The Iresa-Pupa Community Development Association (ICDA) has frowned upon the comical cum ahistorical narration by a faceless and untraceable group in Oko; they said their outburst was "fundamentally inaccurate and structurally deficient with a sinister touch of historical revisionism". They urged the few misguided elements and dissenting voices to accept historical reality and focus on the greater good.
In a statement made available by the Chairman of ICDA and co-signed by the Secretary, Rev. Zachaeus Olusanjo Akanni and Mr Johnson Oyebamiji, respectively, the group affirmed that the continuous efforts to deface and manipulate history by the fifth columnists are an exercise in futility, and they also debunked every "vacuous point" made by the unknown group while ICDA provided verifiable and undeniable evidence to affirm their landlorship capacity over the Oloko of Oko.
According to their full statement made available to newsmen: "We, as unity- and progress-orientated people of Iresapupa, are not happy to be discussing the issue of land ownership, at least not at this stage when all our communities are facing acute developmental challenges. We expected that our collective efforts should be geared toward uniting our communities for greater goods instead of parading revisionist utterances.
Nonetheless, the fact that Oloko is an Aresapupa tenant has never been argued in the past, but some spoon-fed Lilliputians who are deliberately but wrongly informed are hellbent on proving a point where there is none; they have resulted in massacring history just to suit their self-bloated interest and massage their inimical ego, which leads them to historical dementia. The faceless groups (whose nobody is bold enough to append his real name) under the aegis of the Concerned Oko Group and Maje'obaje Elders Forum are parading two (2) inconsequential documents to support their ignoble assertion, but as landlords, it is our responsibility to illuminate their world and educate them out of their self-imposed wood by reshaping their thinking faculty and setting the records straight.
First, page 23 of the Western Region Gazette of 1959 (No. 5, Vol. 8) paraded by the faceless groups was erroneously interpreted and that exposed their total inanity; the page only listed lower chiefs in each of the districts and not higher kings. For example, in Ogbomoso District, where Oloko of Oko was mentioned, superior kings such as Soun of Ogbomoso, Aresa, Onpetu, Onikoyi, Olugbon and other first-class monarchs were not listed. Check Ede District and Iwo District; the names of the Timi of Ede and the Oluwo of Iwo were exempted; only lesser chiefs were mentioned. The supposed fact presented by this faceless group has again proved the lower status of Oloko in the hierarchy of traditional rulership.
Secondly, the faceless groups paraded the Ogbomoso North Expenditure of the Traditional Office of 1982 and 1983. With full audacity, we affirm categorically that the supposed document would be termed a perjury in competent court of law as it represents a vicious distortion of history, the enablers and peddlers of such misinformation have abandoned their nature-given sense of reasons to realise that there was nothing like Ogbomoso North in 1982 or 1983 as captured in the fabricated paper, we only had Ogbomoso Local Government established on 1st of April, 1973 while Ogbomoso North Local Government was a later creation on 27th of September, 1991. How come did Ogbomoso North pay emoluments to traditional rulers in Surulere in 1983? Which represents about 8 years before its creation. In fact Surulere Local Government was created earlier on 11th of May, 1989, about two years before Ogbomoso North. Where are Soun, Olugbon, Onikoyi, Onpetu and others in the purported document? We challenge the faceless groups from Oko to bring out the evidence of the current emoluments of Oloko and let's compare it with Aresa.
Thirdly, heavy reliance on the History of the Yoruba by Samuel Johnson without proper understanding shows empty-headedness on the part of the miscreants hiding under faceless groups to make unfounded assertions. A quick scan shows we have more than 6 communities bearing Oko, and hitherto, we have had Oko Ile and Oko Ose; while Oko Ose had vanished, Oko Ile is still in existence. How, then, would Oko Irese, created less than 200 years ago, claim superiority to other Oko existing before it?
The history of Oko published by Oko elders during the 3rd Oko Irese Day on the 26th of February, 2011, admitted that the first Oko was near Oyo Ile and not this current location; it was crisis and war that led to the desertion of the most ancient Oko, Oko Ile. The history was written by elders who were well informed and not misguided elements hiding under pseudo-identity.
Just like we have Oyo Ile, which was the first Oyo in Olorunsogo Local Government, we also have Oko Ile, which was the first Oko in Oriire Local Government. Some people called it Ahoro Oko because the community was deserted during wars and crises of those days, and the inhabitants were spread across different zones bearing the same name. The renowned Ogbomoso scholar who wrote the history of Ogbomoso, Prof. Oyerinde, said the current Oko was an amalgamation of 6 villages clustered near one another in the 19th century that shows no ancestral royalty traced to the current Oko. Unlike other towns and villages, Oko people do not have family house in Ogbomoso town because they were not part of the History that led to the epoch-making era, Oko was created after Fulani war in Ogbomoso.
Another vacuous postulation was saying the current Aresa-pupa is the 3rd Aresa-pupa that will reign as Oba since inception of Iresa-Pupa after Salawu his predecessor: This shows that present Oloko and his cabinet of ninompoop are totally bereaved of history and one cannot be surprised, because those that understood the historical background of Oko and Iresa-Pupa, they have been jettisoned by the arrogant-personified Oloko. For the sake of record, the present Aresa-pupa HRM OBA MOSES OLAYIWOLA AJIBOYE III JP is the 11th Aresa-pupa on the throne after his ancestor who is also coincident to be 11th Aresa, Oba Ikin, gave birth to twins which led to division of Iresa between the two brothers.
From the time of partitioning, we have had Oba Obatuapa Taiwo as the first Aresa-pupa, the second Aresa-pupa was Oba Lagboye, the third Aresa-pupa was Oba Koari Majoyegbe, the fourth Aresa-pupa was Oba Akinlade Ajani Ajiboye I, the fifth Aresa-pupa was Oba Akinlaja Ajagbe Omo Baba Elemo, the sixth Aresa-pupa was Oba Adelani Amao Ajiboye I I, the seventh Aresa-pupa was Oba Ajayi, the eight Aresa-pupa was Oba Ogunkeye Oyediran, the nineth Aresa-pupa was Oba Oyekunle Akano, the tenth Aresa-pupa was Oba Salawu Oyewusi and the eleventh Aresa-pupa is Oba Moses Olayiwola Ajiboye III JP. Therefore, we urge Oba Oloko and present cabinet to go and consult the real elders in Oko that understand history to be properly guided.
Now that we have debunked all their ahistorical fallacies, it is time to set the record straight. Truly, Iresa people were once settled in Ipasa, but Aresa, who was the founder of Ipasa, decided to be protective of his territory, which made him leave a prince as ruler of Ipasa and move closer to his boundary with Olugbon. Aresa still installs the King of Ipasa till today. Aresa at one point only migrated from one side of his land to another. Samuel Johnson on page 79 of the History of the Yorubas didn't mince words when he said that Aresa, together with Olugbon and Onikoyi, were the most ancient among the vassal states in the old Oyo Empire. Also, N. D. Oyerinde, in Page 88 of the History of Ogbomoso written in 1934, is quoted saying, "Aresa owned a large tract of land in ancient times." This shows Iresa has been an abode of royalty with vast areas of land even long before the emergence of Oyo rulership.
Worthy to note is that Oko Town has always been a theater of kingship crisis simply because it was amalgamation of about 6 clustered villages (Oko Boosa, Oko Ose, Oko Ejemu, Oko Olokose, Oko Aro and Oko Idusi) and each lays claims to the Oloko Chieftaincy, prior to independence of Nigeria, a committee was set up by Ogbomoso District to bring amicable resolution to the leadership dispute in the town and the report was submitted on 19th of September, 1953 titled Report of Oko Chieftaincy Dispute, while addressing the process of selecting new Oloko, the 5th Item of the report lucidly stated "That, when satisfied with the choice, Chief Aro, Ejemu and Olokose MUST go through the formality of presenting the applicant to Aresa Pa and Aresa Du". This clearly shows that Aresa, being the host and landlord, Oko chiefs must seek consent before a final decision is made on its kingship.
On the 29th of September, 1992, the Adramola Oyenibi Ruling House, through their family head, Alagba Michael A. Oyenibi, wrote a letter to Aresapupa Palace applying for the Royal Stool of Oloko to be filled. The candidate presented was Mr Oladunmoye Adaramola. They appealed that Aresa should consider their nomination because they had not been allowed to rule before, and Aresa accepted their candidate; thus, Oba Adaramola became King in 1992. A copy of the letter would also be made available in the appendix.
On the 18th of August, 2021, Oko Forum of High Chiefs wrote a letter to HRM Aresapupa of Iresapupa, Oba. Moses Olayiwola Ajiboye III, requesting and appealing that just like the Oyo State Government Gazette acknowledged Oloko as a chief under Aresapupa, Kabiyesi should be magnanimous enough to also accept Oko High Chiefs Aro, Ejemu, Olokose and Balogun as members of the Aresapupa Traditional Council, as done for other chiefs and Baales in Aresa Land. The documents that carried this vital information are attached to this publication.
The Oyo State Gazette of the Chieftaincies Power of Prescribed Authority of 1995 relied on factual history to specifically state in Item 77.I.I. (ii) that the "Aresapa be granted power of prescribed authority over chieftaincies traditionally associated with it, namely Oko, Poro, Iware, Aagba, Ajagusi, Asawo, Alaaka, Araromi, Igbole Keke, Mami Olorisa, Mami Araromi, Iluogo, Asangbomole, Adeosun, Mayin and Origi." The government relied on undisputed cum verifiable facts anchored on clear historical antecedents to make such a declaration. Today, more than 60 towns and villages are under Aresapupa royalty..
Till tomorrow, almost all the neighbouring towns and villages around Oko Town are being installed by either Aresapupa or Aresadudu; Origi, Ebila, and Ijado, to mention but a few, are all chiefs of Aresa being their hosts and landlords. How would Oko be exempted? Because Oranmiyan allegedly spend few period in Oko? That is totally irrational.
We also want to bring to the public's attention that the land dispute between Oko Community and Aagba Community, the two communities under Aresapupa, lasted for decades until Aresapupa intervened to bring a lasting settlement. The High Court and Appeal Court relied on the boundary information supplied by Aresa, being the original owner of the land that is occupied by the two communities, to make a verdict in favour of Aagba Community. The Supreme Court of Nigeria struck out the case by upholding the verdict of the lower courts, Oloko and his cronies thought they could manipulate the court to get undue advantage but undeniable evidence proved them otherwise.
On a last note, we urge Oloko and his credulous minors not to take the magnanimity of our ancestors for granted. We remember that this type of ungodly alliance and disregard for constituted authority was the reason why Oloko, Oba Solomon Olagoke Akinola, was remanded at Abolongo Correctional Center in Oyo by a competent court of law on 21st of November 2023, and we expected that he should have learnt from his mistake that arrogance and insubordination to superior authority only cook a recipe for self-destruction. We urge all the well-meaning sons and daughters of Oko to focus on values and issues that could accelerate development in our region, and we at Iresapupa would always be ready to be partners in progress." They concluded. They also supplied the public with documents to drive home their points.
