By: Oyinlola Adisa
IBADAN — Mogaji Gbolagade Moshood Akere has challenged the attempt to link the recently highlighted Akere Ibidapo Royal Compound, Elekuro, Ibadan, with the ancestral lineage of the Beyioku Akere family, saying the two should not be presented as belonging to the same family lineage.
His reaction followed a publication by Pacesetters News Magazine on the history of the Akere Ibidapo Royal Compound, which traced the compound’s history to Beyoku Akere and described the family as having a long-standing connection with the Oracle and warrior traditions of Ibadan.
Mogaji Gbolagade Akere, however, said the claim was inconsistent with the position previously expressed by members of the Akere Ibidapo family themselves.
According to him, before the installation of the Mogaji of Akere Ibidapo Royal Compound, members of that family had made it clear that they were not related to Akere Beyioku. He therefore questioned why the same ancestral connection was now being introduced into their history.
> “Before the installation of that Mogaji, their family said they did not relate to Akere Beyioku. Why are they now relating it to my family lineage?”
Mogaji Gbolagade stressed that his objection was not against the installation or recognition of a Mogaji for the Akere Ibidapo family.
Rather, he said his concern was the use of the Beyioku Akere ancestral name and lineage in describing the history of the other compound.
He maintained that his own family lineage has three distinct branches: Akintaro, Bamgbegbin and Fagbinrin, and that these branches constitute the lineage he represents.
“I am not saying their family should not install their Mogaji,” he explained. “But they should not involve my lineage or ancestral name in their history.”
Historical records also show that Balogun Beyioku Akere was a prominent Ibadan traditional figure who served as Balogun between 1867 and 1870.
The dispute therefore appears to centre not on the right of the Akere Ibidapo family to have a Mogaji, but on the accuracy of the ancestral connection being attributed to the Beyioku Akere family.
Mogaji Gbolagade’s position is that historical identities and family lineages should be clearly distinguished to avoid creating confusion about the ancestry, heritage and traditional history of the respective Akere families in Ibadan.
