The Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, shares his thoughts with BANKOLE TAIWO on his journey to the throne and why he has not remarried since after his wife?s death, among other issues

In your journey to the throne, you seem to be the only one on everyone?s lips. Were you aware of this and what do you think was responsible?

It?s over seven years now but I can tell you that I wasn?t aware; I wasn?t even aware that I was a prince. Is it not when I am aware that I am prince that I will know I am entitled to the throne? However, I knew that my late dad was very close to the palace; he was a chief and he came to the palace very often.

With benefits of hindsight, I also knew that as part of Yoruba culture, while naming my children, my father usually gave them names like Ade this and that, something reflective of the crown; pointing to the fact that you are from a royal family. But what is my own in whatever names my father deemed fit for his grandchildren? I was not paying any close attention. So, I never had any inkling.

But somehow and very close to my father?s demise, we established a club called The Collectives. The club is still running and we usually like using the platform to support our traditional rulers. It was in one of those functions that I attended that my predecessor, late Akarigbo, Oba Michael Sonariwo, was pointing to me and saying, ?And you will be running away from home, don?t you know that you?re the next on the line?? I just rolled my eyes and moved away; I never took him seriously.

I even thought baba (Oba Sonariwo) had taken enough whiskey and beer. So, he was free to say whatever he liked. I just moved on. However, after the passage of kabiyesi, people began talking about me concerning succeeding the late kabiyesi. Unfortunately, my dad had passed before that time, and there was no guidance at all. Funny enough, I didn?t even know the name of our ruling house.

Someone later came to me with a gazette that said it was the turn of the Torungbuwa Ruling House, and I knew that my late dad was the Otunba Oloore of Torungbuwa. I said, ?So, this is where this is coming from?, but even at that, I wasn?t interested. I have my focus in life; I just wanted to continue with my insolvency accounting profession. I told my mum too and she said she would support my decision. I then took off to the UK to visit my family.

Was that when it was rumoured that you had run away?

Yes, they said my mum, who knew nothing, had told me to run away; but that wasn?t true. May God forgive them all. It was, however, during that trip that I reflected on the whole thing and made up my mind to consider the offer. With all the noise and publicity attached to my name as the next person to succeed the late Akarigbo, one would have thought that immediately I said yes, they would just put the crown on my head, and that the crowning would be easy, but it wasn?t.

Immediately I made up my mind to take up the challenge, people started showing interest from left, right, and centre, and when we had the family meeting, we had 19 people contesting out of which three or four were professors. Honestly, if I had known that the opposition would be so intense like that, I would not have shown interest but here we are today, to the glory of God.

Seven years down the line, what do you have to say as the Akarigbo of Remoland?

It?s been a mixture of experiences, but I can confidently tell you I have no regrets. It?s been highly rewarding, satisfying, and challenging too. The throne comes with huge responsibilities even though I don?t have any budget. I am the chief security officer, I am the chief welfare officer; if people are fighting over there, they will call me, people can?t get food to eat, they are calling me, husband and wife are fighting, they are calling me, and we are doing it with joy.

Despite the attempts by politicians to whittle down the roles of traditional rulers, there is just something innate about our culture regarding the traditional ruler stools; people believe so much in this stool. They hold it in high esteem, and it is highly revered. The love for the stool is awesome, and I think we must keep this.

Since you became the traditional ruler of Remoland, can you see some of your plans and visions coming to fruition?

Yes, quite a lot. Remo is different now. There is peace which is necessary in achieving any socio-economic development. We thank God, even if we are not yet there. What about our growth and development in terms of several companies that have moved in, in terms of federal presence? We now have a passport office; people don?t have to go to the state capital to get their passports done. We have a multi-door judicial centre and a whole lot.

The industries springing up are enormous. We do say that Ogun State is the investment destination of choice for Nigeria, but Remo is the investment destination of Ogun State. We also established Remo Development Growth and Foundation to be at the vanguard of pushing for the development of Remoland at all frontiers. We had our maiden Remo Day on December 27 last year. Let everyone go and circle the date in their calendar because every 27th of December is now for the celebration of Remo Day.

The maiden edition we had in December was great; the President (Bola Tinubu) could not make it because of his tight schedule but his Chief of Staff, (Femi) Gbajabiamila, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, the governor himself, former governors and host of captains of industries alongside distinguished sons and daughters of Remoland and their friends were there to rejoice with us. The feedback and deluge of greetings I got had been impressive. The next edition will definitely be superb.

What have you missed due to your status as a traditional ruler?

I have missed a lot of things. I can?t go to restaurants and eat. Even when I go to parties, I can?t eat, yet I will be hungry, but I am now used to it. So, it?s no longer an issue. I also can?t go out to see people or watch cinema as I wish but the trade-off is worth it; it?s part of the sacrifices to serve the people and I am enjoying it.

Some fleeing bandits from the North-East are reportedly coming to the South-West. Are you worried about this development?

We are very concerned; we know who the chief security officer of the state is constitutionally but in reality, we also know that traditional rulers are chief security officers of their respective domains. So, we are concerned, we are alarmed and worried. I think every domain will continually be proactive in scaling up security. We have committed many resources to strengthening our security architecture in Remoland.

Beyond the police and the Amotekun Corps, we have our arrangements that we are funding. We are getting intelligence about the reported fleeing of bandits down the South-West, but Remoland won?t be a haven for any bandit running away from the firepower of security agencies in the North-East. You can be sure that such criminals will be caught and suffer the consequences.

What should governments in the South-West be doing to fight off this threat?

They should be more alert while the security agencies should redouble their efforts, and this again brings around the need for state policing, even though we have to be very careful with it. If we do it well, aside from the fact that it will provide jobs for the people, it is what we need to do to strengthen our security architecture. In America, tiny communities have well-structured community police that help to fight crime; we can replicate the same here.

The frequent cult clashes in Sagamu have gone down. There has been some silence for some time now. What has happened?

I like the word, ?silence?. We are trying but we cannot afford to relent or lose our guard. It is not as if the thing has completely gone, it still tries to rear its ugly head, but we rise in unison to nip it in the bud. Eternal vigilance is the watchword here. When we hear things, we go swiftly after it. What we have done is continuous engagement. We also know that they are not ghosts; so, we have devised a means through which they talk to us from time to time, and we have told them that if anything happens, every one of them will pay for it.

We sincerely hope and pray that we can continue this way because it is already taking a toll on us, especially concerning finance and other resources. About six of my traditional rulers are in charge of security. They have their problems too to solve, and yet they are doing this job pro bono.

What about the amnesty programme you initiated in conjunction with the Ogun State Police Command?

Yes, we did that too because we knew that the guys were with lots of illegal firearms. Many submitted their arms then, but we know that some still did not, but the message reverberated. Before then, you will see them in broad daylight going about with guns, but if they dare try that now, they will be caught and suffer the consequences. We won?t rest on our laurels anyway.

What do you do in your leisure time?

I love to play table tennis; I am very good at the game, and I don?t get easily defeated. I love to walk around too; I equally love watching television. I love good movies, be it Bollywood, Nollywood, or Hollywood; I like to laugh so much. I love the movies our young people are doing now; they are good and top-notch. I was in Lagos in December for the premiere of ?Christmas in Lagos? produced by our princess here, Jadesola Osiberu. It was good. I ran into Femi Adebayo and Chioma at the event and I lauded them for their exceptional talents and what they are doing to elevate the film industry. For instance, Femi Adebayo?s ?Seven Doors? is good; it was like it used to be back in the days of yore.

How do you balance tradition and religion?

I give unto the Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser. I won?t stand here and denigrate our tradition, even though I also believe that there are some of our culture and traditions we must move slightly away from. That was why I was a major proponent of the new Oba?s law in the state, especially as it concerns the installation and burial of traditional rulers.

People should also know that the law didn?t tinker so much about installation but the burial of traditional rulers. It forbids mutilation and denigration of the body of an Oba. The law permits you to do your rites, but it gives you a limit that you can go; don?t touch the body. This law still allows people to do their burials in a Christian, Muslim, or traditional way but you can?t mutilate the body of the late king. So, by and large, I attend to all even though I believe that some excesses could be curbed, things should be done decently and with moderation.

What is the uniqueness of Remo people?

Remo people are very resourceful and highly educated. Look at Ikenne Remo, the hometown of our baba, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then I don?t know of any town that can match the number of Senior Advocates of Nigeria from that town, and we are also very friendly and that is why investors have continued to come to our domain.

Any taboo?

If we go deep down into the towns that make up the Remoland, I don?t think there is any. We do our Oro and Eluku festival when certain people are told not to move around but civilisation has tampered with some of these things. The Oro is now done at night, maybe from 11pm to 4am. Who will be moving about around this time? Again, it is for a specific number of days.

Since the transition of Olori about four years ago, you have not remarried, and some are saying that you have pledged to remain like that to preserve the loving memory of your late wife. Are these people correct?

We have three wonderful princes of Remo. I had a very beautiful, excellent, and loving relationship with my wife. Sometimes when you have something beautiful going on for you, don?t go and spoil it. It?s just a different ball game having to add to the young boys who you want to raise, and you don?t want any trouble, but it is not to say ?never, it can?t happen?, neither have I also pledged or taken an oath never to remarry. Yes, she was an excellent wife; we were together for almost 30 years. It could be a bit difficult starting afresh, but everything is in the future, maybe later in the future. (Saturday PUNCH)

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