The Digest:
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, will install Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, as the Okanlomo of Yorubaland, a move that follows a recent dispute with the Ooni of Ife over the authority to bestow such a pan-Yoruba title.
Key Points:
- The Alaafin of Oyo will install Seyi Tinubu as Okanlomo of Yorubaland on December 21, 2025, in Oyo Town.
- The ceremony follows weeks after the Ooni of Ife installed businessman Prince Dotun Sanusi as Okanlomo Oodua, a title the Alaafin contested.
- The Alaafin had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni to retract the title, claiming exclusive authority to confer Yorubaland-wide honours.
- A palace source confirmed the installation is proceeding, with a local committee working to ensure a successful event.
- President Tinubu’s aide, Moremi Ojudu, welcomed the move in a Yoruba-language post signaling support from the South-West.
- The installation highlights the complex interplay of traditional authority, political lineage, and inter-royal rivalry in Yorubaland.
- Seyi Tinubu’s chieftaincy is seen as a significant political-cultural gesture, reinforcing his family's influence within the region's traditional power structure.
Sources: Leadership Newspaper
Tags: Alaafin of Oyo, Seyi Tinubu, Okanlomo,
