Oba Without a Throne Tackles Obi Without a Kingdom

ByEditor

Sep 10, 2025 #Dethroned Osun Monarch, #Engr. Chibuke Azubike, #Oba Omotoyosi Bayo Akinleye, #Oba Without a Throne, #Obi of Lagos State, #Obi Without a Kingdom, #Olukosi of Ilukosi-Ijesa

Reportedly Dethroned Osun monarch, Omotoyosi Bayo Akinleye.

Dethroned Osun monarch threatens self-styled Obi of Lagos

Femi Ashekun/

Nigeria’s love affair with titles has produced another spectacle, this time a dethroned Osun monarch squaring off with a self-styled Obi of Lagos.

On Tuesday, Oba Omotoyosi Bayo Akinleye, who continues to parade himself as the Olukosi of Ilukosi-Ijesa in Atakumosa West Local Government Area of Osun State, announced on X that he would file a petition against one Chibuke Azubike.

Akinleye’s post read, “I have directed my team to file a petition against one Chibuke Azubike parading himself as Obi of Lagos, and will bring this up at our Traditional Rulers Council meeting coming up this Friday. This act of provocation against our people will not go unanswered.”

Azubike, who describes himself as Engr. Chibuke Azubike, Obi of Lagos State, is promoting the unveiling of a 1.5 billion naira palace prototype at Apple Hall, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, on September 13, 2025.

The event is set to feature his first Ofala and New Yam Festival, alongside grand plans for a shopping plaza, office complex, guest house for Igbos in distress, and an event centre.

Yet Akinleye’s outrage comes with its own baggage. According to an April 2025 report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, his stool was declared vacant in October 2024 after persistent complaints from residents of Ilukosi-Ijesa.

They accused him of misconduct, terrorising the community, and threatening lives and property.

Oba Oluwagbemiga Omole, the Olumuroko-Ijesa of Muroko-Ijesa, stepped in and formally removed him from the chieftaincy position.

Despite this, Akinleye has continued to identify online as Kabiesi Oba Olukosi of Ilukosi-Ijesa, actively engaging in cultural debates and presenting himself as an authority figure.

Now, the dethroned monarch is calling out a self-crowned rival in Lagos, creating what many see as a clash of two parallel kingdoms, one lost and the other imagined.

The episode underlines a wider trend in Nigerian society, the swelling obsession with crowns, palaces, and titles, even when neither history nor tradition grants legitimacy.