His Royal Majesty & The Oba of Orile Kemta of Egba Land
on Monday 12, August had an exclusive interview where he shared his Background
History and Achievements since he got installed as the Oba of the people of
Kemta Egba land.
In the interview he gave a brief story on his
Ancestral Lineage and how he is connected to this throne, Most importantly the
Oba Ambassador Okikiola Tejuosho gave his thought on the looming controversy
going on with the selection and upgrade of 75 Obas by the Ex governor of Ogun
State.
Read the full interview Bellow:
Can we meet you sir, ? I
am HIS ROYAL MAJESTY, Oba Ambassador Adetokunbo OkikiOla, Gbadegeshin
Tejuosho, The Olu Orile Kemta Egba land (Adabonyin the first) here in
Ogun Stat
Your Educational Background sir, ? I have Bsc
in Political Science as well as Masters in Criminology from the prestigious
Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
Any work Experience sir? I was trained
by an American Business Man, Mr Leon Hale from Texas before I started working
as an ambassador of Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), a department of the
United Nations at Geneva in Switzerland Base Station. before I ascended the
throne of my fore bearers. Having
traveled far and wide to over hundred countries of the world in different
continents, to mention but few amongst (Asia, Europe, and America) in line of
duty an experience that exposed me to different climes and people, this allowed me to gain vast knowledge in different field
of businesses. Returning to
Nigeria few years back, I started my own private business (Tokunbo
Tejuosho Group) - we are into Logistics, Dredging and also Clothing-line
(Tokunbo Tejuosho Clothing)
What is your marital status sir? I am married
to a Princess by birth and now Her Majesty, Olori Adenike Ashabi
Any
Kid sir ? I am a father of four boys (Denzel, Jefferey, Brian and Maccurley,)
What was the journey to kingship like
sir, Hmmm, the
honest truth is that I ran away from this kingship thing for over 5yrs but In
2016 I was installed the Baale Orile Kemta Egba Land and in 2017 I became the
Ba’ase of Kemta (the fourth in hierarchy One of the top six decision makers of
kemta land). Being installed as Baale and Baase were journey to this stool and
the key segment of ascending the throne of my fore fathers.
So, does that mean you a direct link
to this stool ? Of course,
it’s obvious, My Ancestor, ADABONYIN TEJUOSHO who founded Kemta was a warrior
who migrated from Ile Ife in 1814, passed through ijebu and eventually settled
here and founded Tejuosho Village in 1824. The story is so long but let us cut
it short; Whenever Adabonyin is going to war or on a long journey, he drops his
original head at home in a pot of water with instructions to his wives that
they must be watching over it and his little oil lamp until he returns,
throughout his journey or during any war, he is so powerful that he appears as
anybody with different heads. Sometimes during that period, he went to visit
his in-laws somewhere around Osiele, but during that time there was war in
Ibadan with the ijesha people led by Ogedengbe. Ogedengbe
usually comes and terrorize the Ibadan soldiers, he periodically comes to
(Abeokuta) former Oko Adagba and its environ, they will forcefully invade
people, take them into captive and also to loot their farm proceeds.
Unknowingly to Adabonyin they were around as usual and on his way back he was
overpowered and captured by the Ibadan soldiers. He was taken to Ibadan on the
back of a horse with his face downward, on getting to Ibadan, Adabonyin was
kept in the cell for several days, but one day they brought Adabonyin out to
cut off his head and offer him as sacrifice, they tried this several times but
once the person that will cut his head raises his cutlass the hand will be
stiff and suspended to the air, one day they repeated this exercise and as usual
the man’s hand was suspended to the air a situation that led them into finding
out from the oracle who Adabonyin was, the oracle told them that Adabonyin will
be their savior and a major helper in their war with Ogedengbe, they
immediately released Adabonyin and handed over his fighting tools and his
hunters bag to him, he asked for his gun
but unfortunately they left his gun where they captured him several months ago,
he told them that he will need his gun if they want him to join them in the
war.
Ogunmola ,
being the leader of the Ibadan soldiers commanded that they should go in search
of Adabonyin’s gun, they ran back to where they picked Adabonyin from but they
could not find his gun, they consulted the oracle again and appease the gods,
eventually they got directives from the gods which says, they should send the
horse that they used in carrying
Adabonyin when they captured him to go back and look for the gun, they
released the horse ahead of the soldiers to go in search of the gun and after
90 days the soldiers got to the spot, they met the horse standing right beside
the gun, they returned the gun to him (Adabonyin ) in Ibadan. Fast forward to
the eventful day, the ijesha warrior (Ogedengbe Ogbogun gboro) and his soldiers
were again on their way to wage war against Ibadan people as usual, the news
reached Adabonyin in his hut, he got up and quickly led the Ibadan soldiers to
Enu Owa (the city gate between Ibadan and ijesha), sighting Ogedengbe and his
soldiers, Adabonyin told the Ibadan soldiers to stay at his back and no one
walks pass him, he cocks his gun and at every shot he kills over 100 of
Ogedengbe’s soldiers, to cut the long story short, Adabonyin overpowered the
ijesha soldiers, this aggravated ogedengbe
and he challenged Adabonyin to a one on
one fight, on the long run Adabonyin conquered Ogedengbe Agbogun gboro and cut
off his (Ogedengbe’s ) head , this situation was what brought about the name
and the praise poetry (Oriki), Adabonyin ni popo owa, ayinbo gbi niju olote
ogbori ogedengbe agbogun gboro. (ADABONYIN IN OWA GATEWAY, HE WHO FIRES GUN IN
THE MIDST OF ENEMIES, HE WHO CUTS OFF THE HEAD OF OGEDENGBE AGBOGUN GBORO) .
This success
was what brought the connection between Adabonyin and Shodeke which made them
journey back through odeda to Oko Adagba.
Can you brief us about the ancestral
Lineage and how you are connected to
this throne sir? Adabonyin
Tejuosho married many wives and one of them was Aiyelagbe who gave birth to
Owolola amongst other siblings, Owolola gave birth to Titilayo as the only
child who happened to be my biological father
What are the Achievements of Oba
Okikiola Tejuosho so far ? During my time as Baale Orile Kemta and Ba’ase Kemta for three years, I
have so far offered scholarships to over 20 students from primary, to secondary
as well as higher institutions. A 5.6Km road was constructed from Olugbo to
Orile kemta Adabonyin town and also to the other nearby villages which are
(Adabonyin, Apata, Akamo, Ogbagba , shipeolu, erunwon, Akogun, dagunja, aderu,
Apena akinshola, Oluga, Adegbo and shodunrun)
I have also erected boreholes in some villages and even as we speak the
borehole projects is still ongoing because we want all our villages to have
good water supply. I built a multipurpose hall, also, I created a Crèche and
named it after my Queen( Olori Ashabi kiddies playing ground) , if you see the
Modern Muslim Praying Ground on your way. If you go to Oluga now, we are
renovating our school there which has
been abandoned for a long time, now we are turning it into Modern facilities.
In the year 2018 I sponsored the cocoa farmers to participate in the cocoa
farmer’s exhibition and training, in Etioni ijesha osun state Organized by His
Majesty Oba Dokun Thompson. The novelty match that was played here was the
first of its kind during the maiden edition of
Orile kemta day and it was a blast, you can make enquiries from the
people around, we brought in some star artists, this is just the way to keep
our youth hopeful and useful for their society, these among-st other things has
never happened before in the history of Kemta.
When and how were you crowened as a
King ? On the 20th of May 2019 the people and the government of Ogun state
under the past administration presented the instrument of office to me as the
first Olu of Orile kemta, the position that has not been filled for close to 50
years.
How can you describe your relationship
with other Kings within and outside Ogun state ? Well
I can tell you I have a very strong ties with most kings around, even
some that are older, I consider I am a
student everywhere I found myself
and as such I learn everyday, in one of those pictures there you will
see me and Iku Baba yeye, the Alafin of Oyo, he is my father, I tap and drink
from his drum of wisdom virtually all the time, I am always around him because
he is my role model, same as Kabiyesi Oloyan of Oyan in Osun state, he is also
my good father, I am sure you know the Aholu of Kweme Oba Olamilekan Sejiro
James is my very good friend and a senior King who has been on the throne for
over a decade, so I can refer to him as my adviser, he tutors and guides me in
many areas, or is it the Ooni of Ife you want to talk about, he’s the father of
all Kings and I am closer to him even beyond kingship.
What are your aims, obejectives as
well as where you see Orile Kemta in the nearest future under your reign ? Well, my aspiration is to attract investors to establish industries in
and around here, such as quarries, modern day integrated farms for both crops
and livestock, we are also working to identify our natural resources so as to
know the kind of investors we will be speaking with, we are currently speaking with some
organization both local and international to see how we can work together in
other to bring modern day developments into our community, a firm in the UNITED
STATES has already agreed to partner with us on housing scheme, we are fully
open to local investors as well as foreign in terms of partnership and collaboration to enhance
speedy growth in our community.
What are your views about the present
administration in Ogun State ? No king must get involved in politics
but Governor Dapo Abiodun is my very good friend even before he assumed the
office as the governor, I pray for his success everyday, as you know a king
must support every government in power, one thing I am so sure of is that he
(Dapo Abiodun) will take Ogun State to another level, considering his
background, business and intellectual wise, looking at him you will know he has
passion for his people.
What can you say about the controversy
going on with the selection and upgrade of 75 Obas by the Ex governor of Ogun
State ? Well, let me
start by saying, in political power one
will go and another will come, the Ex
governor promoted 75 OBAS he must have
had good reasons for that, someone like
me for instance, if I had not been given an opportunity as a leader I might not
have been privileged to achieve all I have achieved in my community, let us look at it from this point
of view, the government can’t do it all and alone, look at those Obas, they are
the ones that see to the welfare of their people in the localities , for
example the construction of the road, which I did with my personal fund was what I considered necessary for my
people at that point in time, Here in Orile Kemta we are the largest producer
of Garri, cocoa yam, cassava, pepper and cocoa in ogun state and Nigeria at
large, but because of bad roads it’s so difficult for our farm produce to be
moved out for sales , also, without good representation, there will be nobody
to expose or publicize us with what we do, we are unnoticed and nobody knows
about us, look at the repair on the bad roads from Odeda to Olugbo which I just
did, these are few of the reasons why we need better and close representation
of our people. His Excellency Prince Dr Dapo Abiodun is an intelligent man for
setting up a committee to look into the issues because there are some areas
where they have crisis and require attention, I am sure the Governor will
handle it with wisdom from above.
In conclusion ? In
Orile Kemta we are lover of peace and God fearing, we are opened for
investments as our major aim is to bring in development into our community.
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