The Abepa of Joga Orile, HRM Oba Dr Adeyemi Olanrewaju Adekeye is a popular figure who has always been in the news for all positive reasons. He is a very stylish royal father who is gradually transforming the small town of Joga Orile in Yewa North, Ogun State into a city.
Lagori III as he is popularly called left his financial expertise and comfortable lifestyle in Houston Texas in to answer a divine call by ascending the ancient throne of his forefathers and ever since, Joga Orile has been getting better by the day.
His tactics are very simple, he has very rich and connected men and women in his cabinet and they make use of all they have to reposition Joga Orile and its people. In the last 19 years of his reign, the Abepa has a lot to point at as achievements, the former small-town first of all has been legally enlarged; those who illegally encroached his territory have been shown the way out.
City People’s Brands Editor, DAMILARE SALAMI 08155134152 with Senior Photojournalist, ABDULRASHEED SANNI visited Oba Dr Adekeye in his palace last week and in an exclusive interview, revealed a lot about himself, his lifestyle, love life, Joga Orile and a few other interesting topics. Below are excerpts from the interview, enjoy.
Kabiyesi, congratulations on the successful hosting of the 2021 Obalaju Festival. What is this festival all about?
The festival, Obalaju Day is about our founder, the Abepa himself. He was a human being like us. So it’s not about any deity or idol. He was a man that came from Oyo to this place and founded Joga Orile so many years ago.
So does that mean that the people of Joga Orile are the descendants of Oyo?
Yes, and that is why you will see me on this Abeti Aja cap, I don’t put on any other cap because we are the descendants of the old Oyo empire.
You are very stylish too. Can you tell us what informs your fashion style?
I’ve travelled all over and I before I became an Oba, I’ve been seeing some Obas that I really like and while I was in the US, I will be seeing people like Oba Tejuosho moving majestically in his royalty and I really like things like that. And I knew that one day, I was going to become an Oba because my first name is Adeyemi and when they checked my ‘akosejaye’ destiny as a young child, and everybody knows that I’m going to become a king.
Including you?
Well… maybe yes because around 1990/91, I became the Bashorun of this town and when they wanted to install me, I was instructed to hold the ‘ewe oye’ that’s the leaf that signifies my installation as a king, instead of having it attached to the cap on my head. And I was told that another title is still coming for me. However, I didn’t know that my predecessor wanted me to be closer to the throne and home, that was why he made me the Bashorun of Joga Orile. In 1997 when he passed on, I was at Allen Avenue in Lagos where I had a finance house that I was running and people started hailing me and greeting me Kabiyesi and I said no, it’s not yet time, not now, so I returned to the USA and in the year 2002, I was told to come back home to ascend the throne of my forefathers in Joga Orile. You see, by his grace, come December 2022, I will be celebrating my 20th year on the throne and it’s going to be in a big way by the grace of God.
It’s been over 19 years now that you have ascended this throne. Kabiyesi, I am sure that Joga Orile was not as beautiful as it is now 19 years ago. Why did you leave Houston Texas where you had it all to become the Oba of Joga Orile that had virtually nothing?
Hmmm, you know this is a calling, anyone that becomes an Oba without buying his way through has received a calling and must treat his rulership as such. In my own case, I didn’t lobby to become the Abepa of Joga Orile, everything had been perfected at the ministry of Chieftaincy even before I returned to Nigeria. I didn’t even step my foot at the ministry, everything had been done, I had no reason to lobby for anything. If anyone becomes an Oba in that manner, such a person must know that his kingship is a calling. When I came here, I realized that I had a lot of jobs to be done and that there is a need to promote Joga Orile.
There are obvious transformations in 19 years; for record purposes I want you to enumerate some of the things you have done to transform Joga Orile into the cosmopolitan town it is now…
We’ve done a lot of things by his grace, before now, Joga was just over there, over there where you see only burial grounds, but I knew that it wasn’t our boundary, Joga was bigger than that and I am very familiar with the history books. So, we extended Joga to the correct boundary landmark and we were dragged to court, a series of court cases but we won. We won because I know they don’t know the history of this place and I know where my kingdom stops. In the 1600s, the Abepa used to stay over there, known as Oke Pamolekun but has been changed to Oke Pamolerin, where he collects taxes. Abepa was a warrior, there were four of them that moved from the Oyo empire to settle here, the Adope Idan Okoto, the Asakan, the Olubeshe of Ibeshe and the Orona of Ilaro. They all started from here but you know that right now, some people just re-write history anyhow. There’s Igbo Ilaro behind me here but we are the town that the white men discovered to be with a proper monarchical system of government. They didn’t install an Oba in Joga Orile because they met a crowned king when they came. We could be a small town but we are a first-class town; there are 18 towns in Yewa axis and Jiga is one of them. You don’t name the first-class town by size but by history and Joga has a very rich and robust history in the making of Yewa and Ogun State at large.
Away from Joga, let’s come back to the Abepa himself. I know that you like the golf game and play it a lot. Why?
Well, I was not so fond of playing golf at an early stage but I find it very relaxing now. Golf is not a game that requires me to run a 100 miles before I play neither does it require me to exercise for a long time before I play it. It’s a game anyone can play for leisure with their friends and you enjoy it very much. I am in love with golf now and it’s a way for me to relax and right now, we have a golf course in Joga Orile. Not many towns can boast of that in Ogun State. Maybe Abeokuta, Ijebu and a few other big places only have golf courses. When you leave Abeokuta, the next place to play golf is Joga Orile.
Let’s talk about the job you had and businesses before you became the Abepa of Joga Orile. What exactly was it you were doing?
I was in the US and I was a financial expert, and then when I came back to Nigeria, I started my own finance house called SIVORY FINANCE on Allen Avenue in Ikeja. But around 1996, former military head of state, General Sani Abacha closed down all the finance houses in Nigeria, so the company folded up. I also had a courier service company also known as Sivory courier also on Allen Avenue. But after my finance house was closed down, I moved back to the US and I put one of my brothers in charge of the courier business. That was what my journey looked like until I was called upon in 2002 to come and ascend this throne which I still occupy to date.
What is your plan for Joga Orile going forward?
We cannot completely transform this place at once, it is a gradual process. Now, we have different projects that I feel we a lacking. As we speak, we lack a fueling station here. I remembered that I tried to fix that in 2004 but I was sued in court because some people felt that the land belonged to them but we have won the case and the project has started again. Very soon, we are going to have a fueling station here. Right now, we now have a garri processing firm, where our farmers can now supply their cassavas, Garri Joga is produced here by one of our daughters and that has provided jobs for a good number of youths. I can go on and on. We thank God that has given us life to be able to do these and we believe that we will still do more.
I also observed that you have rich and well-connected chiefs in your cabinet. How did you come about that?
That’s quite simple to fathom, take your boss, for instance, I know that I need him here, so I made him a chief. If you could remember, I asked you if your boss knew that you were here when you first arrived, and you said he sent you, that’s a connection because I don’t have to pay. He knows that he’s a part of us here and he is supporting the community in the way that he could. But if someone else wants the service of City People, you have to call them and pay for whatever you want them to do, but City People know that their Kabiyesi is celebrating and they have to be there. And notably, also, most of my chiefs are also my old friends, some of them were my schoolmates while some were those with whom I left Nigeria a long time ago and because they know me, I called them to come and help me develop my town, that’s why some of them have become chiefs here. Giving anybody a chieftaincy title now is for development and nothing more. Gone are those days when people insinuate that when they confer a chieftaincy title on anyone, he is being dragged into a secret cult. No! not for me, I will make you a chief anytime so that you will help me develop my town. I know you are so smart and that’s why you have money, so you will teach me some of your skills that I lack, I know they will advise me, I will listen and get the right answer to whatever problem it is we are faced with. They are all my friends, they like me and I love them too.
Sir, you have a very young and beautiful Olori. How did you meet her?
See my beautiful Olori over there, she’s a very young and beautiful woman. You know me, I am in my sixties now… well, I think I married her by chance. We met in England and when I first saw her, I was wowed and I promised myself that I will marry her. And you know me, I’m a smooth talker and I talked to her but she was adamant. I kept on talking and when she saw that I was serious, she had to fall and she fell yakata… (laughs). We’ve been together since then and she’s been so nice to me, she’s a very wonderful and industrious woman. Her name is Olori Adenike Ayinke Adekeye. We became very close and she moved all the way from London down to Joga and we started doing some businesses together.
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