Insideoyo.com brings some of the events that happened yesterday at the installation of Chief Gani Adams as the Aare Ona Kakanfo.
1) Chief Gani Adams made history as he was inaugurated the 15th Aare Ona Akakanfo of Yorubaland, 558 years after the stool was created.
2) The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, also made history on the same day by becoming the first Alaafin to install two Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. The monarch installed the late Chief MKO Abiola as the 14th Aare Ona Kakanfo 30 years ago, a post the late businessman held for about 10 years.
3) The final installation rites which made Adams the new Generalissimo of the Yoruba race were performed by Oba Adeyemi at the Durbar Stadium, Oyo.
4) The new Aare and the Alaafin were driven by a chariot to the venue of the installation.
5) The new Aare held and prayed with 15 calabashes.
6) He was dressed in white agbada.
7) He later wore a cloth made of leopard skin.
8) Traders made brisk business at the venue; they sold T-shirts, caps, jotters, and badges with Adams pictures, names and his new office printed on them. Two men also took the trading gimmick further. They mounted public address systems on their vehicles and played popular Yoruba traditional songs by the late Chief Hubert Ogunde, highlife music by the late I.K Dairo and other popular musicians. One of them also played a compact disc telling the story of the new Aare Ona Kakanfo and how the title was established in the old Oyo Empire.
9) As expected, hoodlums andtouts were on the rampage.
10) Durbar Stadium, venue of the installation was also a field for pickpockets, hoodlums and touts.
11) Praise-singers at the Durbar Stadium gate made legitimate money from dignitaries that graced the occasion, petty thieves were busy fleecing people of their valuables.
12) There were foreign nationals from Cuba and the Middle-East.
13) Shops and markets in the ancient town were shut, while residents trooped out in large numbers to witness the installation ceremony.
