A former journalist, Professor Adeyemi Abdulkabir Obalanlege II, will today (Thursday) be handed the staff of office as the Olota of Otta, Awori Kingdom by the Ogun State Governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.
Obalanlege who was announced in November 2017 as the Olota-elect will become the 13th Olota, Ado-Odo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The coronation ceremony is expected to witness turn out of traditional rulers and dignitaries from and outside Ogun State. The event will take place 11 am at the Ansarul Deen Comprehensive College, Ota.
Governor Amosun is the Special Guest of Honour while the Executive Chairman of Ado-Odo Local Government Area, Hon Bashiru Adeniji and the Commissioner for Local Government, Chief Jide Ojuko will serve as Chief Host and Guest of Honour in that order.
Obalanlege who emerged following unanimous votes by five surviving out of 12 kingmakers of the town succeeds Moshood Alani Oyede, who joined his ancestors in 2016.
Speaking with newsmen after the emergence of Obalanlege, the Ekerin of Olota, Chief Bamgboye Akanbi Osunlabi described the selection exercise as successful.
He said, “I have the honour to present the certificate of return to the new Oba-elect and I want to express my joy for this very successful exercise which took us a lot of processes to arrive at this decision today including consultation of the oracle to guide our decision.
“The result is 5-0, we have five king makers and all of them voted for Prince Adeyemi Obalanlege.”
The chief added that in arriving at the decision, the educational background and family background of the contestants were critically considered.
The 52-year-old Oba-elect is an alumnus of Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta (now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic).
Obalanlege, who defeated 22 others to emerge was a United Kingdom based journalist and a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Crescent University, Abeokuta.
He was born in Lagos on the 29th of August, 1966 to Prince Hassan Taiwo Obalanlege of Ijemo Compound and Mrs Mutiat Afolake Obalanlege of Isoloshi Compound, Ota.
Obalanlege is a member, National Union of Journalists (NUJ), United Kingdom and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. He was before now a lecturer at the University of East London, England and University of Lincoln, England.
