PUSH NEWS 24 INTERNATIONAL: April 14th, 2023
History is made as Amuwo-Odofin, a community in Lagos State officially unveiled an Oba-elect to the public after 1000 years the stool has been vacant.
The Oba-elect, Prince Kazeem Olawale Adewusi from the Erogun family of the Amuwo-Odofin royal family, according to the head of the royal family, Alhaji Saheed Kazeem, was chosen following an intensive consultation of the Ifa oracle.
Despite the nomination of an Oba-Elect since 2022, the indigenous people of Amuwo Odofin LGA still awaits the formal inauguration and ceremonies that accompanies such royal stool from the Lagos State Government.
The aborigines have expressed concerns particularly as the traditional artifacts and historic customs of the people are been daily eroded due to the infliterations of non-indigeneous persons through political interference in the customary activities of Amuwo Odofin LGA.
A call has also been made to the relevant authorities towards addressing these gaps and to ensure that the people are not denied their king and the generic roles of traditional rulers are not eroded.
Push News 24 International reported that …Speaking during the official presentation held at the Amuwo-Odofin royal town hall, Kazeem said, “For over 1000 years, Amuwo-Odofin town has been headed by Baales.
He stated that the Ifa oracle chose Adewusi as the first Oba-elect out of the three contestants, each from a different branch of the Erogun royal family.
From L-R: Head of the family, Amuwo Odofin Royal Family, Lagos State, Alhaji Kazeem Onípélé; General Secretary, Alhaji Saheed Balogun, Oba-elect of Amuwo Odofin Land, Prince Kazeem Olawale Adewusi and Alhaja Sidikat Afinowi during the official presentation of Prince Adewusi to public as the Oba-elect in Amuwo Odofin .
In August 2022, we were at the Lagos state House of Assembly for a matter that concerns the rulership of our town, Amuwo-Odofin, where the leadership of the House advised us to have a king.
They said as much as other neighbouring towns such as Kuje-Amuwo, Abule Ado, Imore, Itire and others would boast of having their kings, we too should not be left out.
This calls for concern; however, when there was an imperative yearning by the native inhabitants of our town to demand a traditional ruler, we then convoked a meeting to discuss the process of choosing a King for the town.”
Speaking further on the mode of selection, General Secretary, Amuwo-Odofin royal family, Alhaji Mutiu Basorun, said the kingmakers consulted the oracle on September 1st, 2022, after which two candidates made it to the final stage.
He said, “All the five ruling houses comprising Ijaoye, Idewu, Omola, Amogun and Erogun of the royal family decided that the emergence of a traditional ruler must be in accordance with the tradition and culture of the land.
The choice of Prince Kazeem Olawale Adewusi was made possible by the intensive consultation of the Ifa Oracle carried out by the town’s kingmakers on September 1st, 2022, after which three contestants initially showed interest in contesting for the vacant royal stool but two of them eventually made it to the final stage.
The three contestants were Prince Habib Adewusi, Prince Toyin Adewusi and Prince Kazeen Olawale Adewusi, all from the Erogun family branch of the Amuwo Odofin royal family.
Adewuusi has the best Ifa corpus hence he was chosen as the Oba-elect. The emphatic revelations and interpretations of the diviners were also acknowledged by the selection committee and emissaries on the mission.
It is therefore worthy of mention that the kingmakers painstakingly and conscientiously went through the process that produced Prince Kazeem Olawale Adewusi as our Oba-elect.
And this has brought about peace, love and mutual understanding, especially among the royal family.
We, however, immensely thank all the inhabitants of our town and other major stakeholders for their patience, love and mutual understanding over the years. It is our hope that the reign of our king would usher in peace, tranquillity and economic boom.”