For Oba Adebiyi Adegboye Adesida, today September 5, 2010, is a day for double celebration - he is being crowned as the 46th Deji of Akure and he is marking his 60th birthday. The new monarch, in this interview with YINKA OLADOYINBO, bares his mind on the politics of his selection and his plans for Akure. Excerpts:

SIR, how do you feel ascending the throne of your forefathers?
I give glory to God who made it possible for me to be enthroned as the new Deji of Akureland. I feel good because I know that I was chosen by the Almighty God and I will like to thank the Akure people, especially the kingmakers, who selected me during the struggle.

What should the people of Akure expect from their Oba?
Before I became the Deji of Akure, I was privileged to know all the things that happened in the town. First of all , I want to say that the glory and pride that Akure was known for was bastardised by the former Deji and it was very unfortunate. My preoccupation now is to work with the kingmakers, indigenes and non-indigenes of Akure to redeem the bastardised image of Akure. In recent past, all over the world, Akure was known as a town where the Oba came out physically to fight his estranged wife, thereby disgracing the esteemed throne.

I intend to work with the kingmakers and the indigenes to see that Akure, as a state capital, is a place where everybody living there can be proud of like Lagos, Abuja, Ilorin and Port-Harcourt. I want people living in the town to be proud of it. I intend to work with the government since Akure is the seat of government, so that government can bring all the intended developmental programmes that it has in mind and that befit a state capital. We need to sensitise the people that all the programmes government wants to carry out in Akure are those that will benefit all of us.

As an Adesida, what is your feeling about the argument in some quarters of Akure that your lineage is dominating the stool of Deji of Akure, having ruled for almost 110 years before now?
I am very proud to have come from the royal family of Adesida.  From the time the selection of Deji of Akure started, we only had one ruling house which is the Asodeboyede.
In the past five selections that took place, Adesidas have been occupying the stool and the last person was not an Adesida and we all saw what happened.

Anytime a new Oba is to be installed, all princes of the town are invited but an Adesida is always selected, why?
This is because our forefather, Oba Adesida Afunbiowo I, really made impact on Akure. He performed well and people loved him. He became the Deji of Akure at the age of 60 and ruled for another 60 years. By the time he died, all his children were grown up and were matured enough to become Deji. So they all contested together and probably  because our forefather performed very well, an Adesida has always been chosen. It amazes me when other royal families say they are being marginalised because anytime a new Deji is being selected, all the princes will come out to contest.
When Afunbiowo I died in 1957, about 18 princes came out from different royal families. From Odundun, Arakale, Ifaturoti, Osupa and others and an Adesida was selected. So it has been happening in all the selection. They brought politics into this thing for about 15 years and that was how Osupa/Odundun and Ojijigogun Ruling House came out. The Osupa Ruling House reigned last in Akure between 1832 and 1846.

Sir, your selection was followed by some controversial claims and counter claims by the kingmakers, how did you feel about this

Why don’t we go back to the pre-selection process. As I said, I told you that it was the turn of Ojijigogun and the state government asked the local government to write to the ruling houses to come up with candidates who are interested from the three royal families. At this point, about nine of us came out. They forwarded our names to the kingmakers and we were screened. We faced all the kingmakers and they asked us questions about Akure traditions, our cultural values and how we want to move the town forward.

My selection was done by God. I believe that most of the chiefs voted for me but the aggrieved ones said that it was not so. My name was forwarded to the government and all the kingmakers came out to announce that they unanimously selected me and everybody saw that when I was given the staff of office. All the chiefs  told the press that they unanimously selected me.

How are you going to work with the kingmakers considering the fact that they were divided into two groups during your selection, with one in support of your selection and the other opposed to it?
That stage has gone. All the traditional rites I have undergone were performed by the kingmakers because they have different roles to play. Immediately I was selected, they all came to pay homage and to pledge their loyalty and I accepted all of them. In fact, I have put that behind me. All that I am now working towards is to ensure that there is unity among the kingmakers and the chiefs in Akure so that we can move the town forward.

Since you said your pre-occupation is to ensure unity and having done that with the kingmakers, how do you want to achieve the same feat with your co-contestants, particularly those from other royal families apart from Adesida?
As I said, we are all from the same tree, Asodeboyede. We may belong to different ruling houses but we are all princes. So it is very easy when you are brothers to disagree and to agree. They have all been coming to me and I have made phone calls to all of them and they all pledged their loyalties. We have also discussed how we can move the town forward. I appealed that they should join hands with me so that Akure can make progress. All of them are men with good reputation and dignity and they are all well connected. I need their support, I really need their support and so far, they have been coming to all the traditional rites that I have been performing.

Sir, what will you like to be remembered for as a Deji of Akure years after your reign?
I will like to be remembered as the most progressive Deji to ever reigned in Akure. During my time, I know and I foresee that Akure will become a place where people will be happy, there will be peace and monumental progress. I intend to work with everybody, particularly the women folk that takes care of the home front to ensure that they train their children and all of them have jobs in their different fields. I will like it to be on record that during the reign of Oba Adebiyi Adegboye Adesida, Akure witnessed progress like never before and that both indigenes and non-indigenes of the town were happy. Akure will know peace, Akure will flourish, Akure will progress and there will be peaceful co-existence among the residents of the town, so that we can put behind us the sordid past.