Ikeja Oba-elect Pleads with Sanwo-Olu, Seeks Installation

Having lived with the title of Oba-elect for five years, monarch-designate of Ikeja community in Lagos, Prince Samsondeen Adeleye, has said it was time for the state government to consider his plight and install him as the Oba.

Adeleye, who spoke with journalists in his Ikeja residence on Thursday, urged the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to, in the spirit of justice attached to the June 12 celebration, grant him justice by calling for the necessary files relating to his long-anticipated installation.

Welcoming the new governor, Adeleye said: “Your Excellency should not allow my situation to go the way of the annulled June 12 presidential election.

“I was elected the Oba by all the living kingmakers in December 2014 after due consultation with the Ifa oracle and after all traditional rites had been performed.

“The kingmakers who were then led by the former state Deputy Governor, late Chief Rafiu Jafojo, called for entries from the next Ruling House, which is Oshoja, and I was the only person who indicated interest through a letter to the body of kingmakers.

“After my emergence, the Ikeja Local Government Authorities were duly informed, and that was about five years ago. Up till date, we have been waiting for the state government to give approval for my installation.

“We have written many letters to past governors all to no avail. But I am pleading that the new governor should help us get justice in Ikeja.”

Adeleye thanked the governor for appointing an Ikeja indigene, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, as his Chief of Staff, saying: “We have absolute confidence in his ability to deliver.”

He also commended the governor on the appointment of Alhaji Hakeem Muri-Okunola as the Head of Service, describing him as “a thorough-bred public servant who holds the traditional institution in high esteem.”

Meanwhile, prominent leaders in Ikeja community have also in a statement appealed to Sanwo-Olu to give Ikeja an Oba, after a five-year interregnum.

The leaders, under the aegis of Gbobaniyi Royal Association of Ikejaland, in a statement by its President, Chief Babatunde Alaran, and Secretary, Mr. Olugbenga Soremi, said since the last Olu of Ikeja, Oba Rauf Matemi, Amore I, passed away in October 2014, the town had been under a regency “which does not augur well for the status of the Lagos State capital.”

The elite group, which also congratulated Sanwo-Olu on his electoral victory and inauguration, urged him to “speedily address the issue in the interest of progress and tranquility in Ikeja.”