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OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR SANWO-OLU ON THE NEED TO RESPECT AND COMPLY WITH THE ORDER OF COURT FOR STATUS QUO TO BE MAINTANED IN RESPECT OF THE OBASHIP STOOL OF AJAH IN SUIT NO: LD/6432GCMW/2019 AND THE URGENT NEED TO STOP FURTHER PROCESSING OF THE APPROVAL OF KOLAWOLE LAWAL OLUMEGBON OR ANY OTHER PERSON AS THE OBA OF AJAH LAND PENDING THE FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE PENDING SUIT
Dear Governor Babajide Sawo-Olu,
Greetings Sir,
We trust that you will not object to our beginning this letter by expressing our profound disappointment that the Lagos State Government, once esteemed for its respect for the rule of law, appears to have declined, disregarding court orders and judgments. This is the reason we have elected to write this open letter to your esteemed self on the above caption, trusting that it will facilitate direct communication, enabling you to gain valuable insights from the letter to offset the misinformation provided by enemies of your government and Lagos State at large, who seek to undermine the peace in Ajah land by providing you with inaccurate information and urging you to proceed with the installation of Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon, a member of the Olumegbon family, as the Oba of Ajah, despite the pendency of Suit No: LD/6432GCMW/2019 between Pa Adisa Oloriode Ojupon & Ors v The Governor of Lagos State & Ors concerning the Obaship of Ajah and the subsistence of a valid court order made by the High Court of Lagos State on 4th November 2024, directing the maintenance of the status quo on the Obaship stool.
You must have heard or read in the news that indigenes of Ajah recently trooped to the Lagos State House of Assembly on a peaceful protest to urge the House in its oversight duties to sue for peace and call on the Lagos State Government to allow the court determine the issues on Obaship of Ajah before enthroning any one as such. We believe the House is working on the matter.
It is however disturbing that despite the pendency of the above mentioned suit, the subsistence of the Order of status quo made by the Court in the matter on the 4th of November, 2024 and the stifling protest staged by the Ajah people to sue for peace and obedience with the law on the matter, your government is still processing and proceeding with the plan installation of Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon as the Oba of Ajah in defiance of the law, ostensibly due to the wrong information being peddled by some powerful people that there is a court judgment which had directed that all the Idejo Chiefs should be made king on their land.
Without mincing words, Olumegbon does not own Ajah land. We also state in unequivocal terms that there is no such judgment that declared that all the Idejo Chiefs should be made Obas on their land, otherwise the Aromire of Lagos too should have been made an Oba on the Lagos Island because historically, Aromire is the owner of the entire land on the Lagos Island.
It is crucial to emphasise here for your information and guidance that from time immemorial and under the native law and Custom, Ajah as a traditional enclave has always had its own traditional ruler which is the Baale of Ajah otherwise known as the OLOMODI of Ajah, who runs the affairs of Ajah town with his cabinet members to the exclusion of any other chieftain in Lagos, particularly Chief Olumegbon of Lagos or any member of the Olumegbon chieftaincy family, and the Baaleship stool is rotated between the Ojupon and Ogunsemo Ruling Houses. This fact was not lost to well-meaning Lagosians including the ancestors of the Olumegbon family, particularly the 5th Olumegbon of Lagos, Chief Kalefo I, who testified severally on oath under cross examination in Suit No: 97/1896 between Chief Olumegbon v Chief Ojomu that “the Chief of Ajah is called Olomodi. He is a white-capped Chief” with two other witnesses giving similar testimony on oath. Of note is the evidence of the then Chief Ojora of Lagos, Chief Ajayi Amore who also stated under oath in the case that “Olomodi is the Chief of Ajah”. It is interesting to note that Chief Ajayi Amore died in 1919 as the Head of Lagos white capped Chiefs and he was in a vantage position to know the custom and tradition of the people better before he testified that Olomodi is the Chief of Ajah. Enthroning the Olumegbons as the Oba of Ajah as opposed to the Baale (Olomodi) of Ajah will be contrary to custom and tradition of Ajah and the Government must not be complicit in the unholy journey and wash its hands off the sacrilege, which will no doubt snowball into avoidable crisis in Ajah by allowing the court to determine the vexed issue before acceding to any request for the enthronement of an Oba in Ajah.
The rulership of Ajah by its Chief, that is, the Baale of Ajah otherwise known as the OLOMODI of Ajah, was not at any time hidden or shrouded in any form of controversy. It is a custom well and widely known in Lagos, popularly recognized and accepted by the entire Ajah Community from time immemorial, such that a festival called the OLOMODI festival is habitually staged in Ajah to pay homage to the ancestor and seek blessing for the entire Ajah Community till date and the reason why part of the panegyrics (Oriki) of every free born of Ajah includes “Omo Olomodi Ap’ekun j’oye” meaning “the child of Olomodi, who kills tiger for coronation”.
It was on the basis of that custom that the stool of the Baale of Ajah was recognised by the colonial government and later, the Western Region of Nigeria Government, under which Ajah was administered for some time before it was restored back to Lagos. The Baale of Ajah Chieftaincy is a recognised Chieftaincy stool regulated by the Baale of Ajah Registered Chieftaincy Declaration, made pursuant to section 4 (2) of the Chiefs Law of the Western Region of Nigeria, 1957 and registered on the 27th January, 1958 without recognising the Olumegbon of Lagos as either a ruling house, kingmaker or the consenting authority in Ajah. Interestingly, the Chieftaincy Declaration regulating succession to the stool of Olumegbon of Lagos shows that the chieftaincy title of Olumegbon is not a chieftaincy stool associated with the traditional rulership of Ajah and truly, Ajah as a traditional enclave has never come under the rulership of Olumegbon of Lagos at any point in history.
For the umpteenth time, the natural ruler of Ajah is the Baale of Ajah otherwise known as the Olomodi of Ajah, who has historically ruled and represented Ajah and environs uninterruptedly at all forums since the time of Oba Akinsemoyin of Lagos, even where the Olumegbon of Lagos is present. This is the custom of Ajah and the quest to truncate this custom by the planned imposition of the Olumegbon family as the Oba of Ajah is now a subject of litigation in the case earlier mentioned above. A natural ruler of a community must necessarily be recognised by members of the community he proposes to rule as their natural ruler. That is the law as espoused In Enwezor v. Onyejekwe & Anor (1964) LPELR-25150 (SC) (Pp. 8 par. C), where the Supreme Court has the following to say on the point being made as follow:
“…it is our view that the definition of a chief in the Interpretation Ordinance, Cap. 89 already referred to, covers a natural ruler. The essence of a natural ruler to our mind is that his “authority and control” be recognised by the men in his community over whom he is accepted as a “ruler”.” Per ADEMOLA ,J.S.C
In the instant case, the Olumegbon of Lagos has never ruled Ajah as its traditional ruler and is not in any way recognised or accepted by men and women of Ajah as their natural ruler. This is very pivotal in the whole issue and the Government has a sacred duty under Section 25 (2) of the Obas and Chiefs of Lagos State Law, Ch 02, Laws of Lagos State, 2015 to ascertain whether bestowing Obaship of Ajah on the Olumegbon of Lagos is acceptable to the community or substantial part of it before approving such Obaship status over Ajah land.
It is instructive to note that the plan to install the Olumegbon of Lagos as the Oba Olumegbon of Ajah ignited an unprecedented violence in Ajah in the early 2000s and many lives were lost to the Crisis. It took the intervention of the Lagos State Government then under the leadership of the current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who set up the Hon. Justice Onolaja led Tribunal of Inquiry into the Ajah land dispute. The Tribunal noted in the report submitted to the Lagos State Government in the year 2006 that one of the major cause of the disturbance in Ajah was the request of the Olumegbon to made the Oba of Ajah and that there is no historical, legislative, or judicial antecedent on the quest of the Olumegbon to be accorded recognition as the Oba of Ajah, consequent upon which the Tribunal recommended that the Government should recognise that there is in existence a Chieftaincy Declaration in respect of Ajah which dates back to 1957 and that the practice in Lagos State is to upgrade an existing Baaleship stool to Obaship status when the community is to get an Oba, not a superimposition of somebody else from outside the community.
The striking issue here is that the vexed question of who is entitled to the Obaship stool of Ajah between the Baale of Ajah and the Olumegbon of Lagos is presently a subject of litigation since 2019 in Suit No: LD/ 6432GCMW/2019 between Pa Adisa Oloriode Ojupon & Ors v The Governor of Lagos State & Ors. The time-tested and honoured law is that once a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, such Defendant is bound to maintain the status quo and refrain from tampering with the matter that is already a subject of litigation as in this case. See the case of Sunrise Estate Development Ltd v. Abdulrahman & Ors (2021) LPELR-52827(CA) (Pp. 20 paras. C), where the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal restated the law thus:
“…the law has always been that once a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, even though a temporary injunction be not granted, status quo should be maintained. Per IDRIS ,J.C.A.
See also Odegbo & Ors v. Mofunanya & Ors (2016) LPELR-42107(CA), where the law was earlier stated as follows:
“There is no doubt that both the litigants and the Government must respect the Courts. When there is ongoing litigation, nothing must be done by either party as was done by the Appellant to foist a fait accompli on the Court.” Per OGUNWUMIJU ,J.C.A
In the instant case, our clients have, since the year 2019, submitted the question of who is entitled to the Obaship of Ajah between the Baale of Ajah otherwise known as the Olomodi of Ajah and the Olumegbon of Lagos to the court for determination. All parties have joined issues on the question and the court ceased of the matter has made an Order that status quo be maintained. It is only fair and reasonable that the Government should respect that Order and allow the Court to settle and determine the issue one way or the other before taking steps to enthrone anyone as the Oba of Ajah. Doing so at this stage will amount to a nullity and of no legal consequence as held by the Court of Appeal in Sheriff & Anor v. PDP & Ors (2017) LPELR-41805(CA) at (Pp. 190-191 paras. F)
We are therefore urging Your Excellency to ignore all the misguided information on the Obaship of Ajah and remain steadfast with the law by refusing to approve Kolawole Lawal Olumegbon or any other person as the Oba of Ajah pending the final determination of the pending case in court. We are in a civilised and democratic society and the greatest beauty of a civilised society is the adherence with the rule of law. The Government should not only be heard but must be seen to be faithful with the tenets and principles of the rule of law, one of which is to allow the court determine issues brought before it without interference or foisting a fait accompli on the court. No one should be allowed to steal a match that is ongoing.
Please accept our assurances of the highest esteem.
Yours faithfully,
Alh kabiru Yekini ogunsemo
The Secretary Ojupon/Ogunsemo Chieftaincy Ajah
Prince Shamsideen muheeb Ojupon
Principal Member of Ojupon Ruling House.
Chief Ibrahim Abass Balogun
The Chairman kingmakers Ajah.
Alh Kazeem Odunlami
Secretary Ajah community.
