•••• confers with Baba Adini of Alafiatayo Town Central Mosque
Alafiatayo Town in Odo-Oba, Iwo, Osun state, was thrown into a joyous mood on Saturday, December 27, 2025, as the Spokesperson to the Osun State Governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed was conferred with the chieftancy title of the Asiwaju of the town.
Honoured alongside Mallam Rasheed is his beloved wife, Madam Tolulope Olawale, who was crowned the Yeye Asiwaju of Alafiatayo Town by Asoju Sikiru Aderemi Akande, in an elaborate event that drew dignitaries from far and behind.
Asoju Akande said the Asiwaju title reflects Mallam Rasheed’s towering contributions to the town’s development, noting that the honour was a practical acknowledgement of Mallam Rasheed’s frontline role in driving meaningful progress for the town.
He expressed confidence in the capacity of Mallam Rasheed to effectively discharge the duties that comes with the Asiwaju title, saying that Alafiatayo Town will continue to identify with people who are genuinely interested in its progress and honour them.
“Asiwaju is a tile that speaks to leadership and impacts, and this much was the basis of arriving at the choice of Mallam Olawale Rasheed for this significant title. Over the years, Mallam Rasheed has left no one in doubt of his commitment to the development of Alafiatayo Town,” Asoju Akande noted.
“Through him, we have a medical post that now served our people and I am aware of the effort to tar the major road that connects our town to other places. This is aside the innumerous personal efforts to help people achieve their academic goals and access opportunities.”
In his brief remark on behalf of other chieftancy recipient, Mallam Rasheed appreciated the people of Alafiatayo Town, particularly the traditional ruler, Asoju Sikiru Aderemi Akande, chiefs, for deeming him worthy of such a prestigious chieftancy title, noting that the Asiwaju is a further challenge for him to contribute to the town’s development.
Mallam Rasheed said he wants Alafiatayo Town to be a reference point of growth and development so as to attract people to choose it as the ideal place to settle down, calling on everyone to join Asoju Akande in achieving his goal of building a modern town.
He assured Asoju Akande that him and other chieftancy holders in the town will give the traditional ruler every necessary support to make the town the envy of others in terms of progress, noting that many good things are on the way and residents live will be better for it.
While conveying the goodwill of Governor Ademola Adeleke for Iwo town in general, Mallam Rasheed noted that the ongoing dual carriageway will be delivered in no time while the phase II which will extend to Adele area will take off afterwards.
He assured the people of Iwoland that Governor Adeleke is committed to modernizing its public infrastructure as can be seen in the over 20km roads constructed so far, saying that more is still on the way and such the people must really around the Governor to ensure that his mandate is renewed beyond 2026.
“In Iwoland, Governor Adeleke has lived up to his promises, delivering so far more than 20km of road. Already, the first-ever dual carriageway from Odo-Ori to Post-Office, with spurs at the Oluwo place is ongoing and in a matter of months, will be completed. The phase II that will terminate at the Expressway at Adeeke will take off soon afterwards to ensure better connectivity and open the economy of Iwo. This is the first time any Governor will do something significant for Iwo,” Mallam Rasheed pointed out.
“Early this year, the Governor approached the authorities in Abuja to impress on them the need to complete the Gbongan-Iwo-Oyo road, which will end the years of pains caused by the poor condition of the road. This goes to show how much the Governor cares for the people Iwoland and the only way to reciprocate his good gesture towards us is to give him our bulk votes next year to ensure the good works continues.”
Shortly afterwards, Mallam Olawale Rasheed was turbaned as the Baba Adeen of Alafiatayo Town Central Mosque, underscoring his significant place in the Muslim community.
The ceremony was presided over by the Chief Imam of Iwoland, Fadilatul Sheikh (Dr) Muhammed Thanni Adedeji, who applauded Mallam Rasheed’s contributions to Iwoland and the advancement of Islam.
In what seemed like a veiled declaration of support for Governor Adeleke, the Chief Imam during his sermon explained that ACCORD holds significant spiritual meaning and went on to ask people to be sincere with their support.
“I am not the one that will vote; I am not the one that will count votes; and not the one to announce the result of election. But don’t let us follow him (Adeleke) for eye service purposes alone because some people will just ran away when it mattered most. Anything one collected that is making him or her switching sides at will hardly last. Stay firm wherever you are so that people can know,” Dr. Adedeji admonished.
Dignitaries at the event includes a former Acting Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, Professor Oguntola Alamu, Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Community and Social Development Projects, Alhaji Nurudeen Emiloju, Iwo Local Government Chairman, Hon. Moshood Kabir (Irorun), Senior Special Assistance to the Governor on Tax Matters, Hon. Taofeeq Amobi, and a host of others.
