02/11/2025
ALARA CLEARS THE AIR OF THE ALLEGATIONS BY THE YOUTHS.
By Lasisi Temitope
HRM Oba Olukayode Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, the Alara of Ilara Kingdom, Eredo LCDA, Epe, Lagos State recently addressed the purported allegations against him by the youths of the kingdom.
He was very emphatic that the issue was actually lack of proper communication and understanding on the part of the youths.
He started by discarding the insinuation that he has been away from the kingdom since he assumed the throne.
He said;
“I must sincerely appreciate you all for bringing up this matter to clear some facts which are in the public domain but could be further substantiated”.
“I have never lived away from my people since I became the king. Hardly ever has anyone accused me of not being on ground to attend to issues of great concerns in the kingdom even Epe at large”.
“Few months ago, I celebrated my 5th anniversary of kingship and it was well attended by royals in the country”.
“The state Governor who couldn’t make it was ably represented by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Ogunwusi was in attendance, the Emir of Kano came, political leaders from all walks of the nation were present, and other notable individuals”.
On the allegation of selling the land of the community, he said;
“I never inherited any land from the kingdom. Most of the lands have been sold out before I assumed the throne”.
“On this issue which they insinuated, the naval forces approached me with the idea that they have things to offer the community in terms of security and this will improve our local economy”.
“I discussed this with the Alara-in-council and they agreed that we should have this in our community since they will only be requesting for a parcel of land about 10 acres, and we agreed”.
“There is that particular parcel of land about 100 acres which belongs to us where some youths are aggrieved over”.
“We should ask this question if it is possible for the youths of any community lay claim to a piece of land without a prior consent or notice of the king”.
About the Isese (Traditional rites) issue, he said;
“Each time there is need to make appeasement to our gods, I call on the Abore (custodians of the gods) to make a case for this and we have them done”.
“Don’t forget that I brought in the goddess of Aje to this kingdom with the assistance of the Ooni of Ife and it’s been worshipped regularly by the people. It is baseless therefore for anyone to say that I don’t respect the goddess or I don’t want to be associated with traditional religion”.
“It must be put to the public domain that I renovated most of the shrines and points of worship in our kingdom”.
On the death of some women who died during childbirth, he said;
“I really showed my sympathy to the family of those who lost their loved ones in incidents”.
“I must say that the reason for my agitations for Eredo LCDA to have its General Hospital was because of things like this”.
“We need more hospitals and PHCs to accommodate more patients in the LCDA to tackle incidents like this”.
“I must say this. Efforts to bring more developmental activities into the kingdom are ongoing through various levels. The MHR, Rep. Wale Raji, our Senator, Tokunbo Abiru, the Executive Chairman of the LCDA, Hon. Ismail Akinloye, Hon. Ogunkelu Sylvester and others have been assisting the kingdom in one way or the other to ensure steady growth and prosperity”
“We have schools, solar power boreholes, more classrooms, roads etc”.
“I have given out about 5 scholarships to students of this kingdom to study abroad and they have all graduated”.
“About 6 of our children are currently in Augustine University, Ilara to pursue various degrees with my assistance. I don’t joke with progress of the people most particularly in my domain”.
“During my 5th year anniversary, I made a wholesome empowerment opportunity in the neighbourhood of about 200 million naira to sons and daughters of this kingdom. I never nominated a person but the committee did”.
“I’m currently engaging the Nigeria Immigration Services to open up a Passport Processing Office here in Ilara and also a renewable energy company to open up a solar farm here to ameliorate issues of epileptic power generation”.
“I have travelled to many countries in the world to speak out our potentials and concerns for mutual benefits”.
“I have been to the France, UK, USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, Uganda for more opportunities for my kingdom”.
“These and many more things are what leadership entails. Though, some of the youths are now being apologetic for their actions”.
“I want to ask all and sundry most particularly the youths of Ilara to embrace dialogue and let’s talk about issues not necessarily allowing external influences to divide us”.
“We are all one big family in Ilara and no person can divide us”.
“Once again, I appreciate the gentlemen of the press for creating this opportunity to clear the air concerning the rumoured chaos in the kingdom”, he concluded.