Published By Olumide Donald on Sunday June 29, 2025.
In what can be best described as a bold cultural renaissance declaration, the Oba-Elect of the ancient Ajerogun Ogunshemi Kingdom, HRM Abdul-Azeez Salam Olaleye, has stated that his reign will be a golden era that will open the gates of Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA to the world through the full revitalization and global promotion of indigenous traditional religious festivals and sacred cultural celebrations.
Speaking during a press parley organized over the weekend to commemorate the Ajubo Oloosun Ajerogun Festival, the monarch in waiting described culture and religion as the soul of a people, and vowed that under his kingship, the glory of ancient Yoruba traditions would not only be preserved but celebrated on the global tourism stage.
” We have something sacred, something spiritually rich, something the world is hungry for, our heritage,” Oba- Elect Olaleye said. ”From the revered Oloosa Olokun (Goddess of the Lagoon), to the mysterious rites of the Oloosun Festival, and the majesticvOjude Ajerogun Day, the spiritual and ancestral vibrations of Ayobo-Ipaja will no longer be hidden.”
My reign shall make our festivals a global pilgrimage for cultural tourists,scholars,and lovers of African spirituality.
Ayobo-Ipaja, often associated with its dynamic urban sprawl and fast-growing real estate sector, has long been underestimated in terms of its deep cultural offerings. However, Oba-Elect Olaleye an advocate of indigenous knowledge systems and ancestral guardianship is set to rewrite that narrative.
The Oloosun Festival, historically held to appease and honour the deity of the sacred grove that shields the community, has in part years suffered dwindling attention due to urbanization and western influence. But the monarch promises to bring back its full pageantry, spiritual rites, and masquerade processions in a way that upholds tradition while embracing modern tourism packaging.
We will build infrastructure to accommodate international guests, organize symposiums around these festivals, invite traditional religion practitioners from across Africa and the diaspora, and collaborate with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism both at state and federal level, he added. ”Ajerogun will no longer be a suburb. It will be a sanctuary of heritage.”
Perhaps most exciting among his initiatives is the Ojude Ajerogun Day Which he describes as Ayobo-Ipaja’s answer to Ijebu-Ode famed Ojude Oba. ”The Ojude Ajerogun festival will serve as a grand convergence of indigenous title holders, warrior guilds, traditional religion devotees , drummers, hunters (ode) herbalists, women guilds, and royal families in ceremonial regalia.”
It will not just be a festival; it will be an economic driver, he said. ” We will host fashion showcases of traditional Yoruba attires, exhibit black soap and local cosmetics, organize food expos,centered around traditional cuisine, and involve schools and creative youth in pageants and poetry(ewi) that explore our deities and legends.”
The Oba-Elect also revealed plans to construct a Heritage Museum and Spiritual Tourism Village within Ajerogun Kingdom complete with shrines, courtyards, archives and performance stages that tell the stories of the ancestors and their paths.
HRM Abdul-Azeez Salam Olaleye, whose lineage traces directly to the founding fathers of Ogunshemi Ajerogun Kingdom, is widely regarded as a bridge between the ancient and the emerging. Educated in both Western and indigenous traditions, he us respected for his deep knowledge of IFA corpus, Yoruba cosmology ,and royal diplomacy.
His emergence has sparked enthusiasm across local communities and diasporic Yoruba networks, many of whom are planning to attend his coronation ceremony, slated for later this year.
Let the world know: Ogunshemi Ajerogun Kingdom is not just a name on the Lagos map. It is a living altar of African identity, and during my reign, we will offer the world a chance to kneel before it in respect and admiration, the monarch concluded.
With Lagos State already enjoying significant attention for its Afrobeat music, Nollywood, and art scenes, the rise of a culturally grounded monarch like Oba-Elect Olaleye may serve as a powerful pivot toward cultural tourism and traditional religion as economic catalysts.
It is hoped that the pronouncement of the Oba- Elect Should not only get the attention of Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Culture as expected but draw interest in exploring partnerships that would elevate Ayobo-Ipaja’s festivals into the state’s official cultural calendar.
For now, all eyes are on the sacred groves of Oloosun and the ancient trees of Ajerogun Kingdom, where drums are beginning to echo again, and ancestors are being summoned in anticipation of a new dawn.
For cultural partnership inquiries, festival media coverage, or international traditional pilgrim registration to Ojude Ajerogun 2026, contact the Ajerogun Cultural Heritage Palace Committee via a hero gun palaces gmail.com or call +2347031166951,+447438392801 or reach additional Email:abas_s_91@Yahoo.co.uk.
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