The Olowu of Owu kingdom, Oba Saka Adelola Matemilola, has insisted that there was no rift between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying all is well between them.
Obasanjo, the Balogun (Chief Warrior) of Owu kingdom has been absent from events organised by the kingdom, fueling rumour that the former President may be against the emergence of Oba Matemilola as the 14th Olowu.
Recall that Obasanjo who was part of the kingmakers that selected Oba Matemilola was also absent from the coronation ceremony of the monarch in 2022.
The former President was said to have travelled out of the country during Oba Matemilola’s coronation.
But, Oba Matemilola has denied any rift between him and the former President, stressing that Obasanjo has been highly instrumental to his success on the throne in the last one year.
Oba Matemilola spoke in his palace on Thursday at a press conference as part of activities marking his first coronation anniversary in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Giving reasons for Obasanjo’s absence from his coronation ceremony, Oba Matemilola explained that, the former President was out of the country on a peaceful mission by the African Union (AU).
Oba Matemilola, a Professor of Applied Mathematics said, although Obasanjo might not be present in all his events due to his busy schedules, his success story could not be told without mentioning the former President.
The monarch said, “Balogun’s (Obasanjo) absence in some of our events, I’m sure this has not gone unnoticed. But let me tell you one thing, Balogun has been very instrumental to everything I have been doing.
“For those who may have been monitoring his (Obasanjo) activities, you will realize that he is always on very important international missions. During my coronation last year, he actually championed the whole of the planning and the delivery of that event, but he had to be somewhere in the Horn of Africa during that period to help address a major crisis that was going on at the time.
“He (Obasanjo) came to me and told me he won’t be available for the coronation and I said, ‘Balogun, if your mission to Addis Ababa will save one life, it would have been well worth the efforts and the whole of the coronation events’ because he is there to save life.
“Similarly, on this occasion he is somewhere in the Caribbean working for Africa, he was here in the palace with me two days ago as part of the planning of this and he should be here probably by Saturday.
“He (Obasanjo) also has some other missions in the Europe and US, but he has said yes, he will try and break that trip and be here for the day.
“All the time he (Obasanjo) is somewhere on a mission out there representing us in Nigeria, representing Africa to save lives, to help in our economic development and all what not, so to that extent, I think we should feel proud that we have somebody like that who is doing so well to represent us in Nigeria”.
