Olowu of Owu kingdom in Abeokuta, Ogun state, Saka Matemilola, denied rumours of a dispute with former President Olusegun Obasanjo during a press conference on Friday.
Obasanjo, the Chief Warrior of the Owu kingdom, has been noticeably absent from recent kingdom events, sparking speculation about a potential disagreement with the Oba.
However, Matemilola stated unequivocally that “all is well between them.”
Rumours about a rift intensified when Obasanjo, who was part of the kingmakers that selected Oba Matemilola, missed the coronation ceremony in 2022.
It was suggested that Obasanjo favoured a different candidate for the throne.
Dismissing these speculations, Matemilola, a Professor of Applied Mathematics, said that Obasanjo was out of the country on a peace mission for the African Union (AU) during the time of his coronation.
Matemilola, the 14th Olowu, also credited the former President for his successful reign, saying that Obasanjo was “highly instrumental to his success on the throne in the last one year.”
The Olowu’s remarks were made during a press conference in Abeokuta, heralding the activities marking his first coronation anniversary.
He 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 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.”
