Ijemo Council of Chiefs in Oke-Ijemo, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has firmly denied any claims that they are against Governor Dapo Abiodun’s urban renewal efforts at the Ibara Housing Estate.
This response was issued after remarks by former governor Chief Olusegun Osoba, who had publicly criticized any perceived opposition to the project within Egbaland.
Chief Osoba, as reported by several media outlets, voiced his displeasure toward those opposing the urban renewal project, urging the Egba people to avoid repeating past mistakes.
He specifically mentioned a historical event where division among the Egba people allegedly led to the University of Ibadan being established in Ibadan instead of Abeokuta.
Speaking during the inauguration of an Electronic Gate at the Hilltop Presidential Estate in Ibara, Abeokuta, Osoba remarked, “When I heard that some people were protesting about the urban renewal of Ibara Housing Estate, I was furious, and I want to appeal to us, Egba.
We should learn. The University of Ibadan was supposed to be situated in Abeokuta, but because of the division within Egba, the university was taken to Ibadan.”
He continued, “This time around, those who say they are opposed to the urban renewal of Dapo Abiodun at Ibara Housing Estate can pack and go. We will continue to support Dapo Abiodun.
When he leaves office, he’s not going to take Ibara Housing to Iperu. The colonial people who created GRA didn’t take GRA to the UK when they were leaving.”
In response, the Ijemo Council of Chiefs, represented by Chiefs Salami Ajisafe, Apena of Ijemo, and (Barr) Oyewole Oyero, Lemo of Ijemo, issued a joint statement.
This rebuttal, released through Chief Fredrick Fadipe, Baale of Mamu Ijemo town, stated that the chiefs had legitimate reasons to express concerns over the project. They highlighted that their ancestors were not consulted before the renewal project commenced.
The chiefs, under the Registered Trustees of the Ijemo Council of Chiefs Foundation, explained that the urban renewal was commercially driven and that the land being developed was part of what their forefathers had fought for and suffered over during the British colonial era, specifically during a massacre in August 1914.
The statement reads in part: “We wish to state straightaway that the Ijemos were never opposed to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration at any time, and up till now.”
They further clarified, “However, our concern is about ancestry, history, and traditional landholding in Egbaland as the first group of settlers in the 18th Century.
History is replete with the phenomenon of massacres across the world that it would be an effort in futility to start cataloguing them here. Massacre is the indiscriminate, brutal, callous and ungodly slaughter of people.
It is depopulation. The people of Ijemo suffered all these at the hands of the British Colonial authorities on the 8th day of August 1914.”
The chiefs warned that any continuation of such neglect toward their heritage would not be tolerated.
They stated, “This sordid situation must not be re-perpetuated in any form whatsoever using the instrumentality of the government.
We have made our representations to the Executive Governor of Ogun State and the Paramount Ruler of Egbaland HRM Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, CFR, Okukenu IV.”
They emphasized that the land in question is ancestral to the Ijemo people, giving them every right to protest any urban development plans without consultation.
“The land on which the entire estate situates is Ijemo’s ancestral land. In effect, it is our natural and constitutional right to protest against the Urban Renewal Drive without consultation with the original owners,” they said.
Addressing Osoba’s comments, the chiefs noted, “While comments are free and facts remain sacred, the fact of citing UCH in Ibadan and not Abeokuta does not by any stretch of the imagination support Chief Osoba’s position; as it is a different issue.
In fact, the then Alake, HRM Oba Oladapo Ademola KBE, was better positioned regarding the articulated position of the Egbas then.
History must not be distorted.”
They concluded by asserting that the ongoing development was being pursued for commercial purposes and that the Ijemo people would no longer remain silent while their heritage was exploited: “The GRA renewal drive is purely a commercial venture without consultations with the original owners – the Ijemos.
The Ijemos will no longer keep quiet and stand aloof when their heritage has been plundered for commercial purposes, hence our representation to the government as the only possible window under the ambit of the law.”
ROAMAN NEWS