Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has mourned the passing of Oba De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi I, the Akran of Badagry, who died on Monday.

Obasanjo said the news of his passing was received with shock, even as he remarked that the late Badagry apex monarch had emerged as one of the most respected and respectable traditional rulers in Lagos State.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo said, “He had a most eventful life which traversed eight decades and his reign of fifty years over Badagry Kingdom, which occupies a pedestal of looming importance in our ancient and contemporary history, witnessed notable peace and stability.”

To the former President, “Badagry has, since pre-colonial times, remained a robust repertoire of the finest aspects of our cultural and artistic heritage. He would be remembered as a patriot and custodian of our cultural and traditional values, who gave his best while on the throne of his forefathers.

“Within his impactful years on the throne, he brought his salutary influence to foster unity, solidarity, peace, understanding, faith and development in our common heritage among all the sons and daughters of Badagry and the entire Badagry Kingdom, both at home and in the diaspora.

Obasanjo further stressed that: “He was an apostle of inter-ethnic understanding and cohesion; inter-religious accommodation and tolerance and inter-cultural co-operation.”

Obasanjo added that “for the Governor of Lagos State, the entire good people of Badagry and his family, one can only imagine the traumatic experience and profound grief this sad event has caused them all, but they can all feel assured that their painful loss is shared by countless other Nigerians and certainly by me and my family, while we urge them to take solace in the knowledge that though we love him, his Creator loves him more and knows what is best for him,” Obasanjo who is in Ethiopia on continental assignment was quoted to have said.

A royal figure of many parts, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi I was initially a teacher and taught at various schools in Badagry Division, but later went into journalism.

His career as a practising journalist began in 1961 at the West African Pilot, where he served as a diplomatic correspondent and chief reporter for the Post Group of Newspapers.

Thereafter, he joined the Daily Sketch as a senior sub-editor and later transferred to The New Nigeria newspapers as a senior journalist, becoming the Acting News Editor (South).

As a senior journalist, his outstanding performance earned him a grant from the International Press Institute to study at the University of East Africa, where he obtained a diploma with distinction. He also shared a prize on the Law of the Press with another journalist from Uganda. His Majesty has continued to support the growth and development of journalism in Nigeria and across Africa.
His appointment as the Akran of Badagry was duly approved by the Executive Council of the Lagos State Government on October 7, 1976. He ascended the throne of his forebears during the coronation ceremony held on April 23, 1977, where he was crowned and assumed the royal title of De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi I, the Akran of Badagry Kingdom, in accordance with tradition.

A frontline monarch and paramount ruler, he served as a member of the Lagos State Judicial Service Commission from 1979 to 1983, and as Grand Patron, Patron, and President of various social, charitable, and professional organisations.De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi I is the Chairman of the Chieftaincy Committee in Badagry Local Government and the Permanent Vice-Chairman of the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs. In October 1990, he was elected by members of the Council to represent it at the enlarged National Council of States in Abuja.

He was honoured with the national award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) on March 7, 1981.