Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on Saturday said he was not perturbed by his 2019 senatorial election defeat to the opposition candidate, Dr. Kola Balogun, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He disclosed this at the grand finale of the 2019 Ibadan Cultural Festival and Awards ceremony organised by Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), held at the main bowl of Adamasingba Stadium, Ibadan.
According to him, “Some people are saying Ibadan people did not vote for me. I said but they had voted for me three times before, which I won. That means 3-1. So, there should not be any cry about it.”
Ajimobi upon his retirement from National Oil was elected into the Senate from 2003 to 2007, during which he represented Oyo South on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD). In 2011, he was elected governor of the state on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), and was re-elected in 2015 for a second term in office on the platform of All Progressives Congress(APC).
Ajimobi also noted that the award of Most Distinguished Ibadan Indigene (MDII) conferred on the 2019 governorship aspirant of APC in the state, Mr. Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has laid to rest the controversies trailing his town of origin.
“I am proud and happy to say that we’re brothers. This award has put to rest series of arguments over whether Tegbe is from Ibadan or elsewhere, they said the same thing about me.
“CCII has confirmed it with this indigenous award and I want to tell you that you lose something and at times you gain. Now, I am sure that Ibadan and Oyo State people will vote for Tegbe when next he stands for election.”
President-General of CCII, Chief Yemi Soladoye, said the awards were conferred on deserving people in two categories, saying the first category the Most Patriotic Ibadan Indigene (MPII) in which business moguls, Dotun Sanusi, Owolabi Oladejo, Chief Folorunso Ige and Mr. Olajide Babatunde were the recipients.
Recipients of the award in the second category, which was Most Distinguished Ibadan Indigene (MDII) included Pastor Ajagbe Adeniji; Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG) Olalekan Oladipupo; Professor Olubola Babalola; a retired Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni; Olasunkanmi Tegbe and the Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Oyo State chapter, Alhaji Abideen Olajide.
The CCII President, Soladoye, in his address, said that “the goal of Ibadan cultural festival, since its inception almost 30 years ago remains the same. It is to restore Ibadan tradition and culture after almost 180 years of Western and Arabian brainwashing, which has made most Nigerians to drop their religion, culture, tradition and even language.
“Now, Ibadan is again determined to set the pace for all other Nigerians to restore their culture and traditions, learning from the Chinese and Indians who like us, embraced the Western education, but refused to drop their religion, tradition and language.”