Awujale Stool: Family Protests Removal from Royal Lineage

ByEditor

Aug 17, 2025 #Adeyemi Anikilaya, #Adeyemi Ruling House, #Anikilaya Dynasty, #Awujale Stool, #Gbelegbuwa II, #Oba Anikilaya Saagun, #Oba Daniel Adesanya, #Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona

The Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona

Segun Atanda/

The Adeyemi ruling house of the Anikilaya dynasty has protested its exclusion from the Anikilaya ruling house, one of the families traditionally entitled to present candidates for the Awujale of Ijebuland in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

The Anikilaya ruling house produced the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who passed away last month.

In a statement signed today by Adedeji Ademola Adeyemi, the family alleged that some members of the Anikilaya ruling house deliberately distorted history by removing the Adeyemis from the official lineage.

Adeyemi explained that Adeyemi Anikilaya was the eldest crown prince of Oba Anikilaya Saagun, while Ogbagba and Ademolu were the monarch’s other two sons.

He recalled that after the death of Oba Daniel Adesanya, Gbelegbuwa II, in 1959, Prince Ademola Aiyegbajeje Adeyemi was selected for the Awujale stool but declined the offer. His immediate younger brother, Prince Mubashiru Adedipupo Adeyemi, father of the late Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, contested and put forward his son, Sikiru Kayode Adetona, who was eventually crowned Awujale in 1960 with the blessing of the kingmakers.

The Adeyemi ruling house dismissed claims by some members of the family that stripped the Adeyemis of their position as eldest son and wrongly conferred headship on the second-born, while also adding names of individuals who were not part of the royal lineage.

“Putting the record straight, the Adeyemi ruling house rejects the inclusion of Mabadeje, Adekoya Ofirigidi, and Adeire Adeewu, who were alleged to be children of the late Oba Anikilaya Saagun Figbajoye, Awujale of Ijebu Ode in 1821, but were never recognised as part of the family,” the statement said.

The family reiterated that they remain the true descendants of Adeyemi Anikilaya, the eldest son of Oba Anikilaya Saagun Figbajoye, and therefore retain their place in the royal line.

They urged the public to disregard what they described as “false submissions” by a few misguided family members, insisting such claims are “inconsequential and fraught with falsehood.”