Alexander Olusegun MacGregor, the Orile-IIawo oba-elect, has been presented with a staff of office as the new Olu of Orile-IIawo, in Ogun State by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The official installation and presentation of staff of office took place last week and the governor was represented by Ganiyu Hamzat, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy titles.
Orile Ilawo stool became vacant in December 2021 when the first traditional ruler, Oba Oladipo Aina, passed on.
A few months after his demise, Prof Olusegun Macgregor was announced as the elected Olu of Orile Ilawo Alagbagba, in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Five people had contested for the stool but MacGregor had the highest numbers of votes while emerging as the choice candidate.
However, a 16-month tussle ensued which prevented MacGregor from taking over the throne as the king.
Critics alleged that the oba-elect was not from a royal family, adding that the traditional Ifa oracle did not choose him. They urged the Ogun State Government not to confirm him as the next Oba.
In an open letter, Chief Olabanji Olaogun, who claimed to be representing Ilawo Council of Chiefs, to Governor Abiodun, alleged that MacGregor tried to force himself on the council by manipulating the executive and judicial processes. He added that the process of nomination and selection of Macgregor contravened the native law, the custom, and the applicable chief’s law of Ogun state 2021.
Olaogun also claimed that the oba-elect was not from a royal family and the oracle did not select him. However, the Ilawo Council of Chiefs denied Olaogun’s claims, stating that he was not part of the council chiefs.
MacGregor also made it known that there was no existing ruling house in the community, adding that the Orile-Ilawo stool was a creation of the government and not an ancestral one.
Another chief, Abraham Adebayo Soyoye, who is the Balogun of Orile-IIawo, accused MacGregor of threatening the lives of people in Ilawo community with the use of thugs and different armed securities, who threatened to set on fire on his house and that of another chief.
However, MacGregor distanced himself from the planned attack on anyone in the community. He urged the aggrieved chiefs to always bear in mind that posterity will not forgive whoever goes about blackmailing the Ilawo stool just to achieve their personal aggrandizement.
Some members of the community had to stage a peaceful protest in support of the king elect while urging the state governor to act swiftly in crowning him to prevent breakdown of law and order in the community.
