Oba Adeoriyomi Akeem Oyebo, the Obateru of Egbin, is no doubt a God – ordained king for the Egbin town considering the epic achievements which the town has recorded under his reign.
Just last year, the town was hugely favoured by a Lagos State Government White Paper on the report of the panel of Enquiry into the civil disturbance between Egbin and Ijede Communities in 2013.
The report among other things declared that Egbin Kingdom is autonomous and not under Ijede Kingdom contrary to the general belief in Ijede and other parts of Ikorodu division that Egbin is a town under Ijede kingdom.
However, in January 2017, both Oba Oyebo and the entire people of the ancient town of Egbin received another good news that the Obateru stool has been included in the prestigious rank of a first class Oba in Lagos State.
A letter dated January 30, 2017, which was addressed to Oba Oyebo by the Ijede Local Council Development Area and titled, “Approval of the upgrading from Second Class to First Class of Oba Adeoriyomi Akeem Oyebo, Obateru of Egbin, in Ijede LCDA of Lagos State”, confirmed the elevation.
The letter which was signed by Mr. M. A. Oliwo, Head of Administration, Ijede LCDA, on behalf of the Sole Administrator, and copied to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, Lagos State, and Ikorodu Division Council of Oba and Chiefs, also states, “I am directed to refer to the letter with Reference No. OLGAS.66/s.24/T/75 and dated January 20, 2017, from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, on the above subject matter and to inform you that the State Executive Council at its meeting on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, considered and approved the upgrading of the title of Obateru of Egbin from second class to first class Oba in Ijede LCDA.”
The letter also states that the notice of the elevation would soon be published in the state official Gazatte.
The elevation of Obateru has increased the number of first class ruler in Ijede LCDA to two and those in Ikorodu division to five.
Other first class Obas in Ikorodu division are Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Alajede of Ijede, Adeboruwa of Igbogbo and Ranodu of Imota.
Meanwhile, Oba Oyebo in an interview with Oriwu Sun in his palace described his elevation as a well-deserved feat and thanked God that his efforts towards achieving the elevation which he said started on October 5, 2010, shortly after his coronation, did not go in vain.
He said that though the letter that was communicated to him by the state government states that the Obateru title was upgraded from second class Oba to first class Oba, he had originally written the state government for the reclassification and restoration of the first class status of the obaship title of Egbin.
Oba Oyebo explained that the Obaship title of Egbin originally belong to the rank of first class oba in Lagos state considering the evidences, historical background of Egbin, facts and records passed on to him and those he personally discovered during his research on the issue at the National Archives in London and Portugal as well as in the University of Ibadan, adding that several Obas in the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs equally confirmed that EgbinObaship tittle belong to the rank of the first class oba.
He also stated further that the Adeyinka Morgan Enquiry on the Reclassification and Remuneration of Obas in Lagos State which states that all the traditional institutions that were recognized before independent are automatically first class Obas is a veritable evidence that EgbinObaship title belongs to the first class rank because according to him, Egbin kingdom is one of the traditional institutions recognized in Lagos state before the independent.
The monarch however commended the Lagos state government for approving the first class status of the Obaship title of Egbin king despite stiff opposition by some people.
On what the elevation means to him and the people of Egbin, Oba Oyebo said it will give him the will to express himself freely among other Obas in Ikorodu division and Lagos state in general without any feeling of inferiority complex of being a second class Oba.
He also stressed that the new status of Obateru stool will help in addressing the perennial shortchanging of Egbin town in the scheme of things by successive government in Ijede LCDA, Ikorodu division and Lagos state as it will give him the will and influence to voice out and defend his people particularly as it regard their request for government attention at the local, state and federal level.
And when asked whether the elevation will resolve or further degenerate the rift between Egbin and Ijede, Oba Oyebo stated that the first class status of Obateru will definitely resolve the tension between the two communities since the two rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms now have equal status and one cannot claim superiority over the other.
He equally added that the rift between the two communities is mostly being orchestrated by the non-indigenes because according to him, no indigene of the two towns can wish that bad thing should happen to either of the towns because indigenes of the two towns are related in one way or the other.
On whether his elevation to the first class status would enable him to wield more influence and power like other obas in the same class, Oba Oyebo said his main reason for agitation for the first class status for his kingdom was not to acquire more power or influence but rather to ensure that the state government correct the anomalies in the Obaship title of Egbin which he said was originally in the first class rank.
And while expressing his dismay over the special influence wield by the Obas in the first class category our those in the second and other ranks, he opined that any monarch should ordinarily be able to express himself in the comity of Obas freely and also attract government attention at any level to the needs of his people irrespective of his status or level of influence.