• Lagos paramount ruler and chief bury the hatchet after protracted conflict
It is the nature of a monarch to brook no dissension from his subjects, his palace chiefs inclusive; thus when Erelu Abiola Dosunmu rebelled against the wish of His Royal Majesty (HRM), Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, she inadvertently incited royal wrath upon herself.
Until very recently, Erelu Dosunmu and Oba Akiolu had a protracted, bitter tiff that erupted at the beginning of Akiolu’s reign as the Oba of Lagos. The root of the quarrel extended as far back as the reign of Oba Akiolu’s predecessor, the late Oba Adeyinka Oyekan; Erelu Dosunmu’s closeness to the late monarch had persistently elicited dissatisfaction among some of her fellow chiefs. They were dissatisfied by her very close relationship with the late monarch; many of them detested the fact that she sat very close to his throne even though Oba Oyekan saw nothing wrong about her decision to place her seat very close to the throne.
However, Oba Akiolu’s refusal to allow retain her seat very close to the throne infuriated Erelu Dosunmu who allegedly felt ridiculed by his decision to keep her at a distance and assert his traditional superiority over her. This led to Erelu Dosunmu’s stomping out of Iga Iduganran (The Oba of Lagos’ Palace) and a bitter conflict which dragged on for a few years ensued. But for the intervention of prominent Lagosians, the dispute would have continued with both parties hoisting their flags in a no holds barred battle of will and might.
Now that their dispute has been resolved, Oba Akiolu and Erelu Dosunmu have evolved a friendly and very pleasant relationship; the Erelu has found in Oba Akiolu, both a confidant and a father-figure.
