothing else to do.”
On the day he was installed as Soun of Ogbomosoland, the monarch explained the meaning of his name ‘Ghandi.’ Before then, there had been some criticism on the name, with some people wondering how a Yoruba man could be bearing such name. The Oba said in Yoruba:
Itumo oruko mi re … Genesis 30:11 ‘Lea si wipe, Ire de: O si so oruko rè ni Gadi. That means “This is the meaning of my name. Genesis 30:11, which says: ‘Leah said, I have been lucky; so she named him Gad.”
Opposition against new king
The eldest son, known as ‘Baale’ in the Laoye Royal Family is Alhaji Garba Laoye, fondly called ‘Cashman’. It was gathered, however, that each of the 10 houses in the family has ‘Baale’. But all the 10 houses have one Mogaji as their traditional head and the Mogaji is recognised by the Ogbomoso traditional council.
Following the approval by Governor Makinde and his installation by the kingmakers, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye, seems to have a lot of work to do within his Laoye Royal Family. Alhaji Garba Laoye, who was opposed to the emergence of the new king, said the family designed a form for all eligible princes interested in becoming the Soun and “we asked them to obtain it, fill and submit.
“But we have closed the sales of form before Ghandi showed interest. Nobody could collect form again by then. But the Mogaji, who comes from the same royal house with Ghandi, then went behind to print another form by himself, which the secretary of the family, who was supposed to sign did not sign.
“We also have our own Prince too. It is not that we don’t have our own Prince. But we have chosen to follow the law because the case is in court. We don’t want to offend Governor Seyi Makinde. But we know that much pressure was put on him. “The governor had said it before that whatever would set a town or royal family in disarray, he would never do it. He said he did not want to approve any king that the court will sack. But this one, we are telling the government not to try to install him as king. He is not the right person to become the Soun of Ogbomoso.
“When a royal family wants to present a candidate for the throne, and after choosing who we want, we will take his name to the ‘Isese’ people – that is the traditional worshippers, who will approve whatever we take to them.
“The people that brought Ghandi did not go to the Isese people. They want to destabilise Ogbomoso. As long as we are alive, we don’t want Ogbomoso to be in disarray for the next generations.”
In the same vein, Secretary of Laoye Royal Family, Prince Sakariyau Laoye, said: “When we were selling the form, Ghandi came home from abroad. He came for the 40th day prayer after the demise of the last Soun. Then, he was asked if he would like to contest and he said he did not have any interest. And he went back to the United States. It was after he got back to the United States that he said he had interest.
“Initially, he did not know the part he belongs to in the Laoye Royal Family. But people told him the part that he belongs to. Then, he said he had interest to buy form. By then, the sale of forms had closed. The whole family had taken the decision to stop selling forms.
“Surprisingly, the Mogaji of Laoye Royal Family, based on the fact that he comes from the same house with Ghandi, printed a form on his own, without the knowledge of the family and my consent. He did not say anything to me. He chose another secretary.
“Ghandi said he wanted to become the king, and we said he would not become king. But he said God has sent him to become the king and nobody could stop him. The other side too also said God sent them to become the king as well.
“But there are two cases in court up till now over who should become the Soun. The judgments in the two cases have been fixed for October 3rd and 12th.
“The way our forefathers used to do it in the olden days would be the path that we would follow. We are the ones who have the right. When we are ready, we will invite our ‘Isese’ people, and they will consult the oracle for us. Whoever the oracle has chosen, his name will be sent to the kingmakers.”
Mogaji of Laoye royal family speaks
Twenty-five princes vied for the throne of Soun in Ogbomoso, with Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye emerging as the chosen one. But with the controversies that arose over Afolabi’s candidacy, some family members pointed fingers at the Mogaji of Laoye Royal Family, Chief Amos Olawale Olaoye, accusing him of favouritism. But the Mogaji defended himself, stating that he had no option than to allow qualified princes to collect forms, even if sales had closed. He also debunked myths about seclusion, explaining that it was where kings were taught the dos and don’ts on the throne. “Whether sale of form was closed or not, what would I do when princes came to me that they wanted to collect form, and they are qualified? Do you expect me to tell them that sale of form had closed? I should tell them not to vie for the contest? If you accused me of allowing him to collect the form, what happened when we got to the hall in the presence of local government officials? When we got to the hall, two princes also registered. The local government officials that witnessed the meeting said the two princes should be allowed to collect the form. Would you also accuse me of doing that too?
“But the fact that is sacrosanct is that altogether, 25 princes registered to become Soun. If Afolabi did not collect form, only one of them would be chosen as king. “It is the family that will sit down and pick whoever is the eldest son among the princes as candidate for the throne. In the olden days, princes would not contest to become king.
“Therefore, as the Mogaji of Laoye Royal Family, it is in my living room that we have been holding all family meetings of the royal family. “Seclusion is not synonymous with idol worshiping. Let me tell you the truth, Ipebi (seclusion) is where kings are taught the dos and don’ts on the throne. If we make my living room a [place of seclusion, the king will be there for seven days. There, he will be taught how to act like the king. In the seclusion, they will tell him many things, including how to handle masquerade festival, and other religious festivals. He should allow Muslims, Christians, and Isese people to do their festivals.
“The Laoye Royal family is a big family. If we count room by room, they will be up to 10. But the Laoye Royal Family is one. The 10 rooms are the places where our mothers were put after being married to our father.
“The 10 houses in the Laoye Royal Family are: Ile Aremo, Ile Bode, Ile Bayewuwon, Ile Kapelaye, Ile Farayola, Ile Ajiteru, Ile Aribaba, Ile Oyediji, Ile Alatipo, and Ile Dawodu Lateju.
“There were 25 contestants for the throne of Soun from Laoye Royal Family. From Ile Aremo alone, seven contestants came out. But among the 25 of them, Afolabi was chosen by the kingmakers. We sent his name to the governor in Ibadan for approval and it was approved. The people that are against Afolabi, if one of their children, who contested with Afolabi had been chosen, will they be saying all these things?
“I appeal to all the people that have one grievance or the other to bury their hatchets. Let us all accept what God has said. We thank Governor Makinde for his patience. He will have rest of mind.”
Our stand on Ghandi’s choise – Head of Babalawos
The Araba Oluawo of Ogbomosoland, Chief Opeyemi Ifamakinde, stated that whenever a king joined his ancestors, another person would succeed him from the next royal family. The next royal family, he said, would present a candidate or candidates. “The candidate can be one or 20, 30 to 200 candidates. Then, the family will invite the kingmakers and present their candidate or candidates to them. “If you are a pastor or a preacher, and you become Soun, we are not against you. But you must not be against other religions. There has never been any Soun that did not allow Isese to practise in Ogbomoso. The immediate past Soun was a Muslim. When he became the Soun, he allowed Muslims, Christians as well as traditional worshippers to practise. This is how it should be. The new Soun has said he would allow other religions to practise in the town. It is on record that the crown of Soun is not from Jerusalem and it is not from Mecca. It is a traditional crown.”
No religious crisis over new Soun – Ogbomoso Descendants Union
Prof Alice Jekayinfa, who spoke on behalf of Egbe Omo Ogbomoso, noted that there is no religious crisis in Ogbomoso over the throne of Soun.
“The Muslims are not against the Christians. Some people are only misrepresenting the Muslims. The immediate past Soun was a Muslim and he spent 48 years on the throne. Is it that everyone in that family is a moron? No. They knew one of them spent 48 years on the throne, and how would they still insist that another Muslim should become Soun? Those behind this are lying against the Muslims. Muslims are not against the Christians. I have never known Ogbomoso with religious crisis,” she said.