The Alaafin of Oyo Empire, his imperial Majesty Oba (Dr.) Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, is undoubtedly a monarch not with only wit but also with class. To say he is an enigma by every standard is an understatement, as many who had an interaction with him testify that “a moment with him is like an exploratory adventure through the school of history”.

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi III, no doubt, one of Africa’s most powerful and most influential kings, has lived two decades and over half a century into decades of heeding the natural call of the gods and his people.
Here is an X-ray into the life of the great Traditional Icon, who has held the Oyo Empire together in response to the covenant he made with his people and the gods.

1. Oba Lamidi Adeyemi was an insurance officer who became the Alaafin of Oyo. The contest to his emergence began in 1968, when he was invited along with ten others from his ruling house to contest for the vacant stool of the Oyo Empire. As it was the custom of the land, there were three parameters with which the contestants were judged.

*First was eligibility,
*second was popularity and
*third, the stamina for the huge responsibilities of the office of the Alaafin of Oyo.

Oba Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi emerged the first; defeating ten others after a vigorous screening exercise.
However, due to what observer attested to be a political interference, the then government “refused to endorse my appointment, saying the procedure was not right” were the words of this great monarch during one of the numerous interviews he granted. So the process started over again with the same result the second and the third time. Interestingly, despite the immense pressure upon the Oyomesi ‘against his candidature by the government, the Oyomesi stood it ground. Thus the process was put in abeyance until after the civil war, when the whole process started all over again. To the relief of many and chagrin of the opposition, Oba Adeyemi III was elected the winner and was finally chosen by the kingmakers on November 18, 1970 and then moved into the palace after completing the necessary rites under the tulelage of the Oyomesi. In the process, he was inducted into the mysteries of various gods like the Ifa mysteries, and the Sango mysteries. He was also made to undergo these inductions in order to be the direct representative of these deities on earth. He was taken through these processes so as to know all the chants, the proverbs, oriki of all the past Obas.

2.At the federal level, he was worked with General Yakubu Gowon, (1971-75); General Muritala Mohammed (1977-76); General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979); Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the first executive president (1979-83); General Muhammed Buhari (1984-85); General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (1985-93); General Sani Abacha (1998-99); General Abdulsalami Abubakar Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007); and president Umaru Yar’Adua.

3.During the agitation for the state creation in 1975, the Alaafin was first to fire the salvo, coupled with the efforts of others, the old Oyo, Ogun and Old Ondo States were created. In recognition of his priceless and modest contributions to national development, he was invited as the only Oba from Yoruba land to perform the holy pilgrimage to Mecca with General Muritala Muhammed. Other traditional rulers on the trip were the late Emir of Gwandu and the Otaru of Auchi, late Momodu Ikelebe II.

4.The Federal Government honoured this great achiever with the national honour of CFR at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, in 1979.

5. In 1980, the Federal Government appointed Kabiyesi Oba Adeyemi as the pioneering Chancellor of then newly established University of Sokoto, now Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, for a first four-year tenure. At the expiration of that first tenure, the senate and council of the University recommended him for another term. The president and visitor to the university graciously approved the request, thus he was appointed for a second term. And at the expiration of the second term, in an unprecedented manner, has was appointed for yet another term, the third term, thus giving him a total of 12 years as the Chancellor of the university, a feat yet to be matched by anybody in the annals of chancellorship of university of Nigeria.

6.The monarch, in January 1988, installed Chief MKO Abiola as the Aare Ona Kankanfo in recognition of Abiola’s contributions to the social, economic, cultural and political development of Yoruba land and Nigeria at large. Two years later, the Federal Government under the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, appointed the Alaafin as the Amiru Hajj operation to lead the Muslim faithful in the 21 states of the federation.


7.His sport as many may have known and as many will find incredulous, is a sportsman. Before his ascension on to the throne of his forefathers, he trained and still trains as a boxer. He runs; jogs and plays football. Typically of him if time permits, he does as much as six kilometres and skips the rope.

9. In terms of religion, he is a practising Muslim but describes himself as being liberal and a free mixer who was raised up in a strict Christian home and also went to a Catholic school.

8.Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, Iku Baba Yeye, on January 14, 2015, clocked 44 years on the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo.



Culled from The official Website of Alafin
(Edited by Jam4naija)

http://jam4naija..com/2015/06/interesting-things-about-iku-baba-yeye_29.html?m=1

Nonsense. .all these Obas spitting on the throne of their ancestors

Practicing muslim? Pilgrimage to mecca?? Amiru Hajj By an Oba who's supposed to be devoted to the ways of his ancestors

It makes me ponder also. But Islam encroachment had to be stopped. Many Kings became Muslim to stop the Christian assault and the Islam advance. Why it continues? I can't answer, I don't know the works on the ground in Africa. Love, Sango.