* Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye,
By Emmanuel Onwusoro, Ado Ekiti
Wednesday May 7, 2025
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Ekiti State Government has restated the ban on any High Chief and individual adorning in the beaded crown in the state, saying only the recognized traditional rulers are empowered to use such paraphernalia.
The government said it became worrisome how some individuals and high chiefs seeking autonomy often resort to the use of beaded crown even when his request has not been granted, restating that anyone found parading himself as a king shall face stringent punitive action.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, issued the stern warning on Tuesday while presiding over a lingering Chieftaincy Crisis between the Head of Irorin Quarters, Ilawe Ekiti, High Chief Sunday Olu Atolaju and Alawe in Council.
Intervening in the festering crisis, Mrs. Afuye, in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, explained that the practice, by which a Chief parades himself as a king, was a flagrant violation of the Ekiti State Chiefs Law.
The Ekiti’s number two citizen warned individuals and chiefs from wearing crowns, all in the name of observing yearly or monthly cultural practices.
The Deputy Governor said that the present administration holds Ekiti tradition and traditional institutions in high esteem and would not allow any act or action that could breed cultural disunity, violence, or write the good Yorubas cultural heritage.
Mrs. Afuye said: “Communities seeking autonomy should wait until the Government pronounces them autonomous, and no individual or group of people has the power to install a Chief or king without the approval of the government.
“The activities of Ifa Priests and Aworos in Ekiti should always be subject to the approval of prescribed authority in their domains and live within the laws and principles of their tradition”.
Mrs Afuye, who expressed worry about the increasing cases of usurpation of power by many power-drunk priests, said Governor Oyebanji’s administration detests action that could denigrate the stool of traditional Rulers in Ekiti.
She reminded the people of the existing laws that forbid individuals from wearing beats, crowns, and other paraphernalia of traditional stools, except such a person had been installed lawfully and pronounced by the constituted authorities to occupy such position or act in that capacity.
At the peace parley, the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Ajibade Alabi, represented by six Chiefs from Alawe in Council, led by the Elemo of Oke Emo, High Chief Gbenga Agbona, emphasized that it was alien to the good people of Ilawe Ekiti, culture and traditions for priest to wear crown and other paraphernalia of office like a King, all in the name of festival.
The Alawe in Council said such practice, often demonstrated by the High Chief Ororin of Irorin Quarters, Ilawe Ekiti, and High Chief Sunday Atolaju, was capable of bringing division in the ancient town.
The monarch urged the government to stop him from parading himself as a king, saying that Ilawe Ekiti had one king and should stop further action that could denigrate the stool paramount ruler in Ilawe Ekiti.
The defendant and Head Chief of Irorin Quarters, Chief Sunday Olu Atolaju, and his supporters presented pictorial evidence and others to justify their claims that the Head of Irorin Quarters was entitled to wear a crown and other paraphernalia of office during their festival.
Chief Atolaju had, in a previous meeting, claimed that their culture allows him to wear a crown, saying that his predecessors have been practicing such from time immemorial.
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