BY IYABO AINA

Indigenes, dignitaries and residents of Badagry recently swarmed the Ajido open field, for the coronation ceremonies of the new Oba of Ajido community in Badagry, Saheed Adamson, an event described by one excited onlooker as  “historic.” However, to the Chairman of Iwuye planning committee of Aholu Topon Toyiaga 1 of Ajido, Mr. A. O. S. Hodonu, “this grand event is not just about wining, dining and dancing, it is an occasion to have a sober reflection of our past and to prepare for the future.”

•Saheed Adamson, the new Oba
of Ajido community Badagry

The crowning of Adamson as the 11th  king of the community was really historic for a people whose trade revolves round small scale fishing, mat weaving, cutting and selling of firewood. Though the town is gradually stepping into industrialisation and modern commercial activities, the coronation was a cultural and a secular break from daily routine; and the live performance a local music star made it a festival.

The Governor of Lagos State, his Deputy, members of the state House of Assembly, members of the executive councils, commissioners, were among the early arrivals.

Mr. Hodonu said:  “We are grateful to the kingmakers of Ajido, who held forth and ruled Ajido Kingdom after the demise of the last Aholu and who remained unwavering in their stand and who were courageous in their conviction that the right person must be appointed as the Aholu of Ajido.”

Speaking after the installation ceremony, the newly-installed Aholu of Ajijo Kingdom, Saheed Adamson, expressed his gratitude to the kingmakers and indigenes of Ajido kingdom, home and abroad, for their general acceptance and priceless support of his kingship.

He described the day as an historical one, adding “I salute the courage and understanding of all. This day is historic in the sense that Ajido people generally supported me to be their new king after my immediate predecessor, late S. P. Idowu passed on. ‘’We need the cooperation of all and sundry. I call on everybody to join hands with me in the task of building the town. Ajido cannot afford to stand still; we must strive as we enter a new era to develop our Land. ‘’I call on the people of Ajido, most especially youths for the development of Ajido kingdom, the state and the country at large.”