Fusengbuwa family seeks unity, warns against distortion of Awujale kingship tradition

The Fusengbuwa ruling house, direct descendants of Afolagbade Adenuga, former Awujale of Ijebuland who ruled from 1925 to 1929, has reaffirmed that their immediate family is eligible to present candidates for the vacant Awujale stool.

Addressing recent controversies, the family dismissed claims by distant relatives purporting to be part of the ruling house as misleading and unfounded.

These controversies follow the death of Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the immediate past Awujale of Ijebuland.

Bamidele Adenuga, head of the Fusengbuwa family and son of Oba Folagbade, said the tradition and history clearly restrict succession rights to the immediate family of the last monarch within the Fusengbuwa lineage.

“In Ijebu custom, the ruling house empowered to present candidates has always been the immediate family of the last king. In our case, that responsibility lies with the direct descendants of Oba Folagbade,” he said, citing the Chiefs Law of 1959.

Adekunle Adenuga, secretary of the ruling house, said kingship in Ijebuland follows primogeniture, where only male descendants — sons and grandsons — of the last monarch are eligible, with rare exceptions for grandsons through the female line.

“The Awujale stool has never been open to distant relatives or extended kinship. Attempts to broaden the definition of the Fusengbuwa ruling house distort our customs and heritage,” he added.

Mosunmola Odukomaiya, eldest daughter of Oba Folagbade, called for unity among Ijebus and urged the public to reject misinformation.

“Sharing ancestry or oriki does not grant eligibility for kingship. The Awujale stool is the pride of all Ijebus and must not be desecrated by impostors,” she said, while acknowledging distant relatives as family socially but not for succession.