Oba Lekan Balogun
By Our Reporter
News emanatung from Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State indicates that the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadan Land, HRM Oba Mohood Olalekan Balogun, is dead. He died at the age of 82.
The first-class monarch reportedly died at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan a few hours after he was admitted into the tertiary health facility on Thursday evening.
The first class monarch’s demise was confirmed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary of Governor Seyi Makinde, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, on Thursday,
Makinde said Oba Balogun died Thursday evening at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
The governor described the late monarch as a towering figure akin to an Iroko tree.
He wrote, “With total submission to the will of God, I announce the passing unto glory of our father, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland.
“A mighty Iroko has fallen; Oba Balogun has joined the ancestors.
“In Kabiyesi, Ibadanland had a cosmopolitan and well-experienced Olubadan, who made indelible marks on the sands of history and achieved greatly within a short while.
Oba Lekan Balogun was born in 1942, he was a Fourth Republic Senator, represented Oyo Central senatorial district between 1999 and 2003.
He ascended the throne on March 11, 2022, after the demise of Oba Saliu Adetunji, Aje Oguguniso III. Adetunji, 93, had died on January 2, 2022, after reigning from March 4, 2016.
With the unique succession system of Olubadan stool, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, the current Balogun Olubadan of Ibadan, who is next in line, will be officially announced after the traditional 21 days of mourning, as the next Olubadan of Land.
