Excitement As Ibadan Indigenes Await Announcement Of New Olubadan Today

Indigenes and residents of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital are awaiting the announcement of Senator Lekan Balogun as the new Olubadan of Ibadan anytime today.

Governor Seyi Makinde had on Saturday said he would make the announcement today.

Balogun, who is currently the Otun Olubadan is the most senior among the High Chiefs and he had earlier been nominated to the governor as the Olubadan-designate.

The Personal Assistant to the Olubadan- Designate, Hakeem Rufai, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that his principal and the people of Ibadan were waiting for the announcement.

He said, “The governor has promised to announce the new Olubadan today and we are waiting for that.

” Visitors have been coming to him since January 2 and it has been on a daily basis. We expect a surge in the number of visitors and crowd that will troop here the moment the announcement is made. Let us wait till then for further discussions.”

Some residents of Ibadan especially residents of Ali Iwo area are full of excitement and the area is expected to erupt into jubilation the moment the announcement is made.

The governor had said all the controversies hindering the announcement of the new monarch had been resolved.

Makinde said, ” Today, I am also happy that the crisis we have been witnessing on the issue of Olubadan stool has been settled. God has really taken control of everything.

“I have received a letter from the Olubadan- in-Council and by the grace of God, on Monday, I will make the official announcement of the new Olubadan of Ibadanland on.

“This is another victory for Ibadan traditional institution. The process and the system were never broken. So there is nothing to fix.

“So, I can say that we have now returned to our normal way of installing a new monarch in Ibadanland. Now, it is a system that everyone wants to imitate, which shows how we set the pace in Oyo State.”