Stakeholders in Ifon community, headquarters of the Ose Local Council Area of Ondo State, have appealed to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to swiftly intervene and resolve the chieftaincy impasse that has left the Olufon throne vacant for over five years. The stakeholders, under the aegis of Ifon Improvement Forum (IIF), disclosed that the absence of a monarch has stifled development and left the community vulnerable to security challenges.
Background of the Crisis
While speaking during a press briefing, the president of the forum, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Badewole, disclosed that if the government does the right thing, the various court cases challenging the process would collapse on their own. The deceased Olufon, late Oba Israel Adeusi, was on November 26, 2020, shot at Elegbeka axis along Benin-Owo-Akure highway while returning to Ifon from Akure, the state capital, where he had gone to attend a meeting before running into gunmen.
Proposed Solutions
Badewole, who was flanked by other leaders of the forum, emphasized that three possible solutions had been proposed to the governor in a bid to break the stalemate. The president of the forum added that a formal proposal was submitted to the governor's office on February 9 and said no response has been received despite the letter being copied to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice as well as the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
He said, “In the event that the state government prefers the use of the 1968 Chieftaincy Declaration, it should follow strictly the rotational order contained in the declaration and direct the Erunogbe ruling house to present its candidate(s) before the kingmakers, not minding the fact that the ruling house had produced more Olufons than any other ruling house.
“The state government should register the already accepted and approved Olufon Chieftaincy Declaration of 1981 as contained in the Ondo State Government White Paper issued on the Morgan Commission. Any shortcoming noticed in the 1981 Chieftaincy Declaration would be reviewed and addressed by the next Olufon of Ifon. Following the registration, the Ogenuwa ruling house, being the next in line to the Adaniken ruling house, should be asked to present its candidate(s) before the kingmakers.
“In the event that the state government elects not to adopt either of the first two options, the government should throw the contest open to all the ruling houses, and whoever emerges will have the onerous task of rearranging a new rotational order.”
Impact on the Community
Badewole further stressed that the interregnum had triggered a breakdown of social and economic activities, with the community's only bank relocating and courts ceasing to sit owing to what he described as an absence of traditional leadership. “But because of the issue of kidnapping, the high court judge no longer sits in the form. The magistrate court no longer sits in Ifon. The customary court no longer sits in this form. The only bank that we have has been moved away from there. So, Ifon Development Forum, we are trying our very best to see how we can take up the gauntlet and not wait for government.”
