Old newspaper report on Alaafin Adeyemi’s coronation goes viral

Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Adeyemi

The cover page of the defunct newspaper Daily Sketch reporting the coronation of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi as the Alaafin of Oyo in January 1971 has gone viral following the monarch’s death.

Social media users have been sharing the page since the traditional ruler passed on on Friday, April 22.

The headline of the report reads, “Oyo gets oba” with the photo of a young Oba Adeyemi.

Another report on the front page focuses on the three-year row over the traditional stool which Oba Adeyemi’s coronation ended.

The 83-year-old passed on at the Afe Babalola University, Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

At his funeral, the chief umam of Oyo, Moshood Ajokideru, led other Islamic clerics to pray over the deceased.

The prayer session lasted only three minutes after which the casket was taken back inside the palace, awaiting the final burial, which the Basorun of Oyo, who is the Head of the Oyo Mesi, High Chief, Yusuf Ayoola, announced would take place around 9pm.

Oba Adeyemi was later buried in a vault, Bara, reserved for Alaafins, around 10pm on Saturday.