The annual Ojude Oba Festival will proceed in 2026 even in the absence of a newly installed Awujale of Ijebu land, the Baagbimo of Ijebu and Secretary of the Awujale Council of Chiefs, Prof. (Chief) Fassy Yusuf, has insisted—arguing that the festival is anchored in institution, not personality, and cannot be suspended simply because the royal stool is vacant.
Speaking on Eagle 102.5 FM’s Frontline, Prof. Yusuf dismissed mounting public fears that Ojude Oba could be stopped during the transition period following the death of Oba Sikiru Adetona, stressing that the festival endures as a permanent cultural heritage of the Ijebu people, irrespective of monarchical succession.
“Once again, I confirm to you, and I confirm to you all, I confirm to the whole world that the Ojude Oba festival is holding in May,” he said. “That’s on May 28th or 29th, depending on the signals. We are talking about institutions now, not about individuals.”
He further insisted that history proves the festival has never depended on the physical presence of a reigning monarch, adding that attempts to tie its continuity exclusively to the throne miss the heart of its cultural foundation.
“There were times in the past that a late monarch or a revered monarch was not available due to one reason or the other, and yet the festival took place,” he said.
Prof. Yusuf warned against what he described as needless agitation, saying those pushing for suspension are misunderstanding both tradition and historical reality.
“It is inconceivable that anybody will be thinking or will be clamouring for the cancellation of Ojude Oba festival until a new Awujale is installed,” he said.
He also delivered a sharper rebuke to critics, describing their position as uninformed and dangerous to cultural continuity.
“All those people talking about cancellation, or the like are people that lack self-identity,” he said. “They are people, we call them rabble-rousers, they are people fishing in troubled waters.”
In his view, Ojude Oba is bigger than any individual reign—surviving even interregnum—because Ijebu identity does not pause for royal transition.
“We, the founder, the creator, should we now sit at akimbo, and let the shine be taken off us,” he said, warning that the culture loses authority the moment people try to shrink the significance of Ojude Oba.
He added that the festival has repeatedly endured uncertainty in leadership, pointing to past instances where it held despite the absence, illness, or incapacitation of the monarch.
“In 1959 Ojude Oba was held after the demise of Oba Robertson Adesanya Gbelegbuwa,” he said.
Prof. Yusuf said the same principle applied during the period around Oba Adetona’s emergence.
“So, his appointment was approved second January 1960, and he was crowned April 2nd, 1960,” he said. “That was about one year the week that Ojude Oba was held without any king on the throne.”
He cited another clear example during royal illness, stressing that the festival still went ahead through alternative arrangements.
“In 1995, Ojude Oba festival held,” he said. “Oba Adetona was critically ill, he was flown abroad. The Ojude Oba festival held.”
According to him, stakeholders ensured continuity even when leadership could not function normally—reinforcing his argument that Ojude Oba is institutionally rooted, not personally dependent.
“It was the late Ogbeni-Oja Bayo Okuku that stood in for him, supported by eminent sons and daughters like Otunba Subomi Balogun and Papa Chris Okunbadejo,” he said.
Prof. Yusuf rejected the notion that current circumstances are unprecedented, insisting Ijebu history has already shown how continuity survives transitional leadership.
He dismissed such reasoning as illogical and unsustainable.
“That is an illogical argument. It is an argument that cannot withstand the test of logic. It is nonsensical,” he said.
He argued that culture and governance cannot be frozen by leadership gaps, emphasizing that societies adapt when institutions must work.
“Nature abhors a lacuna. Nature abhors a vacuum,” he said. “So, somebody has to stand in.”
He said interim structures are already in place to keep cultural governance functioning without interruption.
“We have in place Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council,” he said. “The chairman may not be occupying the seat of Awujale, but he is standing in as acting Awujale.”
He urged critics to stop treating a structured transition like a crisis.
“Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill,” he said.
When asked whether the absence of a monarch weakens the meaning of the festival, Prof. Yusuf said it does not—because the interregnum arrangement protects the symbolic role required for continuity.
“We have Awujale Interregnum Administrative Council,” he reiterated. “The chairman is standing in.”
Prof. Yusuf also addressed documentation and recollection, acknowledging his age limits direct knowledge of events far back, but insisting institutional memory remains intact.
“I was a young boy then, I would not know what happened in 1930, 1920,” he said. “But I’ve not come across such a situation again.”
He added that the lack of modern precedent cannot be used as an excuse to cancel what the culture has already proven it can sustain.
“What we are having now is a lacuna, a vacuum,” he said. “And therefore, we cannot afford a situation where we deny ourselves the opportunity of hosting Ojude Oba.”
He warned that collapsing the festival because of transition would damage the cultural identity of the people for generations.
“That would mark the extinction of Ojude Oba,” he said. “By the time we want to come back, we would not even be able to start from scratch.”
Prof. Yusuf also spoke on succession processes, confirming that traditional institutions are engaging government-approved mechanisms.
“We have complied with the Oba and Chiefs Law,” he said. “We have forwarded the list to the kingmakers. The kingmakers have started working.”
He said the process is paused due to government instruction, not institutional failure.
“There was an instruction from the government to suspend action,” he said. “And in obeisance, action has been stopped.”
Still, he said efforts to resume the process are ongoing.
“We, the family, have appealed to the government to allow the process to continue,” he said.
On allegations around the selection process—coercion and corruption—Prof. Yusuf maintained that nothing has been proven.
“These are allegations, and they remain in the realm of speculations and accusations,” he said. “The law says he who alleges must prove.”
He added that no official indictments have been made public.
“So far, nothing has been made public. Nobody has been indicted,” he said.
On his interaction with security agencies, Prof. Yusuf confirmed he was invited for clarification, not formally accused.
“The DSS invited me as vice chairman of the ruling house,” he said. “They just wanted me to clarify what I saw or did not see.”
He said he responded as a citizen, explaining that investigation is not his role.
“I told them I am not an intelligence officer,” he said. “You are the ones to investigate, not me.”
Turning to festival logistics, Prof. Yusuf said preparations for the 2026 edition have already begun, with reforms introduced to prevent earlier problems.
“In the last two or three editions, we had challenges due to timing and logistics,” he said. “So, we set up sub-committees to handle security, communication, traffic, and safety.”
He said the planning is designed to deliver a more orderly and efficient festival.
“We have no excuse this time around,” he said. “When we say we are starting at 8:30, we will start.”
He added that the festival’s financial handling remains institutional and transparent.
“No cash is paid to anybody,” he said. “Everything goes through the palace account under the interregnum administrative council.”
Prof. Yusuf concluded with a clear position: Ojude Oba will not be suspended because of royal transition.
“Even without an installed Awujale, Ojude Oba will hold,” he said. “It is not about individuals. It is about continuity, identity, and institution.”
