How Alaafin Marshaled The Rich In Yoruba Land To Raise Funds, Build A New Campus For Sokoto Varsity
The Oasis Reporters
April 23, 2022
From right, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Muhammed; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Debo Ogundoyin during the commissioning of 5.25KM Gedu-Oroki-Sabo-Ashipa road Oyo. PHOTO: Oyo State Govt.
When it was announced that prominent Yoruba monarch, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, had died at the age of 83, sobs were heard as far away as Sokoto, the seat of the Fulani caliphate.
The Alaafin was the first pro Chancellor of University of Sokoto, renamed as Othman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.
As Pro – Chancellor, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111 had mobilized the ‘who is who’ in Yoruba land’s Pantheon of the rich and famous to raise funds towards the building of the University from it’s backwater secondary school temporary accommodation to the massive complex it is today.
And what did the Alaafin get in return ?
A few University admission slots for some crying Yoruba sons and daughters who found it exceedingly tasking to gain admission into South West Universities in Ibadan, Ile-Ife, Lagos and others.
Oba Adeyemi has been described as the most eminent bridge between present day Yoruba Race qnd It’s rich cultural past.
In mourning Alaafin’s death, senator Balogun sees it as a beginning of the gradual erosion of Yoruba culture
In a statement released from his office,
Senator Balogun described the late Oba Adeyemi III, as a key traditional icon, in Yorubaland, adding that, with his passage, the entire Yoruba Nation has lost a big personae in its rich culture and tradition.
He further described the late monarch as a bridge between the present generation of the Yoruba race and its rich cultural past, noting that the late Oba Adeyemi III upheld and promoted Yoruba culture till he took his last breath.
Oba Adeyemi is the third from the Alowodu Ruling House of Oyo Kingdom, and he died on Friday at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, in Ekiti State after a brief illness.
Palace sources said the remains of the deceased monarch have been moved to Oyo where his burial rites are underway.
Born as Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi on October 15, 1938 in Oyo town, he was crowned on November 18, 1970 as successor to Oba Gbadegesin Ladigbolu I. He was popularly known as Iku Baba Yeye.
Alaafin Adeyemi was the longest reigning king of Oyo ever, having ruled for 52 years. He was the permanent chairperson of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
