Power has changed hands in Oniru, that highbrow area of Lagos where Oba Gbolahan Lawal, the immediate past Commissioner of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Lagos State, now reigns as the paramount ruler.
Until September 2019, Oba Idowu Oniru was the Oniru of Iruland. He was enthroned in 1994 after the interregnum that followed the death of his father and the former King, Chief Yesufu Oniru, who reigned for 50 years before his death in 1984 at the age of 120. So, the Onirus are thoroughbred royalty.
And the late Oniru’s sons – especially Aremo Segun, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development; Ademola, who manages Oniru Beach on the other hand; and Tijani, a businessman, lived up to their royal heritage.The Oniru boys superintended over the multi-billion naira Oniru Royal Family Estate including schools and residential estates and their influence extended to as far as the Eko Atlantic City. They are filthily wealthy and make no bones about it.
They were the ticker tape to measure the social pulse of the Island social circuit. They lived large and loud. No party was complete without them on the Island. Many a time, never look too far when you see billionaire Aliko Dangote in a social gathering; Aremo Adesegun was either lurking in the shadows or properly sat beside him.
His royal background got him a seat at the table of industrialists and billionaires and technocrats.In the amplified arrogance of their persona, they offended many but were too blind by their royal immunity or so to notice. Reality, however, has begun to dawn on them that life is transient and tables turn.
When the former Oniru died last year, 17days after his 82nd birthday, a struggle for his successor began. The Onirus had ruled the kingdom for about 75years altogether at the expense of other ruling houses and Adesegun wanted to continue where his father and grandfather left off. Justice prevailed, however, when Oba Gbolahan Lawal from the Abisogun Ruling House was enthroned last June.
One of the first things Oba Gbolahan Lawal did was to instruct all banks housing funds belonging to the family to immediately place a ‘Post No Debit’ order on all the accounts. The warning was directed to First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank.
In a public notice signed by Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), the counsel for the new monarch, the new Oniru also called on all tenants and lessees to stop transacting with any individual. Further, the monarch said the British International School, Oniru, is owned by the royal family, not just the Onirus, and asked the bankers to the school, GTB, to comply strictly with this directive. This announcement did not go down well with the immediate past ruling family and their scions who went about like they were still in charge. They forgot that there was a new sheriff in town.
The Day Tijani Oniru Will Never Forget
We are not sure whether Tijani, has fully recovered from the comprehensive beating he got recently, but reports say he is getting better and cursing his luck for venturing into an unfamiliar terrain; pugilism. By the time he was extricated from their vicious grip, Tijani had been to hell and back and sucking for air where there wasn’t. Days back, a video emerged showing Tijani being molested by security officials of the palace.
Another video showed Aremo Adesegun also being manhandled by the irate security officials before he fled the scene. Sources said that contrary to Oba Lawal’s order, the family of the late monarch continued to exercise control over some of the properties which they claimed belonged to them and not to the royal family.
One of such actions reportedly led to the fracas which the new Oniru condemned in very strong terms and had a security official suspended while promising to investigate the matter. He has not rescinded the order, by the way, leaving Adesegun, Ademola and Tijani and other such Onirus wishing that they could turn back the hands of time or even rouse their father from his eternal slumber.
Power has indeed changed hands in Oniru. Yesterday’s powerful princes are now near-powerless!
