Fuji music icon Wasiu Ayinde has formally declared his intention to be considered for the vacant Awujale throne of Ijebuland.
The musician, popularly known as KWAM 1, gained renewed attention after a recent incident at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, where he refused to hand over a flask believed to contain alcohol, causing a standoff with officials and delaying a flight. Following the episode, he was initially banned from flying in Nigeria, but the government later reversed the ban and appointed him as a FAAN ambassador.
In a letter dated December 3, 2025, addressed to the Fusengbuwa ruling house of Agunsebi Quarters, KWAM 1 cited his roots in the Oba Jadiara lineage as the basis for his eligibility. He wrote, “Otunba Wasiu Ayinde Adewale Olasunkanmi Omogbolahan Anifowoshe, MON, hereby formally notify the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of my intention to be considered for the vacant stool of the Awujale of Ijebuland, subject strictly to the provisions of Ijebu customary law and the Ogun State Chieftaincy Laws. I was born on 3rd March 1957, and I am a bona fide son of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Agunsebi Quarters, tracing my ancestry to the Oba Jadiara lineage, which qualifies me to present myself for consideration in accordance with established tradition. I have devoted over five decades to promoting Ijebu, Yoruba, and Nigerian culture through music and cultural enterprise.”
KWAM 1 highlighted his personal accolades, including his appointment as Mayegun of Yorubaland in 2020, his conferment as Olori Omo-Oba and Otunba Afidipotemole of Akile Ijebu in 2023 by the late Awujale, and his national honour as a Member of the Order of the Niger in 2022. He further noted that the selection process for the next Awujale is expected to conclude “within a matter of weeks.”
The ruling house confirmed receipt of his letter. Abdul Lateef Adebayo Owoyemi, chairman of the Fusengbuwa ruling house, stated on Friday, “I urge all our family members, home and abroad, to remain calm and confident. Within two hours of receiving the letter addressed to me and six others by the Olori Omo Oba Akile Ijebu, I sent him an appropriate response, as I have quietly done for similar declarations in the past. In Sha Allah, we shall all have cause to rejoice and thank Almighty God, who alone makes any one King, within a matter of weeks. God Willing, we are very close to a peaceful and joyous conclusion of this sacred and historic process.”
