Eminent Nigerians, including the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari; former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan; state governors, and monarchs from different parts of the country, on Saturday, paid tribute to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, who died on Friday at the Afe Babalola University, Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, after a brief illness.
Oba Adeyemi, 83, reigned for 52 years, making him the long-serving Alaafin.
The monarch’s remains were brought back to the palace in Oyo on Saturday, where the corpse was kept while traditionalists started performing rites of passage.
Thousands of Oyo indigenes, who were shocked to hear the news of the demise of the revered monarch, thronged the palace to confirm it.
Armed policemen were deployed in the palace and Amotekun corps operatives were allowed inside the second inner part, where only a few people were given access to.
The building, where the body of monarch was kept, was locked, while some palace guards were seen manning the entrance.
President Buhari condoled with the government and people of Oyo State over Oba Adeyemi’s passage, noting that his reign covered major historic transitions in the country.
In a statement on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, President Buhari notes that the late monarch’s numerous participations in national meetings and conferences to shape the future of the country, and the living words of wisdom he shared at every opportunity on unity and people-focused governance.
