Leaders fault confab’s stance on creation of Oke Ogun State. Monday, 14 July 2014 22:18Written by Iyabo Lawal and Kehinde Olatunji, IbadanCategory: NationalHits FRONTLINE traditional rulers and eminent indigenes from Oke Ogun area of Oyo State Monday faulted the omission of the zone from the proposed recommendation of delegates at the ongoing national conference on the creation of 18 new states. Under the aegis of Oke Ogun Development Council (ODC), the Obas, Chiefs as well as eminent sons of the area comprising 10 local governments of the 33 councils in the state expressed disbelief over the action of the delegates insisting that Oke Ogun had all it took to own and run a state successfully if such criteria as land mass, viability, demography, sustainability and manpower were used as determinants. Addressing reporters in Ibadan at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, the acting President of the group, Mr. Oladoja Oladele said that the people of Oke-Ogun had been deprived, marginalised, neglected and disempowered, noting that their request for Oke-Ogun State had yielded no result since 1963. “We people of Oke Ogun have been agitating for a state of our own to be called Oke Ogun State. This we resorted to as a result of years, indeed, decades of marginalisation, neglect and abandonment by successive governments at state and federal levels. “Immediately the National conference began to receive memoranda, we submitted a comprehensive memorandum in which we reiterated our call for the creation of Oke Ogun State out of the present Oyo State and this is to comprise 10 local government areas out of the 33 in the state, and these are Atisbo, Irepo, Iseyin, Itesiwau, Iwajowa, Kajola, Olorunsogo, Oorelope, Saki East and Saki West. Our memo was duly received and properly listed. It was therefore a rude shock to us when Oke Ogun was conspicuously omitted from the final list as announced by the same national confab early July.” Oladele noted that from history of state creation, attention had always been called to the backwardness of the northern portion of the area called Oyo province. “That portion later became known as Oyo North or Oke Ogun. When states began to be created, the feeling was that development would be brought to the area as was done to other parts of Nigeria, Western region, Western State and Oyo State to which Oke Ogun area geographically belongs but this was not so as year in, year out, marginalisation, neglect and disempowerment continue to be the lot of the people of the area and the land on which they dwell. “These deprivation were what we suffered from the hands of successive governments at various levels, federal and states. It was when our appeals to various administrations at federal and state levels yielded no fruits that we started agitating for a state of our own,” he said. The group maintained that with over 1.7 million people and a population density of about 200 compared to many other states whose population density was below its own, Oke Ogun State when created would be in the same league like those of Nasarawa (4,844:00), Imo state (5,430:00), Niger state (13,930.00), Akwa Ibom (6,187.00), Ondo (14,606.00), Osun (10,245.00), Enugu (12,440) and others like Abia, Ekiti, Ebonyi and Bayelsa. While in terms of local government area, the proposed Oke Ogun State has 10, Bayelsa has eight, Ebonyi has 13 and Zamfara has 14. The president noted that Oke-Ogun would be viable when created as a state knowing the readiness of the resourceful, resilient, industrous and peace loving people of the area and that the natural resources in the area such Marble, gold, kaolin, cement, dolomite which could provide materials for industries were abound and in large deposits. Apart from natural resources, tourism and human resources that the community can boast of, Oladele stated that Oke Ogun was also blessed with an arable land of over 100,000,square metres, which made it capable of producing agricultural products for domestic consumption as well as for export thereby creating chances for employment opportunities and agriculture based industries. The group subsequently called on authorities concerned to urgently reconsider their position on Oke Ogun State insisting, “enough is enough”. The Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Ganiyu Adekunle while speaking said that the people had been abandoned, just as he disclosed that the bridge connecting Oke-Ogun to Abeokuta had broken down for years with both the state and federal governments refusing to assist in the reconstruction of the bridge. He added that the community had been abandoned and many lives had been lost in the area due to neglect by government at all levels. The royal father however commended the people of the area for their efforts and clamour for the Oke Ogun State. He urged politicians among them to stand with the Oke-Ogun no matter the political office they were promised, reminding that despite the fact the people of Oke-Ogun were over two third of Oyo State no one was nominated from the zone to the National Conference which showed that the people had been truly neglected by government at all levels.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 07:03:24 +0000