Ologudu of Ogudu, Oba Waheed Fashola In trouble Over Ogudu Foreshore

Information reaching Global News affirmed that the Ologudu of Ogudu, Oba Waheed Fashola is currently entangled in a land crisis that may threaten his throne and probably give him some level of disrespect from his subjects. The monarch is alleged to have sold lands at the Ogudu foreshore which actually belong to a top chieftain of a major political party in Lagos State. On requesting for the papers of the lands after they have made their payments, the monarch was said to have rebuffed their demands and also ignored their pleadings towards getting what they have paid for. The said lands, however, were said to be controlled and managed by a business crony of top politician, Prince Oladapo Eludoyin’s company, Paragon Holdings for development but ten years on, there is no development in sight. We also gathered that after several pleas by the people to give them their land papers, nothing concrete has been done by him. For now, the crisis is getting hotter by the day.
In the recent past, the people of the area were said to have divulged what transpired between them and the monarch to the media. Some of them who spoke said the Ologudu, Oba Waheed Fashola, had begun “a crusade of land acquisition” in the community under the guise of land ratification. When our correspondent visited the community, a good number of buildings could be seen bearing the inscription, “This land belongs to His Royal Majesty Oba Ologudu and the Fashola family.” The message was written both on the fences and the houses. The problem was said to have started when the monarch summoned the residents of the community to his palace and demanded they present their land documents. The residents, who spoke to our correspondent, said they preferred anonymity because they feared they might be harassed.
One of them, who resides on Alhaja Abass Street, said, “I bought my land in 1975 from the king’s father. Is it not strange that anybody would ask for my land documents at this point? “The good thing is that I still have my land documents to prove my ownership.” Some other residents insisted the king only wanted them to pay for their lands the second time. A septuagenarian landlady on Buari Street said the monarch demanded N15m from her. She said, “A fire incident destroyed part of my house about two years ago. “As I was planning to get it repaired, the king sent a message that I had to pay N15m on the land I built on. “I was shocked and sad. I can hardly eat a square meal in this bungalow. I have not even been able to completely repair the house since the fire accident.” The elderly woman’s house, like eight other houses on her street, bears the same inscription proclaiming the monarch’s ownership of the land. Another resident, an octogenarian, told the media that though his land was not affected, he was apprehensive about what might happen later to the house he completed in 1978.
He said, “The landlords of most of the houses affected are dead, which is why I think the monarch focused on them, because nobody will challenge him. “I bought my house as a free hold. That is, I am free from any other demands or encumbrances on the land. If the king feels that the lands were not legally bought, why did he not charge the landlords to court? “It is so sad that the monarch has threatened to demolish the graves in some houses he has taken over.” But the monarch’s spokespersons have said the residents were being economical with the truth of the matter.
However, his son, Mr. Adebisi Fashola, and a chief, Durojaye Alakoso, who spoke on his behalf, said they were privy to the issue. Alakoso said, “The arrangement between three ruling houses in Ogudu – Atiku, Abibu and Sadiku – was that there should be a ratification of lands in the community. The ratification is to solve the controversy among the ruling houses. Two of the ruling houses had felt that only the other family had benefitted from the sales. “You should understand that there are three categories of land ownership in this community – free hold, leasehold and gift. The king only asked that the residents should bring their documents to confirm their ownership of the land in order to ratify them and re-establish their ownership.”