26th April, 2017
The family of Mutairu Ogundare and entire members of the three Community Development Associations in Shangisha and Magodo area of Lagos have appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to halt the planned installation of one Jamiu Lawal as the traditional ruler of Shangisha pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Lagos division on the matter.
In a petition to Governor Ambode by Barrister Adedeji Adekoya, counsel to the petitioners, dated 25th April, 2017, made available to our correspondent, they said the appeal to stop the planned installation became imperative as some aggrieved persons may disrupt the event and cause unprecedented riot and commotion.
The petitioners claimed that they were shocked to learn that the proposed installation will hold on Friday, 28th April, 2017 without the knowledge of members of the communities constituting both Magodo and Shangisha.
They accused officials of the Lagos State Chieftaincy Affairs of conniving with Jamiu Lawal in undermining justice by refusing to await the determination of the appeal before installing anyone as the monarch of Shangisha.
According to the petition, they claimed that Jamiu Lawal is neither a resident and does not own a house or a business concern in the entire area, adding that the Osoro family which he claimed to have belonged does not emanate from the area also.
Claiming that the Osoro family does not have any “Iledi” in Shangisha, the petitioners posited that members of the Osoro family are traditional residents at Oregun in Ikeja Local Government Council area of Lagos and not in Kosofe Local Government Area where the monarch is to be installed.
They asserted that the installation will amount to an imposition of a stranger on the entire communities, describing such act as an aberration and despicable to the Yoruba tradition of Oba.
Further, they claimed that a petition has been sent to the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs by Irepodun, Unity and Shangisa Unity Community Development Associations over the matter, on the need why the installation must not hold.
‘’ It is surprising that some people in the Lagos State Chieftaincy Affairs are trying to undermine justice by refusing to wait for the determination of the appeal before installing anyone as Oba of Shangisha.
“We also discovered that this Mr. Jamiu Lawal is not a resident at Shangisha and also has no house or business at Shangisha. They also did not have any ‘’Iledi‘’ in shangisha. They are all residents at oregun in Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos state and not in Kosofe Local Government Area.
“It will be an aberration, an affront and despicable to the Yoruba tradition of Oba for a stranger to be crowned and installed in a community to which he does not belong. In fact his installation will be an imposition on the Shangisha community as he is not known to anybody in the community’’, the petition stated.
They, therefore, urged the Governor Ambode to use his good office to stop the planned installation, which they described as unwarranted and secretive pending the outcome of the Court of Appeal ruling.