Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, has died at the age of 91.
The monarch passed away on Sunday, just hours after the announcement of the death of Muhammadu Buhari, his longtime friend and former president.
Adetona ascended the throne on April 2, 1960, and reigned for over 64 years, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Nigerian history.
His friendship with Buhari dated back to the 1980s and was cemented under extraordinary circumstances.
In 1983, just before Buhari’s military coup, Olabisi Onabanjo, then Ogun state governor, had already signed a formal order deposing Adetona. The removal was scheduled to take effect on January 2, 1984.
But the coup of December 31, 1983 — which toppled Nigeria’s civilian government — halted the plan. Buhari’s intervention inadvertently preserved the Awujale’s reign.
