The countdown to the official coronation of His Imperial Majesty, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, as the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland has begun with the Coronation Committee pledging to deliver a spectacular showpiece.
In a statement issued by the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Sub-committee, Chief Shola Oshunkeye, the Coronation Committee, led by Prof. Wale Omole, a former Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, revealed that all the recently inaugurated sub-committees (11 in all) have hit the ground running.
They are all working with a single-minded sense of purpose and a steely resolve to deliver a grand event with plenty of pomp and pageantry, the Coronation Committee added.
The statement titled: Ijesaland: Towards The Coronation Ceremony, highlighted how Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, has painstakingly performed all the mandatory activities in the past 60 days that he has spent at Ipebi (traditional seclusion) at the traditional Courtyard of the Ogboni of Ilesa, High Chief Saka Fapounda.
“The new Owa Obokun Adimula,” the Coronation Committee continued, “has been widening the scope of our unique and distinctive royalty with resilient and positive perspectives, addressing the critical activities of each day in the most sensitive, responsive and responsible manners.”
The Prof. Wale Omole-led Coronation Committee praised Ijesas, at home and in the diaspora, for their solid support for the new Owa Obokun Adimula, stressing that the unity, peace and progress of Ijesaland is not only paramount but also sacrosanct.
The Committee, therefore, pleaded with all Ijesas “to please let us take advantage of our diversity as a source of strength and synergistic beneficial purposes; without destroying characters and demeaning pedigrees.”
Below is the full text of the statement:
IJESALAND: TOWARDS THE CORONATION CEREMONY
As we begin the countdown to the regal installation and Coronation of His Imperial Majesty, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, as Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of the entire Ijesaland, it is pertinent to review the tasking but mandatory activities at IPEBI, which he has painstakingly performed to the satisfaction of all.
Like many people have attested, the new Owa Obokun Adimula has leveraged on his vast network and tremendous goodwill built over decades to give the IPEBI RITES the enormous social glamour, cultural significance, traditional and spiritual rejuvenation that we have witnessed in the past 60 days. As expected, the traditional Courtyard of Ogboni of Ilesa has been a Mecca of sort, receiving people from all over Nigeria and the diaspora.
The new Owa Obokun Adimula has been widening the scope of our unique and distinctive royalty with resilient and positive perspectives, addressing the critical activities of each day in the most sensitive, responsive and responsible manners.
In Ijesaland, IPEBI confers on Kabiyesi, Owa Obokun Adimula, a kind of cognitive confidentiality and uncommon dignity and traditional etiquettes that define the throne of Owa Obokun, Olori Alade, Igbakeji Orisa.
In the past 60 days, Kabiyesi, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland, has been religiously observing the mandatory cultural and traditional royal initiations and covenants with the ancestors. None of the mandatory rituals and rites, no matter how little it may seem, has been exempted since the IPEBI activities began. Indeed, Kabiyesi has been so tenacious, determined, focused and obedient to all the laid down traditional rules and prescriptions.
Apart from performing mandatory seclusion rituals and prayers, the Court of Ogboni of Ilesa, High Chief Saka Fapounda, has been a fascinating destination and a place of pilgrimage to well-wishers from all works of life visiting the Kabiyesi to pay homage. No society or group would want to be left out in the long list of courtesy visitors and enthusiastic cultural devotees.
One very important activity introduced to the IPEBI Affairs is Christian Sunday Service by the Christian denominations across Ijesaland. Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. every Sunday, special Church Services are conducted within the Courtyard to usher in a new week, pray for peace and tranquility in every home, and commit Kabiyesi and all the activities for the week into the hands of God Almighty.
The Muslim Societies are not left out as they conduct special Jumat service every Friday. Our traditional institutions have also been visiting, conducting their spiritual divinations without let. The Coronation Committee is, indeed, very grateful for this show of support and eagerness by all and sundry to ensure that Ijesaland witnesses a new dawn of unity, peace, progress and economic development for all.
As we march towards the regal Coronation Ceremony which will climax and conclude all rites of ascension to the throne of Owa Obokun Adimula, Kabiyesi, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, has graciously inaugurated a well-thought Coronation Ceremony Committee.
The committee has as Chairman, Prof. Wale Omole, a former Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, while the Ajirowa of Ijesaland, the indefatigable Alhaji Lateef Bakare, a world-renowned Chartered Accountant, serves as Vice Chairman.
Other members were selected across Ijesaland, with a few people from outside Ijesaland to properly situate the grandeur of the Coronation Ceremony as a global event and demonstrate the global gravitas of our Owa, for which we are very proud and grateful to God.
All things being equal, the Grand Finale of the Coronation Ceremony will take place on May 23, 2025, with constituent programmes commencing from May 16, 2025, and Thanksgiving Service holding on Sunday, May 25, 2025.
The committee has established 12 sub-committees comprising of over 60 people of dignity, class and character across the globe to organise the various components of the ceremonies.
Details of these activities, and more, will be made public in due course.
The Coronation Ceremony is historically crucial to Owa Obokun Adimula and the entire Ijesas at home and abroad. It is a critical part of our history that symbolises the Imperialism in Ijesaland. It is unique to us and our Kabiyesi wants it executed in a way that demonstrates our infinite capabilities to the world.
To this end, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, has keenly followed the various legitimate views and concerns of the Ijesas on the selection of the Coronation Ceremony Committee members. It is, therefore, worthy to state that the high-powered Committee members were carefully selected without bias towards anyone or group.
Prof. Wale Omole, a great Ijesa man, served diligently as Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. The Palace Authority sees Prof. Wale Omole as a visionary leader and quintessential Ijesa man whose impeccable records are a rare privilege. Prof. Omole scored a first as first alumnus to be appointed Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University. He served meritoriously for eight years and left with an indelible record of monumental achievements. The Palace Authority is equally proud of his achievement as a recipient of the prestigious National Honour of the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR, aside his sound academic credentials.
The Vice Chairman, Alhaji Lateef Bakare, FCA, is a quintessential Chartered Accountant and management consultant, with 48 years of quality post-qualification experience garnered across all sectors of the Nigerian economic space. A 1985 Honoree as Outstanding Young Person of Nigeria, the Vice Chairman has made a great name, locally and universally, as an eagle-eyed financial expert with a clarity of vision. He retired in 1991 as the Quality Assurance Partner at Deloitte. He is the Founder and Managing Partner at Lateef Bakare & Co; as well as Adetona, Bakare & Co respectively, both firms of accountants and insolvency practitioners.
To complete the Committee Management Team is our diligent Lady Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, MBA, MCA, LLM, BL; FNGE; FCArb. A legal practitioner of repute, Lady Ajayi-Gbadebo, also a Cambridge University Nuffield Press Fellow, made her name as a journalist, having served as a title Editor in the glorious days of Daily Times, culminating in her appointment as Managing Director of the defunct Sketch newspaper.
A Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, FNGE, Lady Ajayi-Gbadebo currently serves as the President of Ilaṣẹ-Ijẹṣa National Union and First Vice President of Ijẹṣa Development Council, IDC, the umbrella body of all Ijesa Clubs and Societies.
The Coronation Committee, under the able leadership of Prof. Wale Omole, is focused on delivering a world-class Coronation Ceremony that will showcase and promote the valued traditional rites and historical significance of the various kingdoms that constitute Ijesaland, THE UNIQUE PEOPLE! As the Coronation Committee continues to work tirelessly for the success of the coronation ceremony, its eyes are firmly fixed on the position of Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland as the Father of all in all the communities in Ijesaland, as well as the custodian of the culture and tradition of Ijesa People.
In the light of the foregoing, the Coronation Committee wishes to stress that the unity, peace and progress of Ijesaland is not only paramount, it is also sacrosanct. We are one and indivisible people with God-given ability to always resolve our differences and shortcomings in the overall interest of our people and Fatherland. We plead with all to please let us take advantage of our diversity as a source of strength and synergistic beneficial purposes; without destroying characters and demeaning pedigrees.
Obokun a gbe a o.
Signed:
Chief Shola Oshunkeye, FNGE
Chairman, Media and Publicity Sub-committee
Coronation Committee
