Only a rapscallion or brute from the bay of crooks could fault a King for exhibiting his divine right to love. Thus with no attempt at mischief, it couldn’t be wrong or distasteful for Oba Saheed Elegushi to fall head over heels in love again with another woman. And if the subject of his affection is none other than a drop-dead beauty, Hadiza Tanko, so be it.
You couldn’t fault Oba Elegushi for falling in love, and you couldn’t hate him for seeking her hand in marriage, even if you tried. Elegushi is reckoned to be at an impressionable age, his level of power, influence and street cred nevertheless, to actually take his eyes off fine females.
In Africa, especially in this part, kings enjoy massive royal influence so much that if they chose to teem their palaces with as many women as they so wish, they are not expected to be questioned by any human, rather, they should be given all the support to make their wishes come to fruition; this overriding influence is so pronounced in the South West that the Yorubas call kings ‘Kabiyesi,’ which literally translates to ‘he whose actions cannot be questioned.
Interestingly, however, debonair Lagos monarch, Oba Saheed Elegushi, officially married his second wife, Hadiza Tanko, in Yankaba, Kano State, Friday, May 3rd. Drop-dead gorgeous and light-skinned, Hadiza works in an oil and gas firm and has reportedly been warming the heart of the young monarch for a few years especially whenever the stress of monarchy and business become overwhelming. Though sources at the palace have not categorically confirmed the disposition of the King’s first wife, Olori Aramide Sekinat, obviously, it should not have come to her as much surprise because he is a king and polygamy comes with the terrain.
The shock, for her, close friends say, is that she and the king were high school lovers and being so cosmopolitan and young, polygamy, perhaps, shouldn’t have occurred. But she thought wrong. Married in 2003 at a colourful ceremony that had two of Nigeria’s biggest musicians, King Sunny Ade and K1 De Ultimate, on the bandstands, they are blessed with three adorable daughters.
But as it is constant with everything in life, change occurred. While Olori Aramide is still her beautiful self, her utopian role as the woman who titillates and tends to every need of the handsome monarch; the woman who ensures that the royal libido never lacks attention and excitement, has not dwindled. But, so besotted with the new Olori that Elegushi doesn’t let her out of his sight for too long else he would be lovelorn and forlorn.
In his early 40s, the Elegushi of Ikateland ranks as one of the youngest traditional rulers in the country. A graduate of the Lagos State University, he was a former personal assistant to the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He also worked with former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola before resigning in 2010 after it became apparent he would succeed his father as king of one of the largest and most exclusive communities in Lagos.
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