The PUNCH reports that Senator Kola Balogun, representing Oyo South Senatorial district had, in a letter dated May 19, 2023, requested that the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, George Akume, present and recommend the Olubadan for the CFR Award to the outgoing administration led by Buhari.
As announced by the ministry, the first class traditional ruler was listed among the recipients of the 2023 Special National Honour Award. He is among the 23 recipients who would be conferred with CFR, the third highest honour in the land.
The senator listed the direction of the life of the Olubadan who is also his elder brother and stated that he was worthy of the CFR award. The career progression of the foremost traditional ruler, the senator listed to include his birth, education, work experience and political activities, among several others.
Imploring Akume to present and recommend him for CFR national award, the senator wrote, “His (the monarch) political career commenced in 1978 when he joined the late Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party where he rose to the position of deputy national secretary.
“He was a presidential aspirant in the Social Democratic Party and later governorship candidate of the Nigerian People’s Party in Oyo State.
“The military interventions put a halt to his political aspirations for 16 years before his return in 1999 when he contested and won the Senate seat of Oyo Central Senatorial District as the distinguished senator in the fourth Senate. Between 1999 and 2003, he was the chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, member of the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Security and Intelligence, Police Affairs, Defence and Army.
“As the monarch rose in politics, he also rose in the traditional chieftaincy hierarchy of Ibadanland, culminating in his position as the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, one of the two most senior chiefs in Ibadanland. This was prior to his ascension to the prestigious throne of the Olubadan of Ibadanland on March 11, 2022.
“The oba has also just been appointed as the Chancellor of Sa’adatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, Kano by the Government of Kano State.
“Kabiyesi, Oba Balogun Aliiwo is a renowned technocrat, an author, a scholar, an astute and a rare breed politician, a businessman and philanthropist.” Senator Balogun concluded.
