High Chief Babatunde Alliu Ogunmuyiwa is the Odofin Alajede of Ijede Kingdom in Ijede Local Council Development Area of Ikorodu Division, Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria. The revered traditional chief, who also serves as the Secretary/Spokesperson of the Alajede Chiefs, recently spoke with THE IMPACT team in the presence of other Chiefs: High Chief Alliu Musediq, Regent/Olisa of Ijede, High Chief Rasaq Oyebanjo, the Aro of Ijede and High Chief Aba Ajanaku, the Otunba of Ijede.
Our team, which included the Publisher/Reporter – in – Chief, Kunle Adelabu and Mariam Akinloye, engaged the Odofin of Ijede on the new state of the Alajede palace, the Alajede stool, state of the Odoro spring and the annual Alajede Day among others. Excerpts:
THE IMPACT: I was here in 2016 to interview Alajede Chiefs concerning the dilapidated state of the Alajede palace, but today, the palace has taken a new shape, what brought about the facelifts?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: First and foremost, we have to thank the Eledumare who is the custodian of heaven and earth. Secondly, we have to thank concerned people of Ijede, Egbin Power PLC, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Hon. Awesu, Rencon Nigeria Limited, Carpenter Association and others for their own contributions as well.
THE IMPACT: What about the local government. I could recall that in 2016, it was stated that several letters were written to the council regarding repair of the palace but that there was no response. What has been the impact of the council on the ongoing rehabilitation of the palace?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: We’ll not say our local government has not contributed anything. During the time of Alhaji Fathiu Salisu, he contributed and this new administration under Hon. Motunrayo Alogba, she has pledged to make contribution and has since fulfilled part of the pledge and we are still expecting more from her. I want to believe she is going to do that soon. We also appreciate Hon. Jimi Benson for his contribution and intervention as well as Hon. Awesu, the PDP House of Representative aspirant who also gave us money. We have written to our Senator, Sen. Mikhail Abriu, and Hon. Nurudeen Solaja, and we are expecting to hear from them and others. As at today, those mentioned are the ones that have so far contributed to this new development.
We thank God for what we have been able to do so far and for those who have been able to assist us. In fact, one of our sons came here one day and gave us N500. He said that he wanted to contribute but that he’s not working and he brought out N500. I would have loved to mention his name, but he told me not to mention his name, but will hold on till when we want to commission the palace. I want to appeal to the people of Ijede to also intervene and let us rebuild this palace into a befitting one. The palace is not my palace nor that of any of the chief or Baale. The palace belongs to all the people of Ijede. They should also be part of this by contributing their own quota. I just told you a young man came here to donate N500 towards the project.
THE IMPACT: What about the Lagos State government which you said that several letters were also sent to, for intervention on the state of the palace. Has there been any response from them?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: In our thought (Alajede – in – Council), we think that the Lagos State Government usually renovate palaces when there is a sitting Oba. I think that is the reason they have not contributed anything towards the renovation of the palace yet, though, I am not speaking for the government, but I believe that as soon as we have a new king, they will surely do something.
THE IMPACT: I was coming to that, there are rumours that the palace is being renovated by the Alajede chiefs and the Ijede community in preparation for the crowning of a new King, could you please confirm this sir?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: Well, we are expecting judgment on the Alajede matter and by the special grace of God, we will get the judgment very soon. Even, while we are still expecting a King, we are of the opinion that our palace is not just for the King alone, but entire community, hence, it should be kept intact at all time. The state of our palace between 2016 and 2017, was a shame to the chiefs, local government, state government, the Egbin Power PLC, and Ijede as a whole, as reported by your paper then, but today, we thank God that the palace is in new shape and as you have said before the interview, it now looks like the palace of a popular King that I do not want to mention. Thank God for Hon. Benson, Hon. Awesu, the Furniture and Carpenter Association in Ijede and Rencon Nigeria Limited, a dredging company. The company contributed greatly to this new development. In fact, it is the company that is responsible for all the POP in the palace.
I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Lagos State Government, particularly, the Ministry of Justice, that they should, please, fast-track the court process concerning Alajede suit, so that we can have a new Alajede (King) as soon as possible. We believe that a new Alajede shall emerge soon this year by the special grace of God. The Kingmakers have already selected a new one (Alajede) in the person of Prince (Hon.) Adefarasin Saheed Hassan and we believe that the voice of the people is the voice of Eledumare.
THE IMPACT: What should residents of Ijede and other parts of Ikorodu Division be expecting from this year’s Ijede Day Celebration?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: Of course, we are going to have our annual day this year, you will recalled that even during the Covid-19, Ijede was the only town in Ikorodu division that celebrated their town day if I could remember correctly, so, nothing is stopping us. This year, we are going to celebrate another one by God’s grace and for your information, December 10th is the date fix for the celebrations. The annual day is one of the tools we use as means of communication to our people because, it is through the celebration, that we get to know about the people’s views on what we are doing and also get their inputs. We are going to celebrate the day by the special grace of God and you will be here to celebrate with us. It is also important to let you know that we now have a new chairman for the Ajede Day Planning Committee, in the person of Mr Kazeem Adele.
THE IMPACT: Another festival that Ijede is known for is Remireke, is that also going to hold this year?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: We hope to have that, but we are still finalizing arrangements with Remireke people.
THE IMPACT: The state of the Odoro river, which is a recognized site by the state government, is such that if care is not taken, the whole thing would cave in. Also, the Odoro beach developed by some youths in Ijede and was unveiled with funfare, has, unfortunately, been taken over by weeds. What is the community doing about it?
Odofin Ogunmuyiwa: That was why I said a town without an Obas is just like somebody that is working without head. The issue of Obaship has caused a lot of damages to this community. While some people are trying to do the right thing, others would be doing the contrary, and at the end of the day, such endeavor would be a failure, because there is no Oba to give the direction and rally round the people in the community.
The Odoro river is one of the centers that the Lagos State Government reserved. The state has to intervene and protect the heritage and also the Local Government too. We can make millions of naira from it if well developed into a tourism site. The development that you saw the other time was through the efforts of some individuals led by Adedamola Aderibigbe, the Publisher of the Starlight newspaper. He recently told us that they are going to do something to resuscitate the place and I believe in God and in him in that regard.
