Early Life

Oba Alayeluwa Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Kusenla III was born on April 10, 1976 to the Elegushi Royal Family of Ikate. He is the son of late Oba Yekini Adeniyi Elegushi and Olori Sinatu Elegushi. He ascended the throne on April 27, 2010 after the passing to glory of his late father.

Education & Awards

His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi (Kusenla III), the 21st Monarch of Ikate-Elegushi was born on 10th of April 1976, into the royal Elegushi family, from Kusenla ruling house of Ikateland, Lagos State.

King Saheed Elegushi attended Methodist Boys High School, Lagos, from 1988 to 1994 and in 1995; he obtained admission to study at his Alma Mater, Lagos State University, Ojo, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree (B. Sc.) and a Master’s Degree both in Economics.

In the year 2008, HRM Saheed Ademola Elegushi proceeded to University of Manchester, United Kingdom, where he obtained another Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Until his coronation as King Elegushi of Ikateland on 27th of April 2010, – the youngest Lagos monarch at the time – Oba S. A. Elegushi served Lagos State under the Bola Tinubu administration and consequently that of Mr. Babatunde Fashola as Senior Special Assistant in-charge of Special duties, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Whilst in government, Oba Saheed Elegushi learnt the rudiments of leadership from the best minds in the business; it is no surprise his Majesty has unrivaled grasps on issues of Democratic good Governance, Public Policy formulation, Organizational Leadership and best practices in Public Administration.

Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi has worked in several sectors and has garnered years of experience as a distinguished Professional, Politician, Public Servant, Business Tycoon, Philanthropist and respected figure in Nigeria’s secular society/social circuit.

His Majesty is a Patron of International Women’s Society, Chairman of Africa Fashion Week, Nigeria and staunch promoter of academic excellence and citadels.

King Elegushi’s reign has brought substantial developments in the areas of healthcare enlightenment, modern and effective road networks, well-structured housing scheme and a host of other infrastructural concepts. He is an enthusiastic promoter of academic excellence and he has done a great deal in positively imparting his commerce and entrepreneurial spirit into the Eti-Osa environs.

A prominent late monarch once referred to Kusenla III, as the gold standard of royalty and royal success.

His Majesty, Ademola Elegushi is fond of saying: “kindness is not kindness if you expect a reward.”
Therefore, It is no accident why His Royal Majesty, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi (Kusenla III) is referred to as the modern Soul of Ikateland and the new lion of Eti-Osa.

Personal life

Oba Elegushi, married to Olori Sekinat Elegushi and Olori Hadiza Elegushi, with kids, comes from a large family. A Nigerian celebrity journal, City People Magazine reported he has 19 siblings: 12 sisters and 7 brothers The king’s garage parades luxury cars, notable among which are: Rolls-Royce Phantom, Mayback 600 and 1967 Vintage Cadillac De Ville.

 

 

Ascension And Coronation

The Coronation of Prince Saheed Ademola Elegushi as the Oba Elegushi of Ikateland took place on the 27th of April, 2010

Greeting The King

The Yoruba tradition for greeting kings is similar across board. On presentation to the King, men prostrate; while the women kneel down and he is addressed as ‘Kabiyesi’ The response usually by his aids is ‘Oba n ki o’ (The King greets you). For those who are conversant with tradition, then go a step further by snapping their fingers rolling to the right and left saying, “moyi ika otun moyi ika osi ”. This means – I roll my right fingers and my left fingers. This is called “The Osusu Owo”. Those who are familiar with his eulogy also go into the praise eulogy. After the greeting his aid instructs the visitor to rise up. The King could also use the irukere (anthers or horse tail) to indicate permission to rise, he doesn’t necessarily have to speak.

THE QUEEN – When meeting the Olori, she is hailed “Olori, Olori, ile la wa o, ile la wa o, ile la wa o Olori! *(not sure about this)” The greeting and name shows recognition giving her respect as a King’s wife. On presentation to the Olori and in a later conversation, the traditional address is “Olori”

PRINCES & PRINCESS – When meeting the Royal Prince, he/she is addressed “Kabiyesi o, omo Oba”.

CHIEFSWhen meeting a Chief, he is called ‘Oloye’

BAALE – He is hailed “Okolu, Baale Okolu”

WHITE CAP Chief, he is hailed “Baba oloye”.

 

 

History of the kingdom

The Elegushi monarchy is one of the oldest ruling houses in Lagos. Alhough documented evidence was made available in 1942, its history can be traced as far back to 1632

The Elegushi monarchy is an elective monarchy with Kings elected from different branches of the Elegushi Family.
Using Mr. Barker’s Intelligence Report as our guide, he stated that the earliest settlers of Eti-0sa Area were hunters and fishermen, “but permanent settlement probably dates from the 18′” century when people from Iddo (Island) left and founded the villages of lkate and Ajiran. With the people who settled at lkate came one of the earliest holders of the Elegushi title, an Idejo chieftaincy, while Ajiran became the seat of another White Cap Chief, the Ojomu.”
The Report continued: “The village of Ajah traces its origin to this period of settlement  The next Period of settlement was towards the middle of the 19′” century and appears to have come about as a resuU of the wars and disturbances which followed the intemecine civil warfare andt the British naval intervention in Lagos politics. The villages of Addo, Badore, Shangotedo and Mopa Akilade all claimed to have association with one or other family in Lagos.

By 1850, Lagos had been settled by heterogeneous horde of people. It was out of this heterogeneous population that the polyglot character of Lagos was formed which distinguishes it to this day. The one village that has no connection with Lagos is Lamgbassa which owes its foundation to the migration of an Ijebu family from Idowa. near Ijebu Ode towards ihe close of the 1.8111 century. This difference in origin had led to an estrangement between Lamgbassa and the other Eli­Osa villages with the exception of Badore, a close neighbour of Lamgbassa…”
Mr. Barker. in his incisive report, stated that “The Idejo or land owning class of Lagos White Cap Chiefs had probably been allotted their shares of land in the Eti­Osa area before the coming of these miscellaneous people to Lagos in the 18111 century and the villages of lkate and Ajiran became the setUement of certain of these chiefs when they left the mainland.”

Another administrative report on Eti-Osa, written by W. Fowler, District Officer, in 1947 Wed: A Report On The Lands of The Colony Districts stated on page 58 that “The people of the Eti-Osa area are mainly of Awori stock owing their origin to the migrations out of which the population of Lagos has evolved. There are too, some settlements of Ijebu and, in addition, in smaller numbers, people of miscellaneous origin.” He went on to state that: “Although largely of cognate stock the people have no common bond and their settlement in the area no common close circumstance or cause. Nevertheless cultural contacts with Lagos are maintained, some communities being either an offshoot of one of the Lagos families or enjoy the patronage of a Lagos Idejo chief.

Another official document from the Nigerian National Archives titted “Itinerary to Towns on Land lying between Lagos and Palma (Orimedu), dated 1886 gave a graphic account, for the first time, of the communities in Eti-Gsa area, village by village. The route to the area lie along the southern bank of the Lagos lagoon from Oroke, a village along the now popular Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, through five villages down to Igbosere Creek, near the site of Mobil Oil Company’s headquarters.

The Report gave detailed account, in tabular form, of the name of the headmen and elders of each village, the population, tribe, the distance from Lagoon to sea, how approached, traveling time from one village to another, best mode of locomotion, occupation of the people, productive capability in a commercial sense; markets attended and on what days, produce taken to such markets and return produce.

From this detailed information, it is possible to write a social and economic history of Eti-Osa in the latter part of the 19′” century. For instance, a place named Ojota, ten minutes walk from Shangojimi lying along the northern bank of Kuramo Water (or Omi Alakoto, in local parlance), was described as being under ELEGUSHI, as the headman, containing a population of 20 persons, all natives of Lagos, engaged in fishing, farming and Oil manufacturing. They produced cassava and palmtree products, which they turned to Garri, palm oil, palm kernels and fish which they carried daily to Lagos for sale, in exchange for cloth, gin, rum, yams, com, twine and thread.

This piece of evidence seems to support the tradition that Elegushi territorial claim that their territory extends to Omi Alakoto, or Kurarno Water. The document also shows that Elegushi was the headman of other places along the area such as a place named “Lafiaji I, Okun Alasan Sea Beach, while he was also shown as the headman of lkate over one hundred and twenty years ago.

About Ikate Land

Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom nestles in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State. It is a 135 square kilometers land mass, cocooned by the Atlantic Ocean and Lagos lagoon, Eti-Osa and Ikate land.

According to history, the roots of Eti-Osa people can be traced to Olofin, who migrated from Ile-Ife and settled in Iddo. In 1601, the Eti-Osa people left the settlement area in Iddo and migrated to Ikate.
Oba Yekini Elegushi was the first crowned King of Ikate Elegushi Kingdom. Prior to this he was one of the Idejo white cap class chiefs, who were landowners. He was first installed a white cap chief on November 1st, 1990, then elevated to the class of Obas (Kings) and was crowned on February 4, 1993 as Oba Yekini Adeniyi Elegushi, Kusenla II.

IKATELAND IN ETI-OSA GEO-POLITICS

IKATELAND is the territory over which His Royal Majesty. Oba Yekinni Adeniyi Elegushi reigns. It is situated on the Western approach to Eti-Osa proper, along Maroko – Epe Expressway, about four kilometers from Mobil Oil Headquarters. It extends from 6. 25″ to 6.26″N longitude, and 3.28″ East to 3.31″ east of the equator. It presently covers approximately 10 square kilometers, but, in the past, before 1941, it extended beyond Okun Alajapa.

Ikate is one of the major settlements on the Eti-Osa proper, the others being Ajiran, Ajah, Ado, Badore, Lamgbasa, Shangotedo, Ogombo, Okun Mopo, Okun Ajah and Okun Alfa or Okun Ibeju. Few other settlements such as Oroke, Ikoya, Ipeun, Magbon, Itirin and Igbosere, fell under other potentate in the then Lagos Colony area whilst others were classified under IbejulLekki district of Epe Division.

The boundaries of Eti-Osa were formally defined in a Supplement to the Western Regional Gazette Extraordinary No. 41, Volume 3, 2nd October, 1954 Part B. It was defined in the Westem Region Legal Notice (W.R.L.N.) 139 of 1954, in the 3rd Schedule as part of the boundaries of the then Ikeja Division as follows:

East “…on a point on the Southern shore of the Lagos Lagoon approximately 1,000 yards east of the village of Badore: thence following the Southern bank of Omu Creek to a point approximately 1,300 yards south of the village of Oko Abe; thence in a general south-westerly direction to a point on the shore of the Bight of Benin approximately half a mile west of Mopo Ijebu village.

“South – Thence along the Colony boundary along the shore of the Bight of Benin to a point on the Lagos Township boundary, approximately 400 yards southwest from the village of Shango Jimi; thence in a general norther1y direction to a point on the Lagos Lagoon approximately three-quarters of a mile north of the village of Mobba; thence in a general northerly direction to the mouth of the Akoko Creek: thence in a general south-westerly direction along the westem shores of the Lagos Lagoon to a point on the Lagos Township boundary approximately three-quarters of a mile east of the village of Somolu…

” In the case of Eti-Osa, the boundary follows the south-easterly direction of the southem shore of Lagos Lagoon to the point of origin east of Badore village.

Ikate is situated to the west of this geographical definition of Eti-Osa, about three kilometers from Igbosere Creek, near where Mobil Oil Company’s headquarter is presently located, formerly the site of Oroke village, off Maroko – Epe Expressway.

According to the intelligence report on the Eti-Osa,

written by Mr. T. F. Barker, a former British colonial district officer, in 1949, Eti-Osa, & (a name meaning “lagoon-side” was suggested by the Revd. and Honourable T. A. J. Ogunbiyi), is a “wedge shaped tract of sand and swampland, some fifteen miles in length and tapering from six to two miles in breadth, bounded on the North by the Lagos lagoon: on the East by the Omu Creek and a straight line southward from the eastern end of Five Cowrie Creek through Kuramo Water to the sea.”

Barker’s report stated that “in the West (of this territory) there are wide expanse of barren marshland where nothing grows but reeds and coarse (tall) grasses.

The triangle of marsh between Maroko, Gedegede and Ogoyo (no longer in existence) which has been included in the Government anti-malarial drainage scheme as the ‘liado swamp area’ should soon provided (then) a valuable square mile or two for planned utilization, and the adjacent marshland extending eastwards to Ajiran offers opportunities for development when drained.”

This is the area that has become an economic growth area of modem day Lagos State, almost amounting to gold mine, in terms of land acquisition, both by public and private sectors of the economy.

ECONOMY – Eti-Osa was hitherto a badly neglected area, barren and inhospitable where the scant population made a precarious living from the sea, the swamps and the sandy soil of the area. The area in former times provided ground for animal hunters and other adventurers rather than seWed human population.

Fifty to sixty years ago, Eti-0sa area grew small food crop, to support its small population, while in the swamps and lagoon fish and edible snails were caught. Sea fishing is confined to the dry season when the sea is calm; this, however, was carried out by non-indigene Fanti fishermen. Coconut trees planted along the sea shore were used to manufacture copra; and oil palms were not harvested. The most lucrative trade was the sale of timber to Lagos for firewood and charcoal. But all these activities have now virtually ceased, except in the isolated communities on the lagoon shore. The entire people of Eti-Osa, apart from hosting modem houses, estates, office buildings and industries have embraced modem economic activities.

Ikate Land White Cap Chiefs

1. Odofin of Ikateland

Chief Kehinde Hassan Elegushi was born in 1932 at Moloney Bridge Street, now Adeniji Adele Street, Lagos. His father was late Mr. Musiliu Oriyomi Onikoyi Elegushi, and his mother was late Madam Raliat Olaniwun (nee Mase of Idumagbo Area of Lagos). He attended Primary School in Moba, after he engaged in fishing and farming before becoming an Ikate Chief. He is a member of Eti-Osa Chieftaincy Committee, and Chairman of Lagos Division, Fishermen Co-operative Association of Lagos State. He is married with many children.

 

2. Eletu of Ikate

Chief Lamidi Atanda Elegushi was born in the ancient city of Ikate over seventy years ago. His father was late Tijani Gbamgala Elegushi. He is a traditional health practitioner. He is also a member of the Chieftaincy Committee of Eti-Osa Local Government. He belongs to Kusenla Ruling House.

 

3. Olisa of Ikate

Chief Morufu Adisa Sanni Elegushi was born on 2^nd April 1944 at 80 at 80 Glover Street, Lagos to late Pa. Rahman Sanni Elegushi and late Madam Ashaita Elegushi from Ibeshe town in Awori Land. He attended Jamat -UI-Islamiyya School on Tokunbo Street, Lagos and later attended Oke Ibadan Boys High School in 1963.

He worked for U.T.C. Lagos (made to Measure Department) 1965 and Shade Boutique, Broad Street, Lagos in 1996. He is a Fashion Designer By profession and the Managing Director of M. A. S. Elegushi Fashions. He is a patron of Lagos state Union of Tailoring Association and a member of the chieftaincy Committee of Eti-Osa Local Government. He belongs to Odiyan branch of Elegushi Royal Family.

 

4. Aro of Ikate

Engineer Chief Kareem Olayiwola Bakare (Dip-lng) was born at Alarun compound in Isale-Eko on the 10^th of March, 1937. He is the son of late Pa. Hassan Idowu Bakare, and late Madam Ayisat Ashake Bakare. He attended Talim-UI-Islam Ahmadiyya School, Elegbata Lagos, and afterwards Ansar-Ur -Deen College, Isolo. He was trained as a Building Construction Engineer in Germany, specialising in HIGH-RISE Buildings. He was the Supervisor for Works and Housing under Eti-Osa Local Government from 1991-1993. He is the C. E. O. of HOCHBAU CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED. A Politician by calling.  He is a member of Eti-Osa Local Government Chieftaincy Committee and belongs to Bakare branch of Elegushi Royal Family.

 

5. Opemoluwa of Ikate

Chief Abdulahi Olusegun Tijani Elegushi was born in Ikate to late chief Tijani Elegushi. He is an Hotelier and a businessman who loves to travel. He is the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Association of African Traditional Religion, Nigeria, Lagos Chapter. He is also a member of the Chieftaincy Committee of Eti-Osa Local Government and belongs to Kusenla branch of Elegushi Royal Family.

 

6. Olowa of Ikate

Chief Sabitu Adekoya Elegushi was born in 1945. He is one of the sons of late Chief Tijani Elegushi. He is a businessman and the proprietor of Sabitex Hotels in Ajah.

After his education, he joined the Nigerian Army in December 1968 and served for 12 years. He was discharged as a Physical Instructor in 1980. Thereafter, he dabbled into private business practice and was later made a white cap Chief in Ikateland. He is married with children. He belongs to Kusenla ruling house.

 

 

7. Alaawe of Ikate

Chief Muritala A. Elegushi was born on January 15, 1946. His parents were late Muyibi Elegushi and late Osenatu Elegushi. After his education at the Local Government School, Moba (at the then old western region, Eti-Osa), he proceeded to Western College of Commerce, where he got acquainted and equipped with the rudiments of modern Business Administration.

Subsequently, he had a stint at S. B. Bakare’s company (a foremost, indigenous shipping firm), after which he was employed by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Moloney, Lagos Island. A veteran businessman, he currently sits on the board of a number of companies. He is happily married with children. He belongs to the Eru-Ifa branch of the royal family.