What I Do Before I Became A King – HRM Oba Adekunle Adeayo Adeagbo, The New Oore of Otun Ekiti

 

It is no longer news that Otun Ekiti has a brand new king. He is a handsome and stylish king called Oba Adekunle Adeayo Adeagbo, the Oore of Otun Ekiti and paramount ruler of Mobaland.

 He recently told City People his story.

 

Congratulations kabiyeesi. Can you tell us a bit about how you became the new Oore of Otun Ekiti?

Thank you very much. In Otun Ekiti, there are 5 Ruling Houses namely 1. Ile Obajeu. 2. Ile Itun. 3. Ile Odo Imoro. 4. IleImoya. 5. Ile Eye aba which I come from. Based on the 1957 declaration registered in 1961, it was our turn to produce the next OORE after the demise of OORE Popoola on Oct. 21, 2019. The choice of new OORES is done by rotation between the 5 Ruling Houses and after OORE Popoola from Imoya Ruling House, the next is Ile eye aba Ruling house to complete the cycle.

The OMO OYEs were invited in my Ruling House and we were 7 that signified interest, the 7 names were sent to the kingmakers and I was unanimously picked by the kingmakers as the starring candidate. My name was then sent to the Ekiti state Executive Council for ratification on the 14th of May 2020. My instrument of office was given to me on the 27th of May 2020 by the Executive Governor of Ekiti State in the person of Gov. Kayode Fayemi.

 

What were you doing before you became king?

Before I became king, am an international Dredging and Mining practitioner with companies in Nigeria and Ottawa, Canada. Also, I had worked in the Upstream sector of the oil and gas for close to 25 years in the Niger Delta crisscrossing locations like Tsekelewu, Ogbudugbudu, ogbembiri, okenrenkoko, ogulagha, odidi, Egwa, forcados, Excravos, kama, opokuma kolokuma, samaria, sagbama, Nembe, Ogbia, Ekulama, Soku, Santa Barbra, kula, belema, gokana, bille, obiobi, obrikom, ogoni, Onne, okrika, owaza etc. This is from Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia etc. All these are Dredging locations in the oil companies like Shell Petroleum and Agip oil.

 

What has changed about you sir since you became king?

My lifestyle has changed and I can't do the things I used to do. I now have a restricted lifestyle based on rules and traditions.

 

What is the significance of Otun Ekiti and Mobaland?

Otun Ekiti, Mobaland is an ancient stool of over a 1000 years and am the 22nd OORE, the meaning of OORE is OLOORE ODUDUWA, OORE and OONI have a deep relationship in Yorubaland and Otun Ekiti is the 5th stool in Yorubaland. The OORE is a consent king that has 12 Kings in his domain comprising the Onigogo of Igogo Ekiti, the Olosan of Osan Ekiti, the Elepe of Epe Ekiti, the Onira of Ira Ekiti, the Onikun of Ikun Amure Ekiti etc. He is also a PELU PELU king, member of the most prominent kings in Ekiti State.