The Baagbimo of Ijebu and Secretary of the Awujale Council of Chiefs, Prof. (Chief) Fassy Yusuf, has declared that the 2026 Ojude Oba Festival will hold despite the absence of a newly installed Awujale of Ijebu land.
Speaking on Eagle 102.5 FM’s ‘Frontline’ programme, Prof. Yusuf insisted that the festival is rooted in institution, not personality, and cannot be suspended due to a vacant royal stool.
He dismissed growing public speculation that the festival may be halted due to the transition period following the passing of Oba Sikiru Adetona, stressing that Ojude Oba remains a permanent cultural heritage of the Ijebu people regardless of monarchical succession.
“Once again, I confirm to you, and I confirm to you all, I confirm to the whole world that the Ojude Oba festival is holding in May, that’s on May 28th or 29th, depending on the signals. We are talking about institutions now, not about individuals, he said.
Prof. Yusuf argued that historical precedent already establishes that the festival is not dependent on the physical presence of a reigning monarch, insisting that attempts to link its continuity strictly to the throne misunderstand its cultural foundation.
“There were times in the past that a late monarch or a revered monarch was not available due to one reason or another, and yet the festival took place,” he said. He therefore warned against what he described as unnecessary agitation around the issue, adding that those calling for suspension of the festival were misreading both tradition and history.
“It is inconceivable that anybody will be thinking or will be clamouring for the cancellation of Ojude Oba festival until a new Awujale is installed,” he said.
While adding a more forceful rebuke of such arguments, describing them as uninformed and destabilising to cultural continuity, the Baagbimo said, “All those people talking about cancellation, or the like are people that lack self-identity,. They are people we call rabble-rousers; they are people fishing in troubled waters.”
According to him, the festival transcends individual reigns and even moments of interregnum, insisting that Ijebu cultural identity is not suspended by royal transition. “We, the founder, the creator, should we now sit at akimbo, and let the shine be taken off us,” he said, warning against undermining the cultural authority of Ojude Oba itself.
He further stressed that the festival has always survived periods of uncertainty in leadership, pointing to past historical occurrences where Ojude Oba held despite royal absence or illness. “In 1959 Ojude Oba was held after the demise of Oba Robertson Adesanya Gbelegbuwa,” he said.
Prof. Yusuf further elucidated on the matter, saying that the transition period following Oba Adetona’s emergence also witnessed similar continuity. “So, his appointment was approved in January 1960, and he was crowned on April 2nd, 1960. That was about one year, the week that Ojude Oba was held without any king on the throne.
“In 1995, the Ojude Oba festival was held. Oba Adetona was critically ill, and he was flown abroad. The Ojude Oba festival was held, stressing that cultural stakeholders ensured continuity even during leadership incapacitation, reinforcing his argument that the festival is institutionally anchored.
“It was the late Ogbeni-Oja Bayo Okuku, who stood in for him, supported by eminent sons and daughters like Otunba Subomi Balogun and Papa Chris Okunbadejo,” he said.
