The Akeju Olukosi royal family in Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have petitioned the State government and the council chairman over an alleged attempt by one of the royal families to usurp the throne of Onilashe of Ilashe town against the agreed succession plan.
According to the family, the ruling houses in Ilashe came together after the Ilashe Chieftaincy declaration on March 22, 1997, and mutually agreed to rotate the Onilashe royal stool.
They insisted that the order of successive rotation as agreed stated that Ekinu royal family is to ascend the throne first; followed by the Akeju Olukosi Royal family after which the Orofin royal family follow suit.
In line with the said declaration, Chief Fatai Akinwunmi from the Ekinu royal family emerged as the Onilashe of Ilashe town in 1997. He reigned from 1997 to 2022. Expectedly and in line with the declaration, the Akeju Olukosi family comes in line in the succession arrangement.
They, however, alleged that Kazeem Akinwunmi through his maternal lineage, the Orofin ruling house, which came third in order of succession supplanted the Akeju Olukosi ruling house.
In the petition by their lawyer, A.R. Fatoki & Associates, the Akeju Olukosi family, alleged that Kazeem Akinwunmi, a son to the immediate Onilashe, whose mother is from Orofin ruling House is parading himself as the next Onilashe of Ilashe town through a concocted declaration.
They claim that the concocted declaration has now made another person from the Orofin ruling family, Akeem Abisogun to also declare himself as the next Onilashe.
The petition reads: “The ruling houses had met and came up with a memorandum among themselves, agreeing to the order of succession to the throne. When the Onilashe of Ilashe joined his ancestors, the lineage of the Akeju Olukosi was supposed to be the next to the throne but the Orofin royal family are claiming that they are entitled to the throne of Onilashe of Ilashe. The third lineage, which is the Orofin royal family, wants to go against the succession plan to ascend the throne. The agreement is well documented.”
“We call on your Excellency to immediately nip in the bud this brewing catastrophe that is rearing its ugly head by disregarding any such nomination, which is unlawful and unknown to the Ilashe community. Again, we wish to reiterate that nomination that is not from the Akeju Olukosi ruling house should be disregarded and rejected by your Excellency.”
It is learnt that the Akeju Olukosi Royal family is currently consulting its members to pick and produce a credible and worthy member as the Onilashe elect for the royal stool that is now vacant.
Kazeem Akinwunmi in reaction to this said: “I don’t have anything to say to that. Why should I react? The Ilashe issue is in Ilashe, and whosoever that wants to say anything should come down to Ilashe. Whatever they feel are their grievances they should come down to Ilashe.”
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
