From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
High-powered stakeholders in the Oke-Ogun region of Oyo State have raised concerns that the region, comprising 10 local government areas and occupying about 60 per cent of the landmass of the state, has been marginalised, especially by Ibadan and Ogbomoso.
The alarm was raised at the 2022 ‘Oke-Ogun Democracy Celebration, entitled: ‘Effective Democratic Participation: Wither Oke-Ogun’, held at Ago-Are City Town Hall, on Saturday.
The speakers at the event comprised political, traditional, religious, and opinion leaders, including Shina Peller, representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency in the House of Representatives; the Aare of Ofikiland, Oba Adeoye Oyetunji; and a legal luminary, Adeola Fehintola.
The speakers noted in their separate addresses that the channel by which dividends of democracy could reached the people of Oke-Ogun has become faulty. Ibadan, according to them, has allegedly enslaved the region by dominating the political space of the entire state.
A communiques issue on at the end of the programme, which was read by Adeola Fehintola, stated that the denial of the zone with some positions such as governor and senator for Oyo North has caused developmental and infrastructural deficit in all the ten local government areas in the region.
According to them, many projects such as Otu-Ipapo Road, Ikere Gorge Dam, Okerete International Market, Oke-Iho-Iganna Road, and Housing Estate in Okaka, Ago-Are, and Oke-Iho among others, have either been abandoned, or neglected for many years. They said projects have capacities to bring development to the region.
The communique read in part: “Educational sector is also another area of neglect because over two million residents of the region did not have access to higher education. We are not happy for the development deficit by all level of government.
“We call on Oke-Ogun indigenes, both home and abroad, to come and invest and encourage others to do so as to show potentials of the town, particularly in agro-allied and mining industry. We all know that agriculture is the main source of living of Oke-Ogun people. But this is being hindered by activities of herders, which have forced the youth to relocate to town.
“We implore the governor to increase the presence of security apparatus in Oke-Ogun in collaboration with the Federal Government.”
Peller, in his address, described Oke-Ogun as the food basket of the state, saying the characteristics should be put into consideration if government wants development for the pace setter state. He added that the people of the region should stand up and fight for their rights. He explained that whatever the people of the zone do today in fighting for their rights would be of benefit to generations yet unborn in Oke-Ogun.
He urged people in the region to join hands together to liberate the region for the sake of equity, fairness and justice.
Peller, who is aspiring for Oyo North senatorial seat at the Senate, frowned on Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, currently representing Oyo North in the Senate, for aspiring to return to the Senate after two consecutive terms. He noted that Buhari hails from Ogbomoso, with just three out of the 13 local government areas in the district, saying Oke-Ogun with 10 local government areas should rise up and fight for the right cause.
“We should be in the majority. We occupied over 60 per cent of land in the state, which makes us the food basket of the state because most of our people are farmers. It is high time for us to stand up and defend the integrity of our land, and make sure that we put the region where it supposed to be politically. We cannot have 10 local governments and be serving three local governments. This is the time to stand against it,” he stated.
The Aare of Ofikiland, Oba Adeoye Oyetunji, who said traditional rulers in the region would always support everything that would bring progress to Oke-Ogun, made it known that traditional rulers in the region are not happy because of lack of unity among among Oke-Ogun indigenes. This, he said, has caused a setback for the region.