The Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan has been taken to the cleaners by Oba Aderemi Adedapo for declaring himself as the leader of all Yoruba Obas.
Olugbo declared recently that: “I am the leader of all Obas in Yorubaland. I speak with thunder in my mouth and I make bold to say so. No one is above me in Yorubaland inasmuch as it has been accepted that we are from Ife. I am the one that Oduduwa met at Ife. We are the husband of Moremi Ajasoro. Anyone who wants real Yoruba blessing should approach me. I am the one bestowed with the power.”
“People should face the truth. My account of the history of Yoruba race is the most accurate and authentic. I have published a book on it already. Like I said, Oduduwa met my people in Ife. Don’t mind my critics who use Facebook to abuse me. The truth is that many of them are children of slaves.”
“They don’t want the true story of their fathers to be told. Slaves don’t want history to be told. I am bold because I am not a son of a slave. My book is there. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has accepted the book as the authentic history of the Yoruba race. I am about to publish another book on the same subject.”
However, the Secretary General, Council of Yoruba Obas, Oba Aderemi Adedapo, has lambasted the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom: “No one could rewrite history of the Yorubaland now in order to suit his purpose, saying the Ooni of Ife remained the leader without any controversy. The late Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was highly instrumental to Oba Akinruntan’s ascension to the throne.”
“Oba Akinruntan is an attention seeker. He is a rabble rouser, he deserves no response but some people especially outside the country may tend to believe his claim if he is not corrected. His utterance is part of royal rascality we are talking about. Does he want to rewrite history or what? Nobody can rewrite history. The late Ooni Sijuwade made it possible for him to become the Olugbo.”
“He must withdraw that statement within the next 96 hours which is four days. What he is saying is abominable in Yorubaland. Olugbo was not part of the 54 Yoruba Obas with original crown, saying he was using various tactics to draw attention to himself.”