Giwa M.A Odutayo is a big man in Ijebu Ode. He is not only the Giwa of Egbe Olugbadebo (Okunrin) made up of distinguished men who are in their early 80s, he is the President of the Ijebu Regberegbe Council made up of all the Giwa’s and Iyalodes of the 50 age grade groups in Ijebu-Ode.
He has a Vice-President called Giwa Dhikrullah Bosun Oke, who is the Giwa of Egbe Bobayo Okunrin. He has a council Secretary who is Giwa M.A Oreagba, the Giwa of Egbe Bobagbuyi Okunrin. The Treasurer of the Regberegbe Council is Iyalode Korede Alatishe. She is the Iyalode of Egbe Bobagunte Omo-Oba).
A few days back Papa Odutayo spoke to City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE on how he has been running the Ijebu Regberegbe Council and managing all the Giwas & Iyalodes who are members of the council. He also spoke about how he started his career as a banker. Read on.
How do you feel being the President of Ijebu Regberegbe Council?
I took over as President about 8 years ago when the incumbent President had a motor accident. By that I mean. Balogun Sote of Mafowoku. So, there was no handing over, nothing. When I came in, we were owing Awujale the money for Ojude Oba, but this time around, we have changed all that. Ojude Oba is now fully organised by the Regberegbe. So, I took over from nobody, in the sense that my predecessor at that time died in a motor accident. So, I took over. I just came from no where and took over.
So, what is the significance of the Regberegbe tradition in Ijebu land. How come they don’t joke with it?
The reason why Regberegbe is so important is because it coordinates Ijebu people within Ijebu and beyond. We have Ijebu people in the diaspora. We have some regberegbe groups in America & the U.K and even Canada. The concept is a nice one. When you born, you know the time you were born. You know your group members and you will relate with them. The whole idea is for you to keep your relationship going. You have to keep relating with them. Beyond this, the Regberegbe is not just about these people you see on parade during the Ojude Oba day. There are a lot of things we do. For instance, I belong to the Egbe Olugbadebo. The first Regberegbe that came in was around 1717. But all those groups have faded away. The 1st group now is the Egbe Mafowoku. The Patron is Oba Dr. Sikiru Adetona. he is in that group. He is a member and a Patron. It is made up men who were born between 1932-1934. And the next group is Egbe Olugbadebo, which I belong to. That is 1935-1937. It goes on like that. The Agemo Statue out there by the turning into the Awujales palace was built by the Mafowoku. We have 15 of them in Ijebu. That is why they call us Omo Alagemo Merindinlogun. The Agemo is a symbol of unity. I belong to Olugbadebo and I am the Giwa of the group. The Giwa is the Olori Egbe (the Head).
How many are you in Olugbadebo?
Age allows people to fade away. We are not more than 21 now. But when we started we were about 50, those born between 1935-1937. They are Octogenarians. They are in their 80s. After 80 what comes next. The essence of Regberegbe is that every Egbe wants to show that they are better than the other. They do community development. We the Olugbadebo have what we have done. Other Egbes too have done a lot.
Tell us about you. I know you were a banker for so many years before you retired.
How did you know that? (Smiles)
Why did you go into banking and not something else.
I will tell you the story. I was a bit late in going to school. I passed through the Ijebu Muslmin College. We were the last to write Cambridge. So, most of my colleagues travelled out of the country. I was a Unionist. I stayed back at home. I studied banking locally on my own. I joined what was then called British Bank of West Africa which is now known as First Bank. I qualified as a Chartered Banker. I became the Chairman of the Lagos State branch of the group. I was National Treasurer also of Chartered Institute of Bankers. I was one of those who Chartered the Institute. I was called The Institute of Bankers. After sometime I had to set up a banking institution. It was a Mortgage Institution. After that I retired into private life. And then I took Islam as a religion. It was when I was 70 that I finished Quoran again. This was done with fanfare. That was about 12 years ago. I am blessed with children-5 girls and 1 boy. Only 2 are in Nigeria. The others are abroad.
How old are you sir?
I will be 82 in December.
How do you feel, each time you look back at your life?
I feel fulfilled. All those who passed through me when I was in the bank use to call me GOC because I was ruthless. If you come to work late, I won’t pardon you. I went to the bank one day and one of them said Oga you are laughing, when you were here as our Oga you didn’t use to laugh. I then told them that you can’t be an Oga somewhere and all you will be doing is to keep laugh. We need to inculcate discipline. We need to be firm and decisive. I entered banking with Arab Bank. The bank has metamorphosed into so many names.
I am happy that we have strengthened the Regberegbe system. I have improved what I met as President of the Regberegbe Council. When I came in there was no handing over. So, I had to find a way to run the council effectively. We had to bring in a lot of reforms into the running of the Regberegbe Council with the permission of the Alayeluwa Oba Sikiru Adetona. We cannot do anything without telling him.
Why didn’t we have new Regberegbe join at the last Ojude Oba?
There is no new association this year, because those that came, they came late. We told them. We screen then now, before we take them in. We need to be sure of what work they do. If you are a lady we would like you to be married, to be well-married. You must not depend on anybody. You must have a job you are doing. You must have a wife. You must have a husband. You must be able to take care of your family before you come to Regberegbe. As for the ladies, don’t abandon your husband and come to join Regberegbe. The leaders of the age grade groups for the men are Giwa and for the women is Iyalode. I have said it, there is no plural for Iyalode, there is no plural for Giwa. There is no plural for Otunba. They are different from Chiefs.
