Governor Seyi Makinde and Tales of Many Burials in Oyo State

HighLife

There are incidences that make us stop and think: Is this a coincidence or is there a divine grand momentum at work here? This is the question that some observant individuals have started to ask following the death of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi last week. Curiously, some of these inquisitive individuals are looking toward the executive seat of government in Oyo and asking whether Governor Seyi Makinde’s governorship is truly a turnaround in history.

When the Alaafin of Oyo passed away, there were more than a handful of people who realised that his death was only the latest in a list of many other deaths in the last three years. In the last five months, apart from the Alaafin of Oyo that just succumbed to death, there have been two other prominent Yoruba traditional leaders: the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, and the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji.

While some people believe that it is a coincidence, others refuse to. The latter claim that Governor Makinde’s regime has the most deaths of prominent figures in the history of Oyo. And because those that can refute this claim have more things to do with their time, this notion is becoming the word on the street.

Of course, the three traditional leaders are not the only ones to go. In fact, the first person to leave the earth for Governor Makinde, as some have described the happenstance, is Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the former Governor of the State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). There was also Madam Angela, the wife of Senator Teslim Folarin, and Alao Akala, another former Oyo Governor.

A notable Ifa priest has already explained that there is nothing strange about these deaths, but this has not exactly allayed the issue. So, there it is — Makinde at the centre of propaganda while the people wait for 2023 to reaffirm his position or chase him out of the governorship seat.