Background Obateru was born in 1950 into the royal family of Sir Frederick Adetolugbo at Ugbo, a riverine area in Ilaje. He is the fourth child of a family of eight but lost his father in 1964 when he was 14 years old. In 1982, there was a prophecy that Obateru would become the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, a prophecy he never took seriously. Shortly after this prophecy, a chieftaincy title peculiar to him as the next Olugbo was conferred on his younger brother. This resulted in a lawsuit against the then-Olugbo by another royal family in the same lineage who demanded that he should be dethroned with the claim that his family had occupied the seat for over 200 years. The then-King lost the case and Obateru was appointed as the King in 2009, in accordance with the culture and traditions of Ugbo Kingdom.
Obat Oil Obateru established Obat Oil in 1981. Today, the company has more than 50 gas stations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the company owns one of the largest tank farms in Africa, a modern storage facility able to store 65 million liters of petroleum products. Obateru appointed his second son, Prince Akinfemiwa Akinrutan, the managing director of the company. In May 2013, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered his immediate arrest on charges of disobeying a court order, following a suit filed and argued before the court by Barrister Iyke Ukadike.
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