The Board of Trustees of Mopa Welfare Society, the oldest and highest Socio-Cultural and Development organization in Mopa land wishes to react to the recent so called selection of Chief Ibeun as the Elulu designate and as the paramount ruler of Mopa Kingdom. The selection to say the least is absurd, irregular and inconsistent with the traditions of Mopa.
The Board of Trustees of the umbrella organization wants to bring to the information of the general public that, there are too many irregularities imbedded in the entire selection exercise, as compared to what had been the tradition in selecting Elulus in the past. As critical stakeholders, it is incumbent on the Board of Trustees of Mopa Welfare Society to quickly intervene in this shameful and macabre selection process.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Association is reliably in possession of hurriedly untraditional selection process , which are considered antithesis to Mopa’s progress and constituting a rude desecration of our Obaship stool.
As at today, the most experienced and revered Chiefs in Mopa Traditional Council include Chief Agbaje, Chief S. B. Rowland, Chief Ola Akande etal..
All of these honourable men are above eighty (80) years of age, and could attest, as first hand witnesses to the cultural manners, procedures and processes which were observed in the selection of the transited Oba Julius O. Joledo (JP). His selection had been led by late Prof. Taiwo Daramola.
Undoubtedly, these experienced High Chiefs of Mopa remain reliable custodians of Elulu’s selection procedures
The counsels of these wise chiefs had been discountenanced in the selection process of the substantive Elulu
It is worthy of note that, after the demise of King Funsho Joledo in October 2023, the Mopa Welfare Society held a meeting on 23rd December 2023 at the Mopa City hall, where a position was reached and adopted that:
A. Our forefathers had established and practiced a clear and unambiguous method of succession to the stools of Obaship (Elulu) and Otunbaship (Shaba) in Mopa as far back as 1916 when Mopa started having one unified King or ruler.
B. The rotational system for succession to the stools of Oba and Otunba has enshrined orderliness, equity, harmony and peace in our system.
C. There are two major ruling houses in Mopa but further subdivided to two (Odole and Iloke). ODOLE produces AJERIN and AISAN ruling houses, while ILOKE produces ILEGEMO and PATIA ruling houses.
D. Whoever is the Otunba becomes the Oba at the demise of the Oba. Peradventure the Otunba abdicates for whatever reason; an Oba will still emerge from his ruling class as decided by his clan. The case of ONARE and Ayo Joledo are relevant.
E. From the above it is clear that the vacant stool of OBA (ELULU) and OTUNBA (SHABA) are to be filled by PATIA and AJERIN ruling houses respectively. The application of this time tested mode of selection and succession will continue to guarantee peace and progress for the town.
However, shockingly, against the adopted decision, and while still waiting for the committee to call on Welfare Society, the Board of Trustees of Mopa Welfare Society was reliably informed that, six days into the announcement of the vacancy of the Elulu stool by Mopa Traditional Council and just after one day screening of papers, a counter announcement of Chief Muyiwa Ibeun who does not belong to any of the ruling classes above was made by Otunba of Mopa, HRH, Olojo as the Elulu designate.
His untoward declaration came only one day after the screening of the applicants and was followed by a hurried issuance and presentation of certificate to Chief Muyiwa Ibeun.
This obviously was done in contradiction to the statutory completion 30 days procedure
Going by our tradition, it was expected that, within the stipulated 30 days screening window, exercises such as consultations with the sages in Mopa Kingdom, consultation with Mopa Welfare Trustees, as well as spiritual consultations across boards, as applicable and relevant, among other arrangements would have been made.
All the above developments called for concern and worry because of the first class status of the stool of Elulu of Mopa. It is our considered opinion that, it should not be treated like a Club election. There are rigorous traditional exercises that must be observed and which have not been done in this purported selection. Hence the arising question, why the rush to install an Elulu? This unpopular action is capable of desecrating the highly revered stool of our ancestors and also capable of causing rancor, disunity and total deletion of our history as a people. It amounts to sacrilege and sabotage of our culture, more so that the final funeral ceremony for the departed King has not been completed?
However as no institution is static, Chieftaincy and traditional issues inclusive, the clans that are agitating for inclusiveness into the ruling class should be considered in the future when the system can be reviewed and restructured.
In view of the foregoing, we want to say that, the purported selection of Chief Muyiwa Ibeun as Elulu designate is irregular, not cultural and completely alien to Mopa’s enduring tradition. We therefore disassociate ourselves from the entire exercise, while at the same time calling for its suspension with immediate effect. By this, the MopaMuro Local Government Authority, all the good people of Mopa and the general public are advised to disregard the unpopular decision of Mopa Traditional Council, pending the time all anomalies are adequately corrected.
Thank you.
E- Signed by the following Board Members
Chief (Dr.) Stephen Ayo Ishola FCNA, FIMC, AAIA, MMA
HRH Oba Stephen Olujide
Prof. Theophilus Olatunde Aro
Chief Reuben Ekundayo Abe
Prof. (Mrs) Tanimowo Fadupin
Chief Michael Aiyenigba
Rev (Dr) Ola Daniyan
Deaconess F.E Bello
Elder Ayo Adeyemo
