In this Exclusive Interview Session ,we engage with our guest HRM Oba Oloyede Adeyeoba Adekoya Akinhare II as He shared extensively his journey so far as the Arujale-Ojima of Okeluse Kingdom.
Tell us about yourself”
My Name is HRM Oba Oloyede AdeyeOba Adekoya Akinhare II the Arujale-Ojima of Okeluse Kingdom, I am the last child and only Son of Late Oba Abiodun AdeyeOba Omomogbe of Okeluse kingdom, I have three elder sisters. I was born on 15th of May 2003, graduated from greater tomorrow international college Arigidi Akoko Ondo state and currently an undergraduate at Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti.
What plans do you have for your community in general and the youths? As their King I plan to bring massive development to my people and by so doing provide job opportunities for the youths, I intend to ensure that the youth are productive by organizing skills acquisition programs..
Do you have plans on creating an entrepreneurship program for the youths at your locality Yes I do and in due time it would become a reality and that’s why I need support from everyone because I can’t do it alone..
What plans will you put in place to avert any occurrence of conflicts in your community Simply ensuring that we have all necessary security agencies in my kingdom, civil defense left an abandoned building directly opposite my palace and I plan to have them come back to their office as they are very much needed in the kingdom.
What does being a modern man mean to you? Being a modern man to me simply means using the new found technology to create a better world, solve problems and simplify work loads
.If you could break any rule for a day, what would you break?
Personally wouldn’t want to break any rule as a custodian of culture and tradition. I believe rules are put in place to preserve sacred traditions.
Being a king at a young age what prompted your acceptance to the call and how has been the experience.
I would like everyone to know that kingship in Okeluse is quite different from what we have in other parts of Yoruba land, in Okeluse the throne has always been passed down from the ruling Oba to his first son just as my father was my grandfather’s first son and I happened to be my father’s first and only Son in the nearest future I would have my first son who automatically is the heir to the throne. So I already knew I was next in line but I didn’t expect it to be so soon, I was crowned at age 16 after my father passed away in 2019. It’s been a roller coaster experience I would say, “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” I got to understand the feeling of that state when I ascended the throne Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? I see myself in a different stage, would be 25 in the next 5 years and most definitely I would have advanced mentally, the community must have experienced more development
What do you think is the biggest problem facing young people today?
I would say inadequate support from the appropriate authorities and from those in a position to support, speaking from my experience I have reached out to government and individuals on projects I need support on but the response have been very poor so if young people don’t get support from those at the top then how would they grow to become future leaders?
Do you think that pageantry objectifies women? I personally do not think so but I do have a problem with women who dress indecently.
What makes you, you? I would say the simple way of life I have chosen for myself, i respect myself alot and have solid people around me who understands what I stand for .
Challenges I face as a young monarch One of the major challenges I face as a young monarch is finance, most kings have friends, colleagues at their previous place of work or business partners that would support them when they have projects or events but in my case I don’t have such financially strong friends. Government don’t support where they ought to, I have written to them on several occasions stating my needs but nothing was done about it.
Challenges I face as a monarch and as a student Schooling and ruling a kingdom ain’t no easy feat, on my hand is my academic pursuit and on the other my kingdom needs me. It is financially and mentally draining, I just resumed not long ago and I know the stress I passed through to get to school due to the bad road from ondo state to Ekiti, so bad that my car broke down and I spent about 200k on repairs.
Government role in taking care of monarchsGovernment don’t take care of Monarchs as they ought to, the salary is very low, no car. My salary is 170k monthly but people think I’m paid millions not know that I’m barely surviving just as everyone out there is trying to survive.
Projects I need support on currently I have several projects I need Nigerians to come support me with; I need their support to light up my kingdom with a project theme IMOLE De which aims at providing each street in okeluse with solar street lights, Palace projects which includes fencing the palace, flooring the entire palace to make it look nice especially during the raining season when it’s usually muddy and also I won’t mind getting a nice car to make movement easy as I need to do a lot of moving around to be able to getting investors to come invest in the kingdom.
I want every single Nigerian to go back to their roots and support the traditional rulers of their various communities so that such communities can witness developments in all sectors. Most kings have the interest of their people at heart but the finance to push the kindom isn’t available
