Society Gists

Hakeem Ajasa, the Chief Security Officer of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila has been elected as the new Oba-Elect of Iruland after the demise of late Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru.

Prince Hakeem Ajasa was said to be one of the Prince presented by the Abisogun ruling house of Iru to succeed the late king.

We learnt that the winner of the election was announced by Chief Biliaminu Sanni after Ajasa lead other contestants in the kingship race.

Ajasa, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) is the present Chief Personal Security Officer (CPSO) to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

Ajasa, who graduated from the Lagos State University (LASU), also holds a Professional Masters In Intelligence and Strategic Studies (MISS) from the Osun State University, Osogbo.

Since joining the force as a Divisional Crime Officer at the Kano State Police Command in 2004, he has continued to rise through the ranks, owing largely to his dedication and passion for the job.

After serving two years in Kano, he was moved to the Sectional Head Anti-Fraud Section at the C.I.D Panti in Lagos, before he was posted to the Lagos State Government House as the Second in Command to the Chief Security Officer during the administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

In 2010, Ajasa was posted to Osun State as the Aide-De-Camp to the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, a position he manned for five years. His hands-on on the job earned him a greater responsibility as the Chief Security Officer to the Governor, before he was earlier this year posted to the Force Headquarters in Lagos as the Commanding Officer 22 PMF, Ikeja, Lagos.

He was only to spend a few months in Lagos as a greater responsibility, yet again, came calling as the CPSO to the number four citizen of the country.

Ajasa’s destiny with fate readily reminds of the present Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi who was selected from amongst several well to do indigenes of Ile-Ife who were also heirs to the throne on 26 October 2015. He has since then shown that his choice was a step in the right direction, uniting the Yoruba race and providing the needed leadership to bridge the gap between the people and the political landscape.

TheThe late Orumbe Oniru Imahin was said to be the founding father of the three ruling houses, namely Abisogun, Akiogun and Ogunyemi.

The three ruling houses have been stamped in accordance with the Lagos State Declaration made under the Customary Law Regulation Selection to the Oniru Chieftaincy of Lagos of September 14, 1993 and approved by the then Governor of the state, the late Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola.

The Declaration approved rotation and the procedure to be followed in the nomination of candidates by the local government.

It is pertinent to state that Oniru stool has been occupied by the following monarchs since 1589. They are Onigefon – 1589-1620; Mabogunje – 1621-1654; Ihuntayi – 1655-1687; Odudu Eleyiwo- 1688-1709; Abanu – 1710-1735; Olaletan- 1736-1790; Orisasanya-1792-1820; Orumbe – 1821-1835; Abisogun- 1836-1855; Akiogun – 1856-1893; Akinsanya Ogunyemi – 1894-1926; Lawani Oduloye – 1927-1933; Yesufu Abiodun Oniru-1934-1984 and Idowu Abiodun Oniru-1994-2019.

It would be recalled that those who occupied the stool from 1589 till 1984 used to Baales (Chief), until the reign of Idowu Abiodun Oniru.

Idowu Abiodun Oniru in 1995 was accorded official recognition as a first class Oba and crowned at a colourful ceremony.

In Yoruba traditional system, the person called Aremo is most likely to be the heir to the throne. There is already one in the Iru palace – Adesegun Oniru, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront.