- Olowu of Owu kingdom, Oba Matemilola, denies any schism with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stating that “all is well between them”
- Matemilola explains Obasanjo’s absence from his coronation events, attributing it to the former President’s involvement in important international missions
Oba Saka Matemilola, the Olowu of Owu kingdom in Abeokuta, Ogun state, said on Friday that there is no schism between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo, the Balogun (Chief Warrior) of Owu kingdom, has been absent from kingdom events, fueling speculation that the ex-president is unhappy with the emergence of Oba Matemilola as the 14th Olowu.
Obasanjo was one of the kingmakers who chose Oba Matemilola, but he did not attend the monarch’s coronation ceremony in 2022.
During Matemilola’s coronation, the former President was said to have left the country. However, there were rumours that Obasanjo supported another candidate for the throne and that Matemilola was not the monarch who was crowned a year ago.
Due to the rumours, Oba Matemilola has denied any rift between him and the former President, stating that “all is well between them.”
He went on to say that Obasanjo was crucial to his success on the throne in the previous year.
The monarch made this statement on Thursday at a press conference to mark his first coronation anniversary in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state.
Oba Matemilola, a Professor of Applied Mathematics, explained Obasanjo’s absence from his coronation by saying the former President was out of the country on a peaceful mission by the African Union (AU).
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 lives.
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.
The monarch continued;
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 whatnot, 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, he said.