The Nexus between Tradition and Modernity: A Case Study of Ooni Adesoji Aderemi’s Legacy in Post-Colonial Politics of Nigeria
Adewole Adeleke 
, Oluanti Afowowe & Victor Ojakorotu
Issue: Vol.6 No.10 Article 17 pp.2475 – 2485
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561017 | Published online 26th September, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Interrogating the Ooni Institution legacy in the post-colonial politics of Nigeria is conceptually problematic. This is because, in post-colonial Nigeria, the Ooni throne had been occupied at different times by three distinct personalities with different ideological, educational and socio-economic orientations. Incidentally, the three Ooni have assertive personalities that have impacted the Nigerian post-colonial political space. This study essentially focused on the evolutionary pattern of the Ooni Institution’s engagements in the post-colonial politics of Nigeria. The study examined how the Ooni Institution was able to manage the changing roles and power of the Ooni occasioned by the exigencies of Europeanised political authority in post-colonial Nigeria. Particularly, efforts were made to explain strategies deployed by Ooni Adesoji Aderemi to manage the seemingly irreconcilable differences between monarchism and republicanism of constitutional democracy in post-colonial Nigeria. This study also identified specific instances in Nigerian post-colonial politics in which Ooni Adesoji Aderemi played a crucial role as a stabilising agency to maintain the corporate existence of Nigerian statehood. In this instance, Ooni Adesoji Aderemi’s decisive interventions during the Nigerian civil war were examined. Of importance to this study is also the role of the Ooni as a legitimising authority for military regimes at epochal moments in the Nigerian checkered political history. This study has made a concerted effort to identify the role of Ooni in defining the Yoruba personality in Nigerian politics as a unifier and bridge builder for a sustainable and harmonious state.
Keywords: Post-Colonial, Politics, Ooni Institution, Tradition, Modernity
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Adewole Ayodeji Adeleke obtained a B.A. (Hons) in History, M.Sc. in Political Science, and M. Phil. in History & Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He had his Ph.D in International Relations from the North-West University, South Africa. He joined the Department of History and International Studies, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria as a pioneer lecturer in September, 2007. He won the Nigerian Federal Government’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) scholarship to study for his Ph.D. Between 2014 and 2016; he won the Institutional Research Support Grant of the North-West University, South Africa. He also enjoyed the Support Grant for the “First South African 3MT Competition,” at University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa in 2015. He has been a participant in several local and international conferences and seminars. To his credit, he has some publications in reputable local and international journals. He is a member of some professional associations, including the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN), Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), and African Association of Japanese Studies (AAJS). He is the former Head of Department of History and International Studies, Osun State University.
Oluranti AFOWOWE holds a PhD in Strategic and Defence Studies. He is an academic staff member of the Department of History and International Studies , College of Humanities and Culture, Ikire Campus, Osun State University, Nigeria. He is a member of Historical Society of Nigeria. Equally, he is a member of African Council of Communication Educators. He was appointed a member of Expert Panel for African Governance Report (AGRII) in 2007 by Development Policy Centre (DPC), Ibadan, Nigeria. Oluranti Afowowe has equally served as a European Union Consultant on European Union sponsored projects in Anambra and Adamawa States, Nigeria. Oluranti Afowowe is an accomplished biographer who has been privileged to write and published biographies of Major-Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (1998); Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (2000); Alhaji Aliko Mohammed (2004); Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya (2014). He has equally contributed chapters in books as well as researched articles to academic journals.
Professor Victor Ojakorotu is a scholar of international relations and an astute professor at North West University, South Africa. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. A First Class Honours graduate (BSc) from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in International Relations and an MSc. Degree in the same school. He has actively worked at various capacities as an academic of repute in the last 28 years, specifically he worked for Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and Monash University, Johannesburg. Currently, he holds a position as Deputy Director , School of Government Studies, North West University, Mafikeng – South Africa and recently appointed as an Honourary Professor at Durban University of Technology, South Africa. His research interests span across several areas which are not limited to peace and conflict issues, social movements, environmentalism, peace advocacy and inter-ethnic harmony in local communities in Africa. Professor Ojakorotu has published over 120 articles on a range of high indexed and impact journals with other seven edited books to his credit. He has delivered several keynotes addresses and has consistently organised several conferences on topical issues relating to development and peace in Africa. Professor Ojakorotu has made significant contributions to the development of the field of international relations, his academic protégées are making waves globally. He is a dependable family man blessed with a beautiful family.
Adeleke, Adewole, Oluanti Afowowe, and Victor Ojakorotu.“ The Nexus between Tradition and Modernity: A Case Study of Ooni Adesoji Aderemi’s Legacy in Post-Colonial Politics of Nigeria,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 10 (2025): 2475 – 2485, https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561017
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
