Biography
Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo: Biography, Education, Wife, Children, Source of Wealth and More
Biography
Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, CFR, Okukenu IV was born on September 14, 1943 in Abeokuta. He is currently 78-year-old and would be 79 years old by September 14, 2022.
He is a nephew of the 8th Alake, Oba Samuel Adesina Gbadebo II.
Oba Adedotun emerged ahead of eight other contenders with 15 votes out of 23.
He ascended the Ake throne in August 2005 but was formally crowned on the 19th of November that year.
The King kept a low profile and lived a very simple life.
He is the 10th Alake to rule over the Egba Kingdom.
Education
Oba Adedotun Gbadebo III attended the prestigious Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta. Then Ibadan Grammar School to complete his secondary school education.
He was later offered admission at the University of Ibadan, where he studied Arts before graduating in 1969.
Career/Source of Wealth
Upon graduation from the University, the monarch was enlisted into the Army in the same year.
He began his military staff training at command and staff college, Jaji and graduated in August 1979
Oba Gbadebo III served in the Nigerian Army and rose to become a Colonel before he retired to ascend the throne.
While in the military, he enjoyed a great network of working with some of the nation’s ruling elites.
He served as Principal Staff Officer to Tunde Idiagbon, Major General Tunde Idiagbon, the then Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters, Dodan Barrack.
Alake of Egbaland has spoken about how his experience in the military influenced his life and helped him become an effective leader.
The monarch currently serves as the Chairman of the board of Oando PLC.
Marriage
Monarchs are known to have lots of women in their marriages, but Oba Gbadebo Adedotun is an exception.
Oba Michael Adedotun Gbadebo has been married to only one woman – Olori Tokunbo Majekodunmi Gbadebo. They got married in 1971.
When asked in an interview if he has any plan of marrying more women like other monarchs, the King said polygamy is not his thing.
“I am not into that, that was their own preference at that time.” he said.
In another interview, he noted; “Well, you see, an Oba is allowed to have as many wives as possible. When you have many wives, eventually, there could be a disagreement with anyone of them.
“Any Oba can acquire as many wives as possible. My own grandmother was the 15th wife of my grandfather. So if my grandfather had stopped with one wife, he would not have given birth to my father, and my father would not have given birth to me.”
There is presently no media report about any of his children. (We will update this article once we have any).
Achievement
Gbadebo while in the military was decorated with the Forces Service Star and the Defence Service Medal.
The monarch is a recipient of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) award.
Oba Adedotun Gbadebo III is very obsessed with the positive development of his kingdom, stating that his ascension has been preordained to bring good things to Egbaland.
“And I knew that it was predicted that during the time of the 10th Alake, so many developments would happen. So when it happened that I became the 10th Alake, I told people that I should be a goal-getter. That is why I was in a hurry to see good development happen in Egbaland.” He said in an interview
The monarch owns the Alake Adedotun Gbadebo Health Initiative which is a special intervention for the wellbeing of Egbaland.
In 2020, the king under his foundation, The Oba Gbadebo Foundation, initiated an operation (Kill Coronavirus and Hunger Virus).
Through this operation, he was able to distribute relief materials to widows, children, physically challenged, and vulnerable youths.
In 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Oba Gbadebo Adedotun Gbadebo III as the pioneer Chancellor of Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, FUNAI, Abakaliki.
Saddest Time in Alake’s Life
In a a press briefing in 2015 said; “August 28, 2005 was the saddest day in my life. It was the first night that I spent at Ipebi, which is a secluded place where by tradition Egba kings are kept for three months under difficult conditions as a way of teaching them the poorest man’s style.”
He said when he got to the place, he discovered that there was only latrine instead of water closest toilet and there was no bed or mattress so he had to sleep on a mere mat.
His words: “The room was seven by seven metres wooden house without any window, that was 10 years ago. In fact, it was really a bad night, the experience was worse than when I was in the army.
“Anyway, it was a kind of training and I had to go through that for three months.”
Dethronement move
The monarch during the press conference recalled that based on a harmless comment he made that roads in his domain were in deplorable condition hence the government in power then should do something about it, the immediate past administration (Gbenga Daniel administration in Ogun state) misinterpreted that to mean he was criticising them and therefore in their view “the government must return fire by fire” and initiated moves to dethrone him.
He said what changed their mind was Chief Duro Onabolu’s article at that time that there was an existing court ruling that no governor had the power to dethrone a king.
“The foremost journalist, (Onabolu) wrote a two-part article on that question you’re asking me now, saying there is a law court ruling which said no governor has a power to dethrone any Oba.
“The court pronouncement came from Abeokuta here, government didn’t appeal that judgment and so it remains, that was what he was telling that government that you haven’t got that power. Try it and you will fail and the shame will be too much for you.
“But in the text the governor sent, he said ‘Alake has joined the group of people criticising us, we must return fire with fire’, but I don’t like fire and I don’t work with fire either. So, I didn’t criticise government, I only commented on bad roads and I didn’t say they have been spending money on something else instead of fixing the road, I didn’t say they must do the road all over, I only asked them to fix the potholes.”
The monarch, who however emphasised that he bore no grudge against anybody, but admitted that it was a trying period for him, said his mission was to render selfless service to his people, adding that he was glad that during his time, Egbaland had witnessed an unprecedented development.
Years later while talking about the governor at the time (Gbenga Daniel), Alake of Egbaland said; “He (Gbenga Daniel) was my junior in school, so naturally, what happened would never have happened, but the people who surrounded him, deified him. They probably told him that if Alake could be talking about bad roads in Abeokuta, then he is one of your enemies, you must fight him.”
Iyalode’s suspension
The Alake of Egbaland in 2016 suspended, from office, the Iyalode of Egbaland, Chief Alaba Lawson for alleged disrespect to the throne of the Alake. The indefinite suspension of the Iyalode was contained in letter dated May 13, 2006, addressed to her but was circulated to newsmen yesterday in Abeokuta the Ogun State capital.
The letter of suspension signed by the Apena of Egbaland Chief Olugboyega Dosumu, reads “I am directed by his Royal Majesty, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Okukenu iv, Alake of Egbaland and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland to inform you that in consonance with members of Egba Chieftaincy Committee, you are placed on indefinite suspension from office of Iyalode of Egbaland for your disrespect and insult to the throne and the person of the Alake of Egbaland.”
Oba Adedotun on MKO Abiola
Late Nigerian politician, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (MKO Abiola) was an alumnus of Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta, Ogun state, which the king also attended.
Speaking about Abiola in an interview, Oba Adedotun said; “If he (Abiola) had not been a Muslim, he would have been a school prefect. This is because in BBHS only Christians were made prefects, maybe because the school was Christian religion-oriented. Every morning you would have sermons, every Tuesday you would have prayer meetings.
“We did not have any hall, but there was a chapel where we did everything. And MKO Abiola learnt a lot from that school. He was a very brilliant person who would sit down for a few minutes to put down a solid and sound speech that would be discussed for a long time by the people.
“I wept on the day he died. I wept because I thought that if he would die, why didn’t he die few months into his incarceration? Why did he die four years after, when we all thought he would be free and come back home to us.”
Net worth
Oba Adedotun is reportedly worth $5 million, ranking him one of the richest kings in Nigeria.
The monarch rides a blue Rolls Royce Silver Seraph.
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. NewsWireNGR or its editorial team cannot independently verify all details.
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