July 31, (THEWILL) – Dr Saka Matemilola, has emerged as the new Olowu of Owu Kingdom in Ogun State. His emergence came after a keenly contested election which took place among the seven candidates of the ruling houses in Owu, Ogun State. One of the prominent members of the kingmakers who was part of the selection process was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who is the Balogun of Owu kingdom. Matemilola will replace Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu who died in December 2021 after a brief illness.
Oba Dosunmu was a veteran TV producer before he ascended the throne in 2005 and reigned till 2021. An Engineer and human capacity developer from the Matemilola ruling house of Soke compound, Owu, Abeokuta. Matemilola bagged his Ph.D in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, UK.
He is a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Petroleum Studies, University of Port Harcourt. He sits on the board of various companies, such as Motus Technology Limited, City Roller Limited and Cypher Crescent Limited. He belongs to the Nigeria Society of Engineers and a Fellow of Cambridge Philosophical Society.
He is also a distinguished member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria Council. As one of the influential sons of Owu kingdom, he has contributed immensely to the development of his community by providing water boreholes, monthly feeding allowance to the needy, dedicated financial support to healthcare, provision of school facilities and other philanthropic deeds.
However, his emergence did not come without controversy. After his selection, he was accused by two of the ruling house in Owu as not being an indigene of the community. Tajudeen Adelani and Aminat Adesina, both from different ruling houses in Owu separately petitioned the Ogun State government against the appointment of Matemilola. He was described as a non-indigene of Owu kingdom. He was accused of being an indigene of Ibadan in Ibadan North East Local Government of Oyo State. It was stated that he has an affidavit which was sworn at a High Court Registry in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in 2000. But he is still claiming to be a native of Owu in Ogun State.
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