Renowned Nigerians are paying tribute to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, who died on Friday at the age of 83.
- Oyo monarch died at Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital in Ado-Ekiti
- Burial to take place on Saturday in line with Islamic rites
- Prime Minister of Oyo Kingdom, High Chief Yusuf Ayoola to take over in the interim
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo has described his passage as a dream.
In a condolence letter to the Oyo State government, President Obasanjo also said the late monarch “was all things to all people.”
“To his family, he was a tower of strength and a committed provider; to his community of Oyo land, he was an early model in national leadership; to his Yoruba kinsmen, he was a worthy Ambassador; and to the rest of Nigeria, he was a symbol of a nation’s epic struggle in self-discovery and self-actualisation,” the letter read.
The Emir of Ilorin and the chairman of the Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Mai-Martaba Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari CFR, chose to describe the Alaafin’s death as a colossal loss to traditional institutions in Nigeria.
Alhaji Sulu-Gambari noted that Oba Adeyemi’s death "marks the end of another era.”
The Alaafin died at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, according to High Chief Yusuf Ayoola, the Head of Oyo Mesi, and the Prime Minister of Oyo Kingdom.
The necessary rites of passage have been performed ahead of his burial which is expected to take place at 4 pm Saturday.
Oba Adeyemi III ruled Oyo Kingdom for 52 years, making him the longest-reigning Alaafin.
The head of the Oyo Mesi will traditionally take over pending the appointment of a new Alaafin.
