In many Yoruba communities, kingship carried sacred authority as well as political power. The oba was not only a leader, he was also a ritual figure whose presence helped hold society together. Within that worldview, deposition was not meant to produce a living former king. A removed ruler could become a competing centre of loyalty, an invitation to factional violence, and a danger to the stability of the town or kingdom. For that reason, older political practice expected a deposed oba to die, both to close the spiritual chapter of his reign and to prevent agitation against a successor.
British colonial rule altered this framework. Under indirect rule, traditional rulers became central to administration, taxation, local courts, and public order. At the same time, the colonial state reserved the right to remove rulers it considered unfit. Yet the British also rejected the killing of deposed monarchs. Deposition became an administrative decision, followed by restrictions, relocation, or exile. That single change reshaped legitimacy, because the ruler was still politically meaningful, but no longer removed from public life by death. The result was a new kind of crisis, living ex rulers with followers, grievances, and the ability to disturb succession.
These tensions are sharply illustrated in Ijebu, where colonial restructuring, local rivalries, and public controversy produced two striking cases, Akarigbo Oyebajo of Ijebu Remo, and Awujale Adenuga of Ijebu Ode.
Ijebu and Remo Under Colonial Restructuring
Before British conquest, Ijebu was a single kingdom under the Awujale, with the capital at Ijebu Ode. The western section was, and remains, known as Remo. During the nineteenth century, insecurity and conflict across Yorubaland pushed many Remo communities to combine for defence. The most notable result was Sagamu, a composite settlement formed from around twelve communities. One of these was Ofin, whose titular ruler was the Akarigbo. Over time, the Akarigbo came to be treated as first among equals among the rulers of Ijebu Remo.
READ MORE: Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
British military intervention brought Ijebu under colonial control in 1892. Two years later, in 1894, Ijebu Remo was politically detached from the rest of Ijebu and declared a British protectorate. At the same time, southern and lagoon portions of Ijebu, stretching from Ikorodu to Epe, were detached and administered separately. Administrative boundaries shifted again after the 1914 amalgamation, and by 1921 the area had been upgraded to provincial status as Ijebu Province.
Within this framework, local government operated through the Ijebu Native Administration headed by the Awujale as Native Authority. He was assisted by a council of chiefs with executive and judicial responsibilities, while British officials supervised the system through the Resident and District Officers. This was the political environment in which both Oyebajo and Adenuga rose, ruled, and were removed.
Akarigbo Oyebajo, Ambition, Conflict, and a Long Exile
Oyebajo became Akarigbo in late 1891, in his mid twenties, just before colonial conquest reshaped authority in the region. After 1892, the colonial government increasingly favoured the idea of a single recognised head for Ijebu Remo. British recognition of Oyebajo’s paramount status was formalised in August 1894 through an agreement establishing a protectorate over Ijebu Remo. This recognition elevated the Akarigbo stool, but it also altered internal expectations. Under older political norms, a ruler governed with chiefs in a strong collective structure. Under colonial administration, greater personal authority and direct contact with the state could tilt power towards the ruler, and that shift often bred conflict.
In Sagamu, factional rivalry hardened around governance and money. Oyebajo received a stipend linked to his recognised role, but his chiefs believed they were entitled to a share in keeping with older ideas of collective government. Oyebajo refused, and disputes deepened. From 1904, the conflict became openly hostile. Oyebajo had chiefs arrested and prosecuted for conspiracy, and later the chiefs sought revenge by prosecuting him for larceny and extortion. Although he was acquitted, his detention in prison custody created bitterness, and his relationship with colonial officers deteriorated.
By 1914, disputes escalated into two organised factions. The turning point came when allegations of judicial misconduct were established against him. Oyebajo was accused of taking bribes to influence suits in the Native Court over which he presided. This struck at the heart of colonial expectations, because the Native Court system was meant to deliver order through “customary” authority, supervised by British oversight. A ruler accused of manipulating court justice threatened the credibility of the entire local system.
Oyebajo was removed, and a successor, Awolesi, was installed. Yet removal did not settle the town. Awolesi’s reign was short and troubled, and political pressure for Oyebajo’s return grew quickly, especially after Awolesi died in February 1916 after only nine months in office. By then, Oyebajo’s supporters had become a major force, joined by chiefs alienated by the excesses of local rivals. British officers, however, were wary of reinstating a ruler they believed could not be corrected, and they looked for alternatives.
The crisis developed into years of agitation, petitions, and public pressure. Newspapers and elite advocates played a role in shaping public sympathy and political negotiation. Instead of restoring stability, the existence of a living former ruler kept factional struggle alive. Eventually, the colonial solution moved beyond local politics, Oyebajo was deported into exile in Calabar Province. He remained away for eleven years, supported by a modest maintenance allowance.
When he was finally allowed to return on health grounds, he arrived back in Sagamu on 23 June 1932. He died only weeks later, on 11 July 1932. His story shows the colonial dilemma in its clearest form, deposition without death did not close conflict, it prolonged it, and exile became the substitute for the older finality that tradition had once imposed.
Awujale Adenuga, Corruption Allegations and a Public Deposition
Adenuga’s rise to the Awujale stool was shaped by succession politics long before he wore the crown. Born in 1892, he was the son of Awujale Tunwase. Within the royal system, succession rotated among ruling families, and by 1915 it was the turn of his family to produce a candidate. Yet kingmakers considered him too young at twenty three, and another candidate, Ademolu, was appointed instead. The decision provoked protests and petitions, reflecting how deeply contested the throne could be even under colonial supervision.
By November 1925, after Ademolu’s death, Adenuga was appointed Awujale. He adopted the royal name Folagbade and carried the Christian name Theophilus from baptism. His reign, however, soon became entangled with accusations of misrule, corruption, and the misuse of power within the Native Administration. These allegations circulated locally and reached wider audiences through Lagos based newspapers, increasing political pressure on the colonial government to act.
The colonial government faced a problem. Prosecuting a reigning monarch in court risked damaging the prestige of the institution that indirect rule relied upon. It also risked failing if public witnesses refused to testify. The chosen route was a judicial commission of enquiry, an approach that could investigate broadly and recommend administrative action without the drama of criminal prosecution.
In January 1929, a commission sat in Ijebu Ode between 7 and 11 January and submitted its report on 18 January. The report described a high incidence of corruption within the Ijebu Native Administration and held the Awujale responsible. It identified senior officials, including the Olisa and the Kakanfo, as key accomplices, and recommended deposition. It also recommended that the Awujale be moved away from the province, and that implicated officials be dismissed, so the next Awujale would not inherit a compromised administration.
The government accepted the recommendations. Instructions were sent on 31 January for the Resident to notify those affected in writing. The Awujale was ordered to leave the province within three days of notification, to a place of his choice outside the Yoruba speaking area of southern Nigeria. Instead of handling it discreetly, the Resident announced the deposition publicly on 4 February, with the Awujale present. The spectacle caused an outcry and was rebuked as unnecessarily cruel. The next day, Adenuga went into exile in Ilorin.
Adenuga’s case shows how indirect rule could elevate a monarch into a powerful administrative figure, then remove him through procedures designed to protect the system’s public image. Yet it also shows how quickly legitimacy could be damaged when the Native Administration appeared corrupt, and how exile became the colonial method for neutralising a deposed ruler who still mattered to supporters and opponents alike.
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
What These Two Falls Reveal About Colonial Power and Kingship
Oyebajo and Adenuga were removed for different immediate reasons, but their stories converge on the same structural reality. Colonial rule made traditional rulers officials of government, tied to money, courts, and political control. Deposition became an administrative weapon, yet the refusal to end a deposed ruler’s life meant the political struggle did not naturally conclude. A living former ruler could become a symbol, a rallying figure, or a reminder of injustice. Succession became harder to settle. Factional conflict gained new tools, petitions, press campaigns, and appeals to colonial authorities. In response, the colonial state relied on exile, restriction, and distance.
In Ijebu, the lesson was clear. When kingship was converted into a pillar of colonial administration, the throne became both more powerful and more vulnerable. The crown could deliver authority, but it could also attract corruption, rivalry, and public scandal. And once removed, a king could still shape politics from the shadow of exile.
Author’s Note
The story of Oyebajo and Adenuga shows how colonial rule changed the meaning of removal from the throne, not by erasing kingship, but by reshaping it into government office. Once deposition no longer ended in death, conflict did not end either, it travelled through factions, petitions, press battles, and exile. In Ijebu, two crowns fell, but the deeper drama was the collision between sacred authority and colonial control, and the way ordinary people, chiefs, and officials fought to decide who remained legitimate when a king could be dethroned, yet still live.
References
Tunde Oduwobi, Deposed Rulers under the Colonial Regime in Nigeria, The Careers of Akarigbo Oyebajo and Awujale Adenuga, Cahiers d’études africaines, 171, 2003, pp. 553 to 571.
R. Smith, Kingdoms of the Yoruba, London, Methuen, 1976.
E. A. Ayandele, The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842 to 1914, London, Longman, 1966.
