His Royal Majesty, Allayeilua, Oba Babatunde Saliu, Elebo 2, Oloworo of Oloworo and Kosofe Land, has reiterated that there is no cause for alarm that his kingdom is peaceful.
He made this known while speaking to the pressmen during activities to celebrate the traditional 21st day of Ascension on the throne, held at the palace on Tuesday.
“I feel great. I feel so excited. I feel good because my kingdom has been peaceful, calm, and business activities have been going on well. There’s no report of any form of criminality, no fighting, everybody is happy. That makes it feel great,” he said.
According to him, on his 21st day on the throne, “It has been a beautiful, smooth journey so far. Tradition demands we celebrate certain days on ascending the throne, like the third day; IPA, seventh day; Eje, 9th day; Isan, 14th day; Erinla, and 21st day. We are celebrating today on the throne.”
Speaking on the alleged dispute among the Saliu children over the throne, he advised journalists to always endeavor to investigate any claims for a balance of reportage.
He said, “I think people have been misinformed. I do tell journalists that when people send you certain information, you should try to balance it. If someone tells you a place is not peaceful, or they give you a particular report on certain things, it’s your own duty to go and verify that information before putting it on the internet. Before putting it out as information, you need to balance it,” he advised.
He continues, “If you go round the whole of Oworonshoki, and Kosofe at large, you will see how happy the people are. One person out of a million cannot say because he’s not satisfied that the community should standstill. It’s not possible.
“Ever since I ascended this throne, the community has been very peaceful, and the people have been very happy. Go round the town, and make your findings; the people have been so happy; the Igbo, the Yoruba, and the Hausas. The Saliu family, as you said, is a very big family. Every other member of the family is fine. They are happy.
“If you go round the whole of Oworonshoki, and Kosofe at large, you will see how happy the people are. One person out of a million cannot say because he’s not satisfied that the community should standstill. It’s not possible. Ever since I ascended this throne, the community has been very peaceful, and the people have been so happy.”
Continuing, he noted, “I didn’t make myself a king. I went through the normal process, the process of selection. We have seven kingmakers. Then, I have four, the other person has two, and I remain neutral. So what are we talking about? They held a series of meetings in the community before you could become a king. We have the elders of Oworoshoki. It was a unanimous decision among them. Not even one person was against my selection as Oba of Oworonshoki,” Oba Babatunde recounted.
The monarch further set the record straight, saying it’s only Bashir Oloruntoyin Saliu’s ruling entitled to the throne.
“The youth, we had a meeting among the Saliu children. We have only one ruling house in Oworonshoki, which is the Bashir Oloruntoyin Saliu ruling house, not Salami Ogejo, or Alagbe.
“And it was clearly stated in our declaration that whoever is to become King must be literate and educated. Because that is what our father cherished most.”
He gave us every avenue and everything to ensure that we have that education to the best of what we can do,” Oba Babatunde stated.
“The highly sophisticated, experienced, and exposed Oloworo assured residents of Olowonshoki of full-scale development and total transformation of the community in the next few years. I have the capacity, I have the intellectual capacity, and I am capable. I have the connections needed to bring development to this community. They should expect nothing less than development.
“Just give us a few years, and you will see the kind of transformation that comes to Oworonshoki,” he said.
He urged the aggrieved people to return home so that we could all work together to build this kingdom.
“There’s no way everybody in the kingdom will like their oba, even some family members. We know they are aggrieved. The palace is open. We stretch out our hand of fellowship. We want everybody to come back. We will take everybody back together. We can build this kingdom. Everybody is welcome back. It’s supposed to be a collective responsibility to develop the Oworonshoki kingdom.”
In his goodwill message, Oba, Babatunde Saliu, Elebo 2, thanked everybody for their support and everything they have done.