The Aranyin of Iranyin, HRM Lasisi Olagbemileke Oladimeji, has again appealed to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to fill the vacant Aresa-Adu of Iresa-Adu stool, warning that the nearly 10-year vacancy is hampering security coordination in Surulere Local Government Area.
Oba Oladimeji made the call in a statement released on Monday, citing renewed protests by youths in Iresa-Adu and concerns raised at a security meeting held in the town on 26 May 2026.
Iresa-Adu serves as the headquarters of Surulere LGA in the Ogbomoso zone and is the area’s largest landmass. The Aresa-Adu stool has remained vacant for almost a decade.
The monarch said the absence of a paramount ruler has made it difficult for Obas, Baales and other stakeholders to coordinate security responses in the area. He noted that Surulere shares a boundary with Oriire LGA, where teachers and schoolchildren were recently abducted.
“Obas, Baales, and stakeholders in the geographical area under the Aresa-Adu find it difficult to coordinate and make strong security changes without the Aresa of Iresa-Adu on the throne,” Oba Oladimeji stated.
He commended Governor Makinde’s efforts in securing the release of the abducted teachers and children in Oriire, but urged the administration to be “proactive and not reactive” on security.
“One of such pro-actions is the speedy enthronement of the Aresa-Adu,” he said.
According to the statement, stakeholders at the 26 May meeting in Iresa-Adu, including elders, Baales, high chiefs and heads of the Aresa-Adu ruling houses, expressed concern over televised protests by youths who voiced frustration over the prolonged vacancy.
An elder at the meeting said the absence of the Aresa-Adu, described as the land owner and paramount ruler, “compromises all security efforts of the state.” The elder asked: “In what capacity does anyone challenge or remove people from a land when the King who is the land owner is not present?”
Oba Oladimeji, an ancestral member of the Emiolu Ruling House of the Aresa-Adu chieftaincy, said border communities under Aresa-Adu, including Iranyin, face land encroachment and boundary disputes with towns in Osun State. He added that several vacant Obas and Baales posts across the border areas have further weakened local security coordination.
“I raised this concern about the vacant Aresa-Adu throne and security lapses when the Governor last visited Surulere Local Government at the palace of the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon in January 2026,” he said.
The monarch acknowledged Governor Makinde’s track record in resolving chieftaincy disputes, citing the Olubadan and Alaafin stools, and said the governor had used executive power to fill other vacant traditional seats.
“Governor Makinde has proven to be a Governor who listens to the people. He has resolved more Chieftaincy matters than any sitting Governor of Oyo State. That is why we are appealing to him to help us resolve that of Aresa-Adu too which has lingered for almost 10 years,” Oba Oladimeji said.
He described the Aresa-Adu as a first-class monarch and said resolving the stool was personal to him, adding: “You cannot tell the Aranyin history without telling the history of Aresa.”
The Aranyin of Iranyin first made a public appeal to the governor on the matter in February 2026. He said he remains confident that Makinde will act swiftly on the issue.
