His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr.) Adeoriyomi Oluwasesan Abdul-Akeem Oyebo, the Obateru of Egbin Kingdom (arpa)
His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr.) Adeoriyomi Oluwasesan Abdul-Akeem Oyebo (arpa) was born into the popular Oyebo Royal family of Egbin, Ijede and Ikorodu, to Late Prince Abdul Rasaq Adebowale Babatunde Oyebo, a merchant/producer of underwears in the 60s and later a building merchant, popularly called ‘Baba Onisimenti’ (Cement dealer), and Late Princess Kehinde Amoke Oyebo (nee Opeifa,) Osolo of Ilogbo Otta and Awujiku (Fowotade) Onikosi Royal family, Isipo Idota Royal family, (Mupin Otta) respectively, an accomplished trader and textile merchant popularly called Iya Alaso (Textile dealer) and Iya Shaki.
He started his early life by living with his grandfather, Alhaji Omoba Fasasi Odutola Oyebo, (alias Baba Orere or Baa ‘Lebe) at Ijede. While in Primary School, he enrolled and graduated from the famous Orisumbare Islamic School, Ijede, in 1973.
After his primary education, the young prince was taken to Otta, Ogun State (his maternal grand-parent’s home) to further his education in both western and Islamic education at Ansar-ul-deen Grammar School, and Late Alfa Olorungbebe Islamic School, both in Otta.
After completing his secondary school education and graduating from the lslamic school and given his flair for wisdom and a better understanding of humanity, he understudied traditional herbal and spiritual practices from his maternal uncles: Chief Karimu Alamu Opeoluwa (Karimu Panti or Baba Osi) and Chief Alani Kasumu, the then Oluwo Ile Nla (Iledi Ogboni) Otta in Ogun State.
Coming from a background that was deeply rooted in business, Oba Oyebo went into trading, selling clothing materials, a business he learnt from his mother. He was in this business for over seven (7) years before going back to further his education. Oba Oyebo obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) certificate in General Arts and Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate in Graphic Design at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Akoka, Lagos.
He later proceeded to United Kingdom (UK) for a post graduate diploma in Applied Arts, at Glasgow College of Art, Glasgow Scotland. After serving his compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), he later got a Master Degree in Industrial Product Design.
He is an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa), a Professional Membership of Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON).
Because of his flair for business, he established his first company, Printarts Communications in 1989, which later metamorphosed into Printarts Limited, a printing and publishing company, in 1993. To gain more experience in the business world, he joined COW-LAD & Associates, as an Associate Director in the same year.
In 1997, he established a construction company known as Brickstech Constructions Ltd. and later diversified in 1999, into the food and beverages industry, with the establishment of Destination Foods & Beverages Ltd.
At the introduction of GSM in Nigeria Telecom lndustry, Kabiyesi and one of his uncle co-founded another company, Oyebo Trading and Technologies Ltd., the company was engaged in the business of importation of GSM accessory from Nokia Communication Europe and China, branded OT&T into Nigeria market, the company has since stopped the importations of this because of the floored of inferiors of this product in the market today. However, in early year 2000, he was invited to set up and run Tulsa Press Ltd., as the founding Managing Director. After putting the company on good footing; he resigned in April 2004 to concentrate on his own businesses and to further his education.
He enrolled for a second degree in Industrial Product Design. The same year, he qualified and was inducted as an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa), a Professional Membership of Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON).
He continued his quest in the business world by establishing his own Advertising and Marketing companies, Exradia Limited, Jullipeph Ventures Limited and Oritoil Petroleum Ltd. These companies are still in existing till date. Some of his companies mentioned above have participated in many national and international promotional campaigns for Federal Government of Nigeria, such as Commonwealth Head of Government meeting held in Nigeria (CHOGOM 2003), African Union (AU) meeting, ECOWAS Trade Fair (2005), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) (2005), Africa Fertilizer Summit (2006), Africa / South America Summit, Re-branding of Nigeria Image (Nigeria the Hearth of Africa Projects), The Country Review Team (CTR) The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) NEPAD Meeting (2008), Production, Printing and supply of Media and National Campaign/Publicity Materials on Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), Swine Flu, Swine Flu, Roll Back Malaria, etc.
After his installation as Obateru of Egbin Kingdom, his flair for business continued with the birth of another line of businesses; Brichstech Dredging Ltd, a sister company to Brickstech Constructions Limited, which is in partnership with some Chinese Nationals to import a new sand dredging machine launched into Egbin lagoon in 2014, for the purpose of dredging and stockpiling activities to support the civil and building constructions work of Brickstech Constructions Limited. Also, Kabiyesi recently established a new alternative Power Company, African (Best Quality) Solar Power Company Limited, in partnership with his Chinese friends, representing a Solar Power Company in Germany and China in the entire continent of Africa.
In the recent time, he has also ventured into food, farming and he’s working on establishing a resort in Egbin to further develop his Kingdom’s tourism.
His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr.) Adeoriyomi Oluwasesan Abdul-Akeem Oyebo was selected by the family and was elected by the Kingmakers in Egbin Kingdom for the throne of his forefathers on the 4th of April, 1999 and was crowned as the Obateru of Egbin Kingdom, on the 22nd of April, 2010. Thus, occupying the exalted position of the Spiritual and Traditional leader of Egbin Royal Kingdom.
Oba Oyebo, a professional artist, great entrepreneur and philanthropist of note with records of touching lives was conferred with a Degree Certificate of Doctor of Arts in Public Leadership, Peace and Community Leadership Honoris Causa of the European-American University in August, 2014.
Kabiyesi, in 2021, established the first Primary School in Egbin Kingdom, where over 500 pupils in both Nursery and Primary Schools, were given free education and were provided with free books, uniforms and other learning materials. He is paying over twenty teachers that are looking after the kids. The school has recently been taking over by the Lagos State Government.
Obateru of Egbin Kingdom is happily married to Olori Tolulope Titilayo Oyebo, Olori Odunola Shakirat Oyebo, the mother of his Aremo, Aremo Abdul-Rasaq Adediran Sangosanya Oyebo and Olori Adetokunbo Risikat Oyebo, the mother of the second child (Beere) Hassanat Omokehinde Amoke Oyebo and the newly-born triplets.
Despite his sound entrepreneurship skills, vast knowledge through education and travels and his native and traditional knowledge and history, Oba Oyebo’s quest for further knowledge made him a registered reader of National Archive and Records, Quay Garden, London, United Kingdom and the Lagos State Records and Archive Bureau (LASRAB.)
In this interview with Kunle Adelabu, Reporter – in – Chief/Publisher, THE IMPACT newspaper, he bore his mind on his travail in 2013 that led to his detention for more than a month and subsequent appearance in court where he was found not guilty of the charge, his suit against the police, experience and relationship with the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs and the Ikorodu Chieftaincy Committee, his reclassification as a First Class monarch in the state, intervention in education, Egbin’s history, cultural and traditional heritage, his magnificent palace that is facing the lagoon and plans for tourism development of Egbin among others. Excerpts:
THE IMPACT: Thanks for the opportunity to have this interview session with you Sir. But before going into developmental and other issues, let us go back to some years back, to around 2013 or so when you were allegedly arrested. It was a very serious issue which I covered then while I was with another media organization….(cuts in).
Obateru: Kunle, I was not arrested, nobody arrested me. It was precisely on 22 of April, 2013. It was a very good morning and week, in a very good month and year, because all that happened to me from the beginning of that year until the fateful day, were good things. I was already setting out with my wife, Olori Odunola Shakirat, in our Mercedes Benz 230 Sedan. We were already in the car going to Daily Newswatch magazine office in Marina, Lagos, to celebrate and grant an interview over the purchase of the magazine by Jimoh Ibrahim and the editor wanted me to come down to their office to see what they were doing there. If you can remember that around that time, Jimoh Ibrahim bought over some moribund organisations and tried to resuscitate them. I was on my way there to celebrate with them and probably grant them an interview. My appointment was scheduled for 12pm and we planned to leave home by 10am. We were about to drive out of the compound when a police vehicle brought in the then Area N Commander, Mr Markus Omuyadun. He came in like a friend and I called him ‘egbon’ (brother), as I usually referred to him because he is an older fellow and we exchanged pleasantries. Thereafter, he told me that he came to see me and I asked him to reschedule the appointment, but he insisted and I had to honour his request and we moved into a sitting room where Olori Odunola was living. During our discussion, he said that he had checked on me before, but learnt that I travelled to Ghana which I confirmed to him and told him that I just came back yesterday (April 21, 2013). He then told me that there was a crisis in Mowo Nla a few days ago which I told him that I had discussed about the issue of Mowo – Nla and Igbokuta with him which involved some officers from MOPOL 22 and which I had also written to the Governor about it. I, thereafter, asked him how the crisis erupted there but he responded that he didn’t even know how it happened. I later asked him what he wanted from me on the matter and he responded that he had already made his report to the then Commissioner of Police, CP Manko. He added that the
CP asked him if there is any royal father in the axis and he had already told him that from the whole of Itamaga down to Ijede and Egbin, there is only one royal father which is Obateru. He then said that CP is requesting for my presence on the matter which I obliged and told him that I would go and see him after my appointment at the Daily Newswatch. I said that without knowing that they had their plan and that it was a setup. I got to Marina around 12pm and finished my interview around 3pm and drove down to the office of the CP, State Command in Ikeja. The Area Commander, Markus, was already there waiting for me. I went there as a respectable royal father without any thought that anything would happen. That was why I said that I was not arrested. I actually drove myself there with my wife, police orderly and my driver. On getting there, I was ushered into the office of the CP, but we met some people with him and he asked us to go straight to his office. I thought that I had a very good relationship with the CP because earlier that year, around January and February, I was in the United States of America (USA) and a report got to me that some guys had fraudulently collected a Camry from my brother in-law, Kamoru Aridegbe. He was actually tricked by the fraudsters that they wanted to buy the vehicle from him and they eventually made away with the vehicle without paying a dime and I promised to take up the matter as soon as I get back to Nigeria. As soon as I returned to Nigeria, I went straight to the CP to report the matter and we got the vehicle back within two months. So, I had that belief that the relationship was still there and that was the reason he ushered me into his office without him on the seat. I sat down there with my wife and Personal Assistant. It was thereafter that some policemen and the CP joined us. After greeting each other on a friendly level, the CP asked me if there was any time that I wrote a petition to the Governor and the Attorney General of Lagos State over Mowo Nla, Igbokuta and the disturbances of landgrabbers and police and I answered in affirmative. I still have copies of the letter to the Governor which I copied to the Commissioner for Local Government & Chieftaincy and he responded back to me, as well as the Attorney General who also replied to the letter. But due to the government bureaucracy, they didn’t act on time. He, thereafter, told me that somebody wrote a petition against me which I requested to see. At that moment, my Olori told me our visit to the State Command may be a trap which I disputed and after that, the CP enquired to know who spoke and I answered that it was my wife and he asked her to leave his office. I respectfully told her to go outside and wait for me confidently. After that, I requested again for the said petition but he told me to follow one OC XSquad, Kola Okunola whom I met recently in Offa. He was jittery when he saw me. That is a different story. I followed the officer to his office who asked me to join another officer, one
Supol Alli, now late. It was actually a long story. It was at the Alli’s office that I was shown the petition and I told him that I have a copy of the petition which I am also going to give you (our reporter). He then asked me to read the petition further to a paragraph that said the hoodlums that went to fight in Mowo Nla left my palace and I asked him how that would have happened? I was not in Nigeria when the fight took place. I think that they fought on either 19th or 20th and I was on a trip to Ghana. He then told me to write a statement but I asked why I should do that, but told me to just write. I tried calling my lawyer but unfortunately, I was unable to reach him on time, I had to write that I did not know anything about the issue. He, thereafter, asked me to go and by the time I got downstairs from Supol Kola Okunola’s office, a warrant of arrest was already waiting for me at the desk. It was like I was tricked to walk down myself to the Lion’s den. That was how I spent a night at the State Command and it eventually 17 days in the Command. It happened on a Tuesday, and I was confident that in another two days, the State Council meeting of Obas and Chiefs would be held in Alausa and at least, my issue would be mentioned. True to God, the issue was mentioned but nothing happened. The meeting sent a 12 – man delegation to the Oba of Lagos to brief him about what happened to me. Unknown to us, we had added petrol to the fire. The Oba was telling my Personal Assistant if he knew what I was doing at night whenever he leaves office at the close of work. Another Kabiyesi, Oloworo, may the blessing of the Lord continue to be with him, responded to what Oba of Lagos said in Yoruba language that, “Ti egun ba gun Omo Awo lese, ese Ogberi lati maa nyo” (a monarch should not be treated like an ordinary person). The Council could not do anything, so also was the Governor, Commissioner and the Chairman in my LCDA. That made me spend 17 days in the State Command. We used all our connections; I sent people to Baba Obasanjo in Abeokuta and we also met with the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) and it was the intervention of the IGP then, who sent a team from Abuja and the matter was taken to the court the next day. We got to the Court, we were in court since 10am but the Magistrate could not come out until around 2pm. I was receiving calls from other Obas who were insisting that I did nothing wrong. Even, the IPO report exonerated me. I thank God because all their efforts to break me did not work. After the 17th day, we were asked to be taken to the Medium Prison in Kirikiri, that is myself and two of my chiefs. However, my chiefs were not arrested the same day that I was arrested. On the seventh day of my arrest, Markus Umuiyadun, still went back to my community to ransack it and he arrested over 24 people with plastic chairs, spoons and beers from a beer parlour by the lagoon named ‘Nigeria’. He also arrested Egun people using his power, but where is he today? There is an adage that says, ’if you don’t leave the government uniform, it will definitely leave you”. It is in the process of arresting
people in my community that two of my chiefs were arrested and we were charged together. That was how we started the battle. We went to the High Court to seek my bail and that of my people. We were granted bail after about 30 days, but before the bail could be eventually granted, we spent 35 days in Kirikiri. I was released on bail and when I came out, I sought the release of my chiefs. That took me another 10 days to perfect. It was after I got them released that we now faced the suit properly. Actually, I felt sick while in detention and that was where I got the issue of my diabetes affecting me. I was taken to the hospital and in the cause of going to the court, the police denied that I was sick, but I was taken to the Police Hospital at Ikeja during my sickness and I have the card with me that I was registered with as a patient. I suffered all that but Alhamdulillah. The case was decided at the Magistrate Court where it was declared that my chiefs and l knew nothing about the matter we were arrested for. It was the handiwork of the evil ones among us in this society.
THE IMPACT: Sir, you said that the matter was decided at the Magistrate Court, where you were exonerated of the charge, did you seek redress?
Obateru: Well, I was coming to that. After the case was decided at the Magistrate Court that I knew nothing based on the DPP advice, eventually, I sought a redress at the Federal High Court before Justice Akpan. The police came only once and did not show up again despite the fact that the matter lasted for almost a year. The judge eventually ruled that I should be paid 5 Million as damages and that the police should do publications in two national dailies apologizing for what they did to me. The payment has not been made till today and we have sued the police again for not complying with the directive of the court. One of my chiefs was awarded N500, 000 and the police should also apologize in one national daily. That has not been done as well.
THE IMPACT: What happened at the State Council of Obas and Chiefs after your release?
Obateru: Well, I was shocked and it was then that I realized that I was in the midst of enemies. I remember vividly, if you can recalled that I said that the beginning of 2013 was good for me till the day that my travails started. It was in April 2013 that the government of Lagos State decided to send a letter to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs that the approval for my reclassification has been granted by the executive council and therefore, it was forwarded to the State Council of Obas for ratification. Then, the Director, Kunle Adebowale, told me that he has not seen a situation where an Oba would be sitting on the decision of a fellow colleague, but I told him that it didn’t not matter and that I am able and capable of handling the matter. I actually wrote to the government that I did not belong to a particular class that I was placed in, then referencing necessary laws. I will give you a copy of the letter that I wrote to the government and I stood by it for almost three years. I became an Oba in April 2010 and by October same year, I had written a letter to the Governor that that was not my rightful position. Within three years, my request was approved. It was the approval that did not go down well with some of our Obas in Ikorodu Division mean. That was what made them go the way they went. They wanted to destroy me, destroy the kingdom. They wanted to destroy the kingdom, but God Almighty Allah will not make that happen. Nobody can take the Egbin Kingdom and all its heritage. It was at a meeting of April 23, 2013, that I was cautioned but I did not realize it fully then not until this year.
In April 2013, we were at the State Council and it was on the agenda that the state excos had approved the reclassification of Obateru of Egbin and upgraded some other Obas. Other Obas that were affected did not have any issue in their areas except myself that had issues with my Ikorodu people because of what we are. It was after the meeting that an elderly Oba warned me as a son to be careful. He said that the Obas in your division do not like you because you have brought up issues on your reclassification and has been approved. He warned me not to eat or drink at any Oba’s palace, but I said to myself that no one can stop me from drinking or eating in the palace of Oba Salaudeen Oyefusi (now late) because he is my father and I am his blood. His parents and my grandparents were related. I am a member of the Rademo Ruling House. Of course, I know some other Obas that have given me open confrontation in our division over my Obaship and our territory. I know those ones but Oba Salaudeen Oyefusi did not belong to that class. I did not know that the old man could see beyond what I have not seen. That was my last meeting before my incarceration in May. They thought that my arraignment will not make me come back as Oba of Egbin, but here we are today. That was what happened.
THE IMPACT: The reclassification was eventually done by the Lagos State Government, from which position to what position were you reclassified, and what year was that Sir?
Obateru: Well, I got my letter officially, I think in 2015. They came here (his palace) to present it to me….(cuts in)
THE IMPACT: From what category to what Sir?
Obateru: As at the time that, the executive council of the state government approved my installation as an Oba in 2008, I have publications that I will give to you that listed my name among the First Class Obas in Lagos State and some people reversed that. It was the reversal that made me wrote a letter that the present position of the Obateru of Egbin was not what it was then and it must be changed. The Commissioner asked me to write the letter which I did, stating the history there and who we are and I backed it up with law that say that any existing traditional institution, especially Obaship that has been there before independence is automatically a First Class Oba. That is the law. Unfortunately, some people are saying that it is Baale of Egbin. This is a town that presented about five crowns to the tribunal of enquiry and pictures of former Obas. A community with blue blood and whose founder was a king in Ijebu Ode – the Awujale. Such can never be under any other Oba, irrespective of the fact that the British documents said that they are squatters and tenants. This is a traditional ruler that other Obas do bow for and pay homage to and I experienced that even before my installation (as Obateru of Egbin) when there was interregnum. So, I made my claims known to the government and it was approved and it became a matter of jealousy. Recently, a Kabiyesi was saying that he was the one that moved the motion for the crowning of Oba Egbin at the Ikorodu Chieftaincy Committee (laughter). I was elected April 4, 1999, that was about 23 years ago and somebody was talking about 13 years ago. I was not elected as a Baale but as an Oba. It means that the stool has been there before my emergence. To buttress my point, my people in Egbin went to Raji Rasaki Tribunal of Enquiry on Obaship in Lagos and the report of the tribunal came out in 1995 and four years after, I was elected as the Obateru of Egbin, though, I didn’t get to the throne until 11 years after, which is 2010. I have it on record; my grandfather went to the Kalio Enquiry in the 50s, Adeyinka Moga Enquiry in 1977 or 1978 and Justice W. Ajao Oshodi Enquiry of 1991, which recommended the restoration of the Obaship of Egbin. Instead of leaving history the way it was, they are trying to manipulate and change things, but the God Lord will not allow them. I know their plan for Egbin, but they will not succeed. It is a dog that wails the tail and not the other way round. That was what happened on my reclassification. I can give you Lagos State diary that was done in the 90s before my selection that listed Obateru of Egbin even before some Obas in this division. They are just looking for a way to pull down the town, the throne and myself. Their intention in 2013 was to kill me. If they kill me, do they believe that another Obateru will not rise from Egbin. It was the good God that said I should become the Obateru of Egbin. Today, I am His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa (Oba) Dr Adeoriyomi Oluwasesan AbdulHakeem Oyebo, the Obateru of Egbin, a First Class member of the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
THE IMPACT: Sir, I need you to confirm that the Awujale of Ijebu Ode and Dagburewe of Idowa wrote to the Lagos State Government confirming your royal blood which necessitated your reclassification along with other Obas that were also upgraded….(cuts in)
Obateru: There is always a difference between day and night, while night is always dark, there is always light during the day. I wrote a letter six months after my installation seeking for reclassification and not upgrading. I did not go to any upgrading committee like some Obas did, mine was reclassification, that is, return me back to my rightful position where I belong. I did not meet anyone to assist me in my reclassification. What I did was reclassification and not upgrading like some Obas did. They are two different things which mean that I requested that I should be placed in the rightful position where I belong.
THE IMPACT: My question is actually that, you should confirm if representation was sent by the Awujale of Ijebuland and Dagburewe of Idowa to the Lagos State Government,to buttress your….(cuts in)
Obateru: Of course, I have proof here. I have a copy of a letter from the Dagburewe of Idowa supporting my claim. In fact, I wrote in one of my letters that if there is any Class above the First Class, probably a Special Class, that I should be considered for such because Egbin is not just a town founded by a man that came from nowhere, but a town founded by a King with a crown. We still have the crown at home. That is the difference between Egbin and many other towns. Of course, Dagburewe and Awujale wrote letters and I have copies of these letters. Actually, in Ijebu, we know our positions. These days, everybody claims that they came from Ile Ife, but where are their quarters in Ile Ife? Who is their father in Ile Ife? Because they said that Ile Ife is the cradle of Yorubaland, people just lay claim to what is not real. If you go to Ijebu Ode, ask Awujale who is Obateru, Baba will tell his domain in Ijebu. It was in 1892 that our part of Lagos State was ceded to the Queen of England by the Awujale and not by anybody.
THE IMPACT: 13 years after your coronation, Egbin has moved up, how have you been able to bring so much development despite the fact that there is no more land because a vast part of the land was allotted to the Egbin Thermal Station?
Obateru: My dear brother, there are still lands. The lands on which the Egbin Thermal Station formerly Lagos Power Plant was built are still Egbinland. All the houses within that premises are on Egbin land. So, they are part and parcel of Egbin. The 623 hectares of land acquired by the Federal Government are part of Egbin land. That is why the project is named Egbin Thermal Station, after the town that donated the land for the purpose and not after any other community around here. When we talk in terms of development, whatever belongs to my forefathers also belongs to me and Egbin. We have evidence and proof, up to the Supreme Court in 1911 and 1913. In the course of the proceedings, the Defendant then was Abowa of Agbowa, Baale of Agbowa, Odumeru and Dagburewe of Idowa. They were the Defendants over the land and they won the matter. It was mentioned in the matter by the Abowa of Agbowa that the authority over the land belonged to Agbowa and Egbin by Ijede. What other evidence do you want? I am talking about the lands of Igbokuta to the Jagemo and Oko Ito and other areas. Obateru has a traditional authority over those lands. I have evidence here that even listed all the Obas that have ever been in Lagos State and Obateru is one of them. I am talking about what has happened before the independence and the creation of Lagos State. So, when you are talking about development, land is not an issue. We have some communities in the world that are not even up to a local government in Lagos that are making waves. There is Switzerland and other Islands around the world that their GDPs are superb compared with some of these big nations of the world that we all know. I want you to do your research, it was the establishment of the Lagos Thermal Station in Egbin, the present Egbin PLC, that brought about development in major areas attached to Ikorodu Division. I can tell you up to around 1987, you know where we used to enter vehicles at Ita Elewa in Ikorodu and that is where we boarded vehicles to Ijede. People come from all parts of the world to board vehicles at Ita – Elewa to Ijede. Today, Ikorodu has developed. Egbin can lay claim to Egbin Power PLC in terms of corporate organization, Nigeria gas company which is a subsidiary of NNPC, Transmission Company of Nigeria is in Egbin all these on our land. The first Independent Power Project was established in Egbin. So, these are industrial developments that happened about 40 years ago and not all these minor businesses.
Egbin used to have a secondary school on this land, a Community Secondary School which was moved politically to Ijede and it was renamed Luwasa High School. There used to be a Ceramic company owned by an individual in Egbin which I have bought over because it has been moribund. That is where I am using as the temporary site of Egbin Primary School. The government of Babatunde Fashola also built a Youth Centre in Egbin but our people at the other end tried to manoeuvre it. It is only moveable things that can be stolen. Can you steal a house and put it inside your pocket? It’s not done. It is supposed to be another recreational centre for the youths. You must also note that there is no recreational facility that you are looking for in this world that is not in the Egbin Power PLC. They are there in the Club House. The only thing that we are yet to have and which I am working towards is developing the water that God has given us into a recreational facility and I am still working on. It is going to be a recreational centre making use of the water that God has blessed us with, I bet you, give me another 12 months to this time, you will see changes at the waterfront. I have designs from Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America and Dubai, which we are working on.
The school that I started last year, the government has taken over it and they are continuing with the construction of the school. I give that glory to my Governor, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo – Olu. I give it to him and I am sure that before the end of this year, he will come around to commission the school and the new palace for my community.
THE IMPACT: Congratulations on that Sir. In the course of your submission, you made reference to the community youth centre that was built some years which was destroyed even before its commissioning and now abandoned, what are you doing about the state….(cut in)
Obateru: It wasn’t commissioned. When they were building that centre, I wasn’t here as a King, but out there as an Egbin indigene, but I have it on record that the state government requested from the Ijede Local Council Development Authority that they needed a land to build the centre on and our people in Ijede said that there was no land. The then Council Chairman, late Chief Mrs Fausat Gbadebo, thereafter, met the regent of Egbin then, Otunba Adekunle Bello, that they needed land for the purpose and the man in his wisdom asked the Chairman to make it formal and the letter was written to the community requesting for the land for the building of a youth centre. My community, thereafter, wrote another letter granting them the land. Those records are on papers. Then, in 2008 when they wanted to start the construction of the project, we just saw it on the project board naming the place Ipakan Youth Centre, is it Ipakan that donated the land or Egbin? Sometime along the line, one other Chairman was saying that they should name the centre after the Alajede of Ijede, when Obateru was already in the making, that led to our writing of a petition to the government then, asking why the land that was obtained from us was being named after another person, against the initial agreement? Our people tried requesting for a formal letter before the release of the land. This day, if I am giving my land to the Lagos State Government, there will be a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU); a concrete document. Our people here are trying to manipulate the government. They changed files in Alausa. I met with the former Commissioner for Youth and Sports. Prince Adeniji Adele and he told me that he didn’t really know what happened and that the project was meant for Egbin. We tried to stop that project that time but because of the interest that we have for development, we told the government that they should go ahead with the development but that we were opposed to the naming of that place with what they have proposed. Unfortunately, the project was completed, but our people were still manipulating and using every power to take what does not belong to them. That was why the state government was unable to commission the project before thunder struck and destroyed the project. The land on which the project was built and some other areas there are subject of litigation in the Supreme Court. I still believe that what belongs to me and Egbin, can never be taken away from us. That is about the Youth Centre and I will avail you with necessary papers which are evidence of their manipulations, but they will never succeed.
THE IMPACT: Sir, you mentioned earlier that the state government has taken over the community schools that you started, what should people be expecting from you Sir, and your Oloris, in respect of your scholarship and bursary schemes to students?
Obateru: As long as I still live and I have my God Almighty behind me and I will always have Him anyways, that is going to be a continuous exercise. The school that we established in 2021, was created as free education for all. There was no need for the pupils to pay school fee or buy uniform, sandal and writing materials, we gave them all free because I noticed that majority of children around here are not going to school and those that are going, the stress that they went through from Egbin to get to their schools and the nearest one is outskirt Ijede which is Ahmmaddiyyah and the other one, CMS, are miles away. That alone discourages them. More so, all the means of livelihood by parents of those children have been taken away from them, so the children do not have the opportunity of going to school. That was what informed the reason for making the school free at all levels. There is one meal a day for them. The teachers employed were paid by God through me. I know the value of education, though, I was not meant to go to school, but to learn a trade as instructed by my parents which I did. I follow suit with all that they required of me, but eventually, I found myself one way or the other at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and today, education has added a lot of value to my life and that is why I have been trying to make sure that I impacted education in the life of our people. That is why I am giving a scholarship but that is not enough. The scholarships that I am giving now are at the level of the primary school to about 500 pupils. Even with the government take over, the premises that they are using is still mine, the desks, tables and books that they are using are also mine. And when the government takes over the school fully, I will still be making my contributions to the school. It is a continuous thing and I will continue to do it for the rest of my life. Education is knowledge and knowledge is power.
THE IMPACT: Alaiyeluwa Sir, you are known with interests in various investments, and you referenced the development of the lagoon front which is directly in front of your castle, what should we be expecting in the next 12 months?
Obateru: You should be expecting a resort, at least a mini – resort where people can come around, sit, play and enjoy themselves. It is going to be a place where you can relax. I don’t think that we have any of such in Ikorodu Division despite the blessings of God with water. So, I am transforming it. We should expect a place where people can come around during Easter and other days. It happened during the last Easter when two ladies drove their children and friends with food and drinks in their vehicle, looking for a resort in Ipakan, but I told them that there is no Ipakan here. Ipakan is gone and gone forever. That place that they are calling Ipakan is NEPA Resettlement Centre, Egbin, with proofs and evidence. I told the ladies that what I have here is my sand fill project but not a resort and I offered them the opportunity to spend time at my palace waterfront because they drove down all the way from Ikorodu and I didn’t want them to go back just like that. They were here and they enjoyed it. They said to me after their stay that, Kabiyesi, they would enjoy it if I can do something about where people can come and relax and I promised them that come next year Easter, they will have a sandfill where there will be tents for them to enjoy themselves. Already, I have started with a trailer load of granite to barricade the place for us to be able to execute our plans without any interference. You can see that we have a small shopping mall at the entrance of the palace. When you have beautiful things outside, it tells you that there will be more beautiful things inside. You can also see what we have done with the driveway into the palace gate. You will see the way that we have nurtured flowers even around the palace and I am going to replicate that within the Egbin community, so that when you are coming into Egbin, you know that you are coming into a beautiful town.
THE IMPACT: Sir, you are also into farming, what do you want to achieve with that?
Obateru: All the things that I am doing are some of the things that I have passed through in life when I was much younger. When I was between the age of 5 and 12 years, I was living with my grandfather who had about three ventures. He was into fishery, kerosene and had a farm. In the morning before we go to school, we would assist him in bringing fishes from the boat and thereafter, fetch water from the Odoro stream and after which we would go to the farm to collect some things, probably firewood. I still have pictures of my father on his farm. The farm is one of the farms that were acquired (for Egbin Thermal Station). They paid him for the crop. That gave me the idea of what farming is. In our history, Egbin people are not fishermen, they are farmers. I still met my grandfather rearing goats, sheep and hens and I know some of my uncles that are doing the same like Ashafa Owolewa who was known all over for rearing of goats and all that. That shows that our people are not really fish farmers, but arable farmers and animal rearers. These are some of the things that made me go into farming. More so, because of my journey after I became an Oba. I met some Chinese expatriates with whom I was doing some businesses together like sand mining. I have been in the construction business before I became an Oba which is over 20 years and I have a construction company – Brickstech Constructions Limited. ⁵hpWhen I became an Oba, I met them and asked what kind of job they are doing and they told me that it was manual sand mining and I told them that I wanted to bring in technology to handle the mining and they granted me. That was how I started the business. Because of the interest I have in farming, my Chinese partners introduced me to it. In addition, I had a friend in Abuja, who told me that I can access some loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if I am into farming. Since it is an idea that I have had before and something that I have been dreaming of, I quickly went into it with a company that has been registered since 2002, Destination Foods and Beverages. So, we are just applying what we had before into the new business idea coming our way. We have restaurants in the GRA Ikeja and on the Island. The idea is that, whatever that we are producing on the farm, we will be supplying our restaurants and we will be making more money. We are also going to be selling some of the produce locally while the rest will be for export.
THE IMPACT: Looking at the Obateru castle situated by the Egbin Thermal Station and facing the lagoon and with other features that makes the whole area high tourism potentials, couple with the fact that you are planning a waterfront facility, Sir, what is your plan for the tourism development of Egbin?
Obateru: Like I told you earlier, just name the kind of sports that is not available within the Egbin Thermal residential area except Polo. We are planning to have a golf course, because we have the land already. The palace itself, apart from the block wall used in constructing it, every other thing is crafted. They are made by hand and not Chinese stuff. They are all produced in the palace here. We have a studio in which we produce them gradually. I tell you, I have a collection of over 250 paintings that will be hung all over the palace for the people to see. We have a lot of sculptural works like the ‘Iyemoja’ (river goddess) that is facing the lagoon. Some people are even coming there to pray. We are still working on the symbol of Obateru himself which is a bird. ‘Omo Areye, a rooko, ka to roko, eye ti fo lo’ (singing Obateru’s song of praise). I am working on it and it should be completed in the next few weeks. We are going to mount it somewhere within the palace and we are going to have a waterfall around it. We are also planning to have a studio where we can teach upcoming artists and that will be handled by me and my other junior colleagues like Toyin Aroyewun’s son, who is also an artist like me. We will be training our students and give them ideas about what art is. ‘Art is word; word is art; God is the creator, creation is human being and artist is a creator and what we create is the art’. If an artist does not design, an engineer cannot do anything. It is the artist that adds aesthetic value. I want to use the studio to tell our people in this part of the world and in our area, that this is what life is all about.
THE IMPACT: What are the features of this castle?
Obateru: We will go there for you to see everything. We have a swimming pool. There are about 7 sitting rooms, 2 palace halls, 12 guest rooms, 7 other private rooms for my family and an open space for parties. There is a walkway for early morning exercise. Those are some of the things that I have been dreaming of and thank God Almighty, that they are now reality.
THE IMPACT: What about Museum and Library?
Obateru: Oh my God! If I open my library for you, you will marvel, just tell me the book name and author; just tell me the name of the best sellers, you will find them all in the library. They are there already. People come here to read and borrow books from me but they don’t return them. I have books on business world, Medicine, Culture, Religion and others, just to name it. I have a book on Taye Solarin beside my bed that I am reading to try and find a guide to what I am writing about 22nd of May, 2013. I have very good books that are definitely readers’ delight. I have foreign books that will tell you how to do your business and how people breakthrough in the world. I have books on IBM and Schlumberger, one of the biggest oil exploration companies in the world. There are a lot of books for the up and coming ones to engage with so that they don’t waste their time doing ‘yahoo yahoo’. Our people should develop their own business ideas. Schlumberger was started by two brothers, one read Electronics while the other read Physics. Today, the company is all over the world. There is no race in the world that they have not employed and that is one of my dreams too. I want people to buy into my businesses because I don’t want them to die. I have been encouraging my younger ones, youths, my families and siblings to buy into my business so that they will not die. I want my business to be as great as some of the greatest ones in the world. Since we are still living, we have to continue to move on and associate with other companies and business ideas.
THE IMPACT: Every Kingdom must have its culture and tradition, just few days back, we had the ‘Isese’ (Cultural) Day which is being celebrated all over the Southwestern part of the country annually. What can you tell us about the culture and tradition that really made Egbin what it is today and how are you packaging them for tourism?
Obateru: Tourism is a huge business and if one does not have the financial backing, it’s always very difficult. For this year’s ‘Isese’, we appeased between 15 and 16 deities in the Egbin community and in the palace, we have virtually almost everything, except for about six that are not in the palace. The Irele (conclave) Osugbo, Awopa and others are not in the palace, but in my own palace in Egbin, we have Kerekere and always live with the King. It’s a symbol of Awopa. Anytime that they are going to meet at the Irele, they must come here in the morning first. Ota Gboroworo Ebiti Ele, (water goddess) that is the number two deity in Egbin can never be in the palace because it stays and lives by the water. Its shrine is by the water. We have Alele, which is the founder’s deity. We have Olokun, Olosa, Remireke, Eluku, Agemo, Pako, Jigbo, Obatala and, Obaluwaye. There is even one in this palace, Orisha Alafia, it is in the palace. That is the Orisha that I go to every morning and throw Kola to ask about the day. I must go there every day, that is the Orisha that we worship first before any other one. It is the Orisha that will lead you to the other ones that you have to appease for the day like Ogun (god of iron). We have two Oguns in this palace. There is Ogun Onduro (god of iron that you worship standing) and Ogun Onjoko (god of iron that you observe while sitting). Ogun Onjoko comprises seven other Oguns – Ogun Alara, Ajero, Onigbajamo, Gbenagbena, Ona etc. There are also deities like Obaluwaye, Obatala, Ososhi, Osun, Oke, Omitu, Ibeji, Sango, Oya and many others in the palace. I have a deity that communicates and you will hear whatever that it is saying in this palace. How many do you want to count? Actually, I will say that in Egbin, we are typical traditionalists, but you can also hear the sound of call to prayer from a Mosque. We also have a very big Catholic Church, if not the biggest in the whole of Ikorodu Division. We have other Churches too, but our tradition and culture are still ours. So, we are making every effort to make sure that we promote them. I will say that a day will not pass that we would not worship a deity in Egbin. You have experienced one today, you can see what we did when the Osugbo chieftains came back with a four pair kola which were presented to me as the spiritual and the traditional head of Egbin Kingdom , to confirm whether what they have done in their conclave is good or not. They brought the kola which I broke and threw according to the traditional rites which gave male and female signs which is a good omen for the community, because there is nowhere in the world that you will find men without women. The kola spoke positively, and if it speaks otherwise, we can probe further to know the exact issue and what to do. Every month from December 15, we usually start our new year in Egbin. We usually watch the lagoon when its water is very clear and salty, once we notice that, we know that it’s time for us to appease Ota with white ram. We do that between December 15 and January 15 and we celebrate that till February. The month of March is usually for Erena, which is the great movement of our forefathers from Ijebu Ode to Idowa. That is the great movement of Dagburewe of Idowa. Tell me how many Kings in Yorubaland that their movement is celebrated in the Yoruba calendar? That tells you that the throne is an agelong heritage. The month of August which we are in, is for Ogun. If you worship Ogun in the month of August with a cow or cock , you will see how God Almighty will answer your prayers.
