Oba Sefiu Oyebola Olawale (Adeyeri III) tells his journey to becoming the Aseyin of Iseyin in an exclusive chat with SOJI AJIBOLA and RASHEED ALADEJANA.
Tell us about your journey to the throne
Well, my ascension to the throne is by destiny. Whatever you are destined to be, nobody can take it. Even you yourself, you don’t have control over destiny. It is only God that is in control of destiny. I left this country in 2002. Prior to that time, I was in Iseyin. I did primary and secondary schools in Iseyin. I finished my secondary education in 1987.
I left Iseyin for Lagos to seek greener pastures. I moved from one job to the other. I worked with AIICO, an Insurance firm. I went for a training as a sales executive. I moved to International Standard Insurance Company at Victoria Island. And from there, I moved to Cash Plant Asset Management, and later Allied Insurance. I later become a proud owner of a company called Retail Ventures. I believe that you can never make money working for somebody for so long. So I decided to own my business in fulfilment of my life ambition as an employer of labour. I was a contractor to National Oil, Marina, Shell, Churchgate Group of Company. In 2002, I left the country for New York noting that traveling is part of education. I am an entrepreneur and a philanthropist.
How was it leaving New York and coming back home?
I visited Nigeria from time to time but Iseyin had never been on my travel radar because really, I didn’t have anything to do in the town. I lost my parents in 1993 and 2000 respectively. I was a little bit younger when I lost my dad, but from the story that I gathered, he was born in Lagos on April 6, 1969.
Coming back to Nigeria was my dream because I wanted to come and set up businesses to aid the government at all tiers to solve problem of unemployment. So, I have a company called Grace Hills Movie Production. I have a company called Grace Hills Block Industry. Those companies are still existing. I did a certification course in Oracle Primavera. So, I’m Oracle Primavera certified as well. I have trained and still train people.
Have you ever thought of becoming a monarch?
I never dreamt about it, because I know it’s not every prince that will become a king eventually. I never had any premonition about it, but when they called me about two years ago that the late Aseyin has gone to join his forebears, I commiserated with sons and daughters of Iseyin. I heard the news on TV. I sympathised like every other person. I was told that it is the turn of our family to produce the next king. My family has suffered a lot in this generation of ours where people believe that you have to pay your way through to emerge as a king.
There are three ruling Houses in Iseyin namely, Akadu, Olugbile and Maja. I am from Akadu family. My grandfather was supposed to be the second Adeyeri, but he didn’t stay long on the throne and there is no traceable history to that effect.
They did not recognise him as king that is why his picture is not here in the palace. They didn’t bury my grandfather where they bury other late Aseyins. So my father was supposed to be on the throne again, which is the lineage of Oyebola. But then, something happened, they didn’t give it to my dad.
So, they begged my dad to leave it for Adeyeri II, which is Moshudi Osuolale, who would happen to be our cousin.
Now, when they asked me, I said I didn’t want to be part of it.
My sister begged me to reconsider. She reminded me of what a prophet said when I was preparing to get married in 1996 concerning my future. I told her a lot of water has passed under the bridge between then and now.
Who knows whether I have offended God for Him to change his plan concerning my life? If truly it is God’s plan, let same God repeat Himself concerning His plan for my life.
Is that man still alive? She said the man was alive. I said, okay, go to that man. Just take my name there. Don’t tell him anything. Just let him pray on that name.
If God showed him then, God will show him now. Except that man is a liar. My sister went there. As of that time, that man was 87 or so. He was too old.
She gave my name to the man and the man said, you know what? This man is a king. There is a crown on this guy from heaven. He’s going to be the next king. My sister came back and told me.
Then, a couple of weeks after that, the man died. You see, it’s not something I want to come back to because I never had a good experience.
One of the elders in the family is Baba Olonade. I spoke to him. I said, Baba, you’re a man of wisdom. You follow the history of enthronement and dethronement over the years in Iseyin. What do you think I should do? He said, what do you know? You must compete. Then I was in the US. I’ve worked for almost 32 years. I’ve lived in the United States.
I consulted with my wife I’ve married for 28 years, and we’re still together. My wife said she will pray. She prayed. When she prayed, she said, no. She said that what God showed me, God did not show her.
If I go ahead, I will never become that king. Then she consulted one of her pastors too.
He said, I will never become that king because I don’t have money. I said that is not a prophecy. I also can tell somebody that if you don’t have money, don’t do it. That’s a normal thing! I consulted my daughter. My daughter said they were not supporting me.
I was praying alone. I was praying to the Lord God. I said, God, I’m not interested in being oba, but if You want to make me Oba, it’s up to you. It is our lineage, but I don’t want to become Oba because people are pushing me to be. I don’t want to satisfy anybody’s desire. That’s what I said. But if it’s Your will, let Your will be done. If it’s not Your will, in the last minute when I’m about to become oba, scatter everything.
There was a time I saw two people with coffins in my dream. I inquired from God what it was all about. God said four people would die before you become a king and it came to pass.
My prayers have always been, God let your will be done. The competition was tough. We were 12 in number aspiring for the throne. We had about five people from the same family; we were cousins and brothers. God has chosen me to be a king, and here I am.
I never had any pressure whatsoever. I was doing my business. I was working. I was doing what I needed to do. And there weren’t any sleepless nights. It was peaceful.
They announced me as oba on September 14. Long before that, I was picked. I can’t remember the day when I was picked. My wife was shocked. Everybody was shocked. She didn’t even believe it. So when I got to Nigeria on September 14, the state announced me officially as the Aseyin of Iseyin.
Your mission?
My mission is to ensure unity, peace, and prosperity while my strategy is consultation, consolidation, and confrontation. Confrontation is in the sense that I’m not going to be fighting people. There’s nobody without an enemy. Sometimes God uses your enemy to be a blessing to you. So it’s not everybody that is going to be on the same page with you. It’s not everybody that is going to agree with you. But it’s going to cost something. If they agree with us, it’s going to cost something. If they don’t agree with us, we’re going to set them apart.
I’m not going to be an oba that people can manipulate. I’m going to be an oba that has his own mind.
And I’m going to be talking to God more about the affairs of this community that brought me to this throne. I’m going to talk to people as well.
Unemployment is a big problem all over Nigeria, but I cannot solve the problem of the whole Nigeria. But I want to solve the problem of my own territory, which is Iseyin. And I know if I can change one life, that one life will change another life, and that life will change another life, and so on.
So I’ve been encouraging people from abroad – investors – based on my connection and my exposure, I’m using that opportunity to woo people to Iseyin to come and invest. I’m encouraging people to come and invest, and we have been successful in that. People are responding.
How do you intend to impact on the membership of Oyo Council of Chiefs and traditional rulers?
We need to be on the same page with the political leaders. We need to have one goal which is the development of our various communities.
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