At O9:30am, the court hall was packed full of the town’s people and they continued to wait patiently for the arrival of the District Officer, Captain R. A. Vosper, who came in later at 10:20am. Immediately upon his arrival, Prince Adeoye Ajike Atanneye, who was waiting behind the Native Authority (NA) offices, came into the hall, accompanied by the high chiefs: Ojumu,Osere, Sashere and others.
Chief Elerewe, whose duty it was traditionally to proclaim ‘Oke re ke’ meaning ‘Total Silence,’ in such a public forum, did so and the court hall,which was full of people to such an extent that the crowd spilled over into the streets outside the hall, fell into total silence.
Chief Ojumu then stepped forward and held up Prince Adeoye Ajike’s hand, as custom demanded and introduced the successful candidate to the people of Owo. Chief Ojumu said that he had brought prince Adeoye Ajike out to be crowned as the next Olowo and enquired from the people whether or not they would own and serve him as their head, as Olowo. The concourse, amongst who were the representatives of all the other surrounding communities, towns and villages, quarter heads, the Omolowos, the high chiefs and the Ighare chiefs, unanimously answered three times, in the affirmative.
Mr. Vosper, the District Officer (DO), then expressed his pleasure in having been fortunate to witness such an honorable session in the history of Owo. He stated that March 12, 1938 was a historic day for the people. He was told, he said, that Ajike was the successful candidate and he had been chosen to ascend the Owo throne and so had to be brought out that day for public confirmation. He said that he was pleased at the concurrence of the town’s people in electing Prince Adeoye Ajike the new Olowo. He had known Prince Adeoye Ajike, he continued, for only three years but once he had been able to watch him at close range, he had found him to be a kind and hard working man. He had a good character which was required of a modem Oba. Mr. Vosper concluded that Owo then ranked with the other neighboring towns with educated rulers.
On May 8, 1938, at 04:00pm, Ajike was installed the Olowo of Owo by His Honor, the Chief Commissioner, Mr. G.G. Shute in front of the Government School House in the presence of tens of thousands of people, representatives from the Oba of Benin, the Owa of Ilesha, the Deji of Akure, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, the Osemawe of Ondo and many others.
Ajike was bom in 1889, the year his father, Atanneye I, came to the throne. He had his early elementary education in the African Baptist School, Owo. (Located at Chief Elerewe's compund,Ugboroko,quarter) but in 1903, he transferred to the newly opened Government School, Owo as one of the foundation pupils under the administration of the District Officer, Mr. Reginald Durries Napier Raikes and Inspector of education, Phillips, the last based at the Hope Waddell Institute, Calabar. In December 1907, at the annual prize giving day of the school, a gold edged bible was presented to him by his uncle, Olowo Ogunoye I, for good conduct.
During his school days, prince Adeoye Ajike was a keen and sober youth. Upon leaving school, he had worked as a clerk in a number of timber concessions in Siluko, Benin area and he did that for many years before he left with a good endorsement to the employ of the British Cotton Growing Association, (BCGA), Oshogbo. In 1919, at the inauguration of the Owo Native Administration, he was appointed the treasurer to the administration, a position in which he served for eighteen years without any blemish and with satisfaction to the British colonial administration before contesting the vacant stool of Olowo hence his nickname of ‘Atobatele,’ meaning: ‘One who has already attained the position of a king before becoming one
The new Olowo (Ajike Atanneye II) added one row to the three rows of beads for the high chiefs, making it four and gave the Ighares of Iloro quarter three rows of beads in appreciation of their role in the burial and coronation of the Olowo.
The Ute road was constructed and the construction of many other roads soon followed. But things were changing, however, during the few years Adeoye Ajike Atanneye II was on the throne in Owo.
During his visit to Ibadan at the Obas’ Conference of 1939, Ajike Atanneye II is said to have gained great honor for his sound contributions to the debates at the meetings. However at the next Oba’s Conference in 1940, he could not attend the meetings because of indisposition and so he sent chiefs Ojumu Fadeyi and Sashere George Adetula to represent him. On August 22, 1940, Ajike Atanneye II died after reigning for only two years and six months. It was a great loss to Owo.
At Ijebu-Ode, on September 3, 1940, the Governor of the Western Provinces, Sir Bernard Bourdilon, made the following remarks to the 15th Conference of Yoruba Obas.
"Since the last meeting of the Conference, death has taken from us Atanneye II, the Olowo o f Owo, who, though had only held office for a short time, had proved himself a just ruler and wise councilor. I should take this opportunity of expressing to the people of Owo and to yourselves, my sympathy in your loss."
It is said that, in 1938, the Upele towns people feted the people of Owo kingdom for the entire three months’ stay of Olowo Ajike at Ushama because his mother hailed from Upele.
(Ushama is where a newly installed king reside for three months, learning the secrets and the administration of the kingdom, before proceeding to the palace.)
Credit: Dr. Oladipo J. Olugbadehan.
Owo: A Yoruba Frontier Kingdom, Southwestern Nigeria: Owo Kingdom, Eastern Yorubaland, Southwestern Nigeria: A Study of History, Politics and Society in an African Ethnic Frontier Zone
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