Shina Alege, Nigeria’s envoy to Ukraine, and the entire Alege family in Iseyin have commiserated with the people of Oyo State, especially Iseyin community on the transition of the late Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdulganiy Salawudeen Adekunle Oloogunebi Ajinese 1.
The death of Aseyin on Sunday, is the fourth of such occurrence among senior traditional rulers in Oyo State in eight months.
The Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Ajagungbade Oyewumi died in December 2021, followed by the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Alege in a statement he signed on behalf of the Alege family said Iseyin has lost a king that was father to all and will be greatly missed by his people.
He went further to highlight the achievements of the late monarch to include bringing Iseyin back to the world map in the area of human and physical development as he was instrumental to road constructions as well as relocation of multinational companies to the ancient community.
Oba Adekunle joined his ancestors on Sunday morning, leaving wives, children and the royal household and has been mourned by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and other Nigerians.
“Ambassador Shina and Abisola Alege and the entire Alege family of Arowosegbe Compound, Iserin, Iseyin hereby deeply express our sincere condolences to the family of our highly revered and esteem Kabiyesi of Iseyinland, the late Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Adekunle Salawudeen, Ajinase 1 who passed away Sunday, July 24, 2023 to be with his ancestors.
“His fatherly impacts, and influence to the developments of Iseyin, Oke Ogun, and Oyo State in general will be greatly missed, he will be fondly remembered by the Iseyin sons and daughters both at home and in diaspora as the city witnessed unprecedented development and transformation during his entire peaceful reign.
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The burial rites for the late Aseyin had been done as all religious leaders and community development stakeholders thronged the palace to catch a glimpse of the late king.
Meanwhile, Oyo State chapter of the Traditional Worshippers Association of Nigeria has said that the kingmakers and community leaders would do Iseyin a great favor if they make haste to replace the king with another suitable candidate that will continue with the drive to unite indigenes and work for the progress of the people and society at large.
While commiserating with the people of Iseyin described the death of has said that the death of the Aseyin was painful, because of his contributions towards the growth of the ancient Iseyin community.
The body, in a release made available to reporters on Monday and signed by the branch Chairman, Adefabi Dasola and his Secretary, Fakayode Fayemi Fatunde hinted that the late monarch would find peace with his God and ancestors as he did all he could to unite his subjects across religious and political divides.
“We commiserate with the immediate family of the late Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Dr. Abdganiy Salawudeen Adekunle Oloogunebi, Ajinese 1, the royal family, the Oyo State government and the entire people of Iseyin on the transition of our late monarch.
“It is on record that Aseyin played his part in upholding tradition which he always demonstrated in his lifetime by communicating with Eledumare for the development of Nigeria, Oyo State and his community at all times.
“We remember how he mobilized all religious leaders for prayers during the Covid-19 pandemic and whenever issues that were of great concern like insecurity happened, we shall miss all these about him.
“We are using this opportunity to call on the kingmakers and community leaders in Iseyin not to allow vacuum in the process of succession, so as not to give way to a halt in the developmental process that has been in place in Iseyin overtime.”
The traditional worshippers remarked that they appreciated the efforts of the royal family to uphold tradition by issuing a directive against filming or taking pictures of the monarch’s corpse during his burial, saying it would go a long way to preserve the honor that kings were known for, whether alive or at their passing.
It said it was regrettable that such control was not in place during the burial of some notable Yoruba monarchs which led to the display of their corpses’ pictures on the internet.
