•Amb. TOYE OKANLAWON Tells City People
In the next few days, the ancient city of Abeokuta will come alive again as popular Lagos businessman, Ambassador Toye Okanlawon will be installed as the next Bobagunwa of Egbaland. He will become the 3rd Bobagunwa, coming after the late Chief M.K.O Abiola and Chief Bode Mustapha, the last holder of the title, who is now the Osi of Egbaland.
Already, Ambassador Toye Okanlawon, an Egba man is close to the Alake and he has been representing Kabiyesi at social functions, whenever the Alake can’t make it. How does he feel about the new title, City People asked him a few days ago? “I feel elated,” he responded. “I feel happy. If I say I am elated, like I have said, it is an understatement. The first thing is, I give God all the glory because it wasn’t expected. Exactly, on July 2nd, 2020, I was with my mother in Abeokuta, before she passed. At about 8 0’clock in the morning, I was pushing her in her wheelchair, so I pushed her to a point. And she looked back and said to me, “very, very soon, you are going to be celebrated at the palace.” I said “Mama, no, celebrate how? I don’t see how that will happen. I am not jostling to become anything. I am close to Baba Alake. I like him. He likes me. Everything is okay. I am satisfied with the life I am living. I said Mama, I don’t have any other ambition in life. I am not looking forward to any other thing. I am satisfied with my life. Mama, I know you are from the royal family. I don’t want to become King. There is even no vacancy. Baba Alake will live long and long in good health, love and happiness. We all love him.”
She said, “what I mean is that I saw many many people. They gathered together and they were celebrating you at the palace.” I said “Mama, that is not possible. I don’t understand what you are saying.” She said, “that is what I saw, my son.”
To God Almighty. You can’t believe it. I had my friends, my immediate sister and my niece with me that day. I entered my living room and wrote everything down. Exactly, 2 or 3 weeks after, I was in my house in Lagos, with the same friend that was with me in Abeokuta that day and another uncle of mine. You can’t believe what happened.
The Alake called me at about 9.40 am. He said, “Ambassador, how are you? He said, ni agbara Olorun, by the grace of God, you are the next Bobagunwa of Egbaland.” I said wow! I was just laughing. I thought Kabiyesi was making fun of me, maybe he was teasing me. I said, Kabiyesi, Bobagunwa kee? How? Why? He said yes, you deserve it. You have worked for it. He said by the grace of almighty God, nothing and absolutely nothing will make me to change my mind. I didn’t know what to say again.
Kabiyesi said I am just telling you. So that you can be prepared. I was further shocked. After my conversation with Kabiyesi, all those with me asked if I knew about this before, and I said No.
Interestingly, I am close to those who were Bobagunwas before me. The 1st Bobagunwa, Chief M.K.O Abiola was my uncle and I served him for over 19 years. It wasn’t anything that I ever dreamt of. That one day I will be Bobagunwa of Egbaland. Chief Bode Mustapha was the 2nd Bobagunwa, now he is my very good egbon. A week after Kabiyesi said Chief Bode Mustapha is going to be the Osi of Egbaland. I said okay.
But to be honest with you, since Kabiyesi told me I have been running away and dogging Kabiyesi. Everyone has been asking me, when are you coming for your chieftaincy Iwuye. I kept postponing it because, to be honest with you, I was not expecting it. When the late Alake, Oba Lipede was there, I was very close to him also. And I ran away from this Kabiyesi, for so many years because of this thing. One day Kabiyesi called me. He said you are running away from taking a title. I have one for you. You are Asafoye of Egbaland. And we all laughed about it. I said Kabiyesi I like that one. Just like child’s play, everybody started calling me Bobagunwa. I started begging them, stop calling me Bobagunwa, when I have not been installed. And they kept telling me, that is what Kabiyesi wants.
But let me quickly tell you that I appreciate Kabiyesi very much. He has been a father. To be honest with you again. I never knew I was doing Bobagunwa’s job when I was going on assignments with him, and when he will send me on errands. I never knew I was indirectly doing the job until it now dawned on me that actually, I have been serving as Bobagunwa. As Chief Bode Mustapha said, this is the only Bobagunwa that has really performed that role. He said when I was Bobagunwa I was busy looking for money. But my brother, Aburo, Ambassador Okanlawonhas been serving, even before he became Bobagunwa. I now told Kabiyesi, I said okay, gladly, I will give you a date. On April 22nd by the Grace of Almighty God, I will be 66. In all honesty, I have never been celebrated in my life. I have celebrated my mother, my children, getting married, and doing things, but I have never at one point in life said I want to celebrate myself. So, I said okay, it is an opportunity for me. I will use that day to celebrate myself. On all my major birthdays something will happen and I won’t be able to celebrate. I now decided that this year, whether the devil likes it or not, I am going to celebrate my birthday. So, I want to use that opportunity to do my Iwuye. That is the genesis of the whole thing.
How important is the Bobagunwa title in Egbaland? “In one of the researches I did on Google, I saw the Bobagunwa title there. I was shocked to see the definition is there, saying the one that reigned with the King. I think it was Chief Bode Mustapha that said your role is to be the Chief of Staff to the Alake of Egbaland.
Accompany him on a mission, go on errands for him. You advise him. Stay with him in council. So many things. It was then it now dawned on me that I have a lot to do.
I want to thank the Alake for saddling me with this big responsibility because ever since then, people have been calling me Bobagunwa ooo. He has been giving me a lot of assignments and I have been representing him at functions.
I am beginning to enjoy it. Let me put it that way. (Smiles)”.
He is a very popular man, well-loved by everybody. How does this makes him feel “I feel happy about it? I have been around for a very long time. Years back, Sir Shina Peters waxed a record in my name.
With you, Dele Momodu and others, we have come a very long way. We have paid our dues. I thank God that all these happened while one has kept a good name. God has helped me to preserve my name. I thank God. To the glory of God, I see myself in a situation where I need to preserve my name more and sustain that title. The Bobagunwa of Egbaland is a big title. Chief Abiola played the role, very, very well.
Chief Bode Mustapha did the same also. Being the 3rd Bobagunwa of Egbaland, I promise myself, I promise God and I promise the Alake that I will take that office not only to the next level but to a higher level. So God help me.
I am really, really looking forward to that level. Right now, I am an elect. I trust God that after the 22nd of April, I will be fully established in that office. God will help me to do”.
He is from an illustrious family in Egbaland and we asked him to tell us a bit about his pedigree. “My mother is from the lineage of the late Oba Ademola. My mother actually lived in the palace. My mother married from the palace. And my father, late Chief James Olawale Okanlawon, is the Balogun of Egba Christians, from Keesi, Abeokuta.
To the glory of God, the name has been preserved up to this minute.
But to be honest with you, I thank God for where I came from, from the family I come from. But I am more interested in taking that particular office of Bobagunwa of Egbaland to another level.
And even if I am nobody, the title carries a weight that makes it very, very important. And I know that I need to preserve that stool so that the title of Bobagunwa of Egbaland will be highly revered everywhere. Where I come from matters, but to me, what I make of the title matters a lot to me.”
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