From Lateef Dada, Osogbo

A traditional ruler in Osun State, Oba (Dr.) Issac Adeyeba Ayeni, Akinla of Erin-Ijesa, has said the tourism site in his community, Olumirin waterfall, is yearning for development and declared his readiness to take over the control from the government.

The monarch who stated that the government is not serious to develop the site, lamented that the community is suffering neglect and lack of social amenities.

He maintained that the only way to bring development to the area is for the government to release the site for him, just as he promised to be paying tax regularly.

Addressing newsmen in his palace at the weekend over the poor condition of the community, Oba Ayeni said the situation is worse to the extent that residents of the area now travel to another town for voters registration exercise.

Noting that over 50,000 tourists visit the site yearly, the monarch expressed sadness over the poor state of roads, health centers, police station, and other amenities that could attract visitors.

He said, “when I ascended the throne, I went to the then Governor Rauf Aregbesola in 2016. I asked him to release the waterfall to me. I will manage it, bring investors, and pay tax to the government. He is not disposed to that.

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“I have also done the same thing to meet the present governor. Till now, they are the ones managing the waterfall. What they are doing is just collecting gate fees. They are collecting entrance fees without development. My view is that government has no business in running this tourist center. What they need to do is to provide an enabling environment that will attract private investors. What I mean by enabling the environment is to provide good access road, security, the electricity that will attract investors.

“As we speak, the state of the road is very bad. So, if there is no access, how do you attract investors. The government promised to do the 1.5km road at the center to the waterfall, more than four years ago, the road is still waiting for completion. Security is bad. If you go to our police station, you will meet just two policemen. Many times, you will not find them at the station. They might have been recalled for special duties. Tourists will not feel safe in that kind of town. We don’t have a hospital. If you get injured, until they carry you to Ilesa or Osogbo. These are things that government needs to face that will attract foreign investors.”

“For common voter registration, my people have to go to Ijebu-Jesa for the exercise, why should it be? Do you expect old women to travel that distance for what they should provide for all?

“Voters registration exercise is not easy. There is no centre to register here, we have to go to Ijebu Jesa to register which is not good enough. Who will provide for the logistics to register, so the government is trying to disenfranchise my people. They must bring it down to people. Why must we travel that far to vote, what is INEC doing?

“There is no COVID-19 vaccine available in our community, Erin-Ijesa. If you want to get such, you have to go to Ijebu Jesa, Ipetu or Ilesha. That is not good enough, they should make the vaccines available in towns. We have a Primary Health Center in this town which is the highest we have here.”