Elders from Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State have restated the need for the area to produce the next governor of the state in the interest of equity, fairness and justice.
They renewed the demand at a meeting held at the Bodija residence of the President of Oke-Ogun Council of Elders (OCE), Otunba Bamidele Dada, OON, who is a former minister of state for agriculture.
Their position was contained in a communique issued at the end of the meeting signed by Comrade Jare Ajayi and Prince Remi Adegbola.
They noted that no person of Oke-ogun extraction has served as governor of the state since Nigeria’s Independence in 1960 and called for deliberate efforts to be remedy the situation.
They canvassed for the rotation of the gubernatorial position in the state among the seven geo-political zones in the state: Oke-ogun Zones 1 & II, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Ibadan (City and Less City).
The leaders said the rotational arrangement should begin from the 2037 elections, with Oke-ogun taking the first shot.
They reiterated their earlier advocacy for the re-delimitation of the present Oyo North senatorial district in such a way that the 10 local government areas of Oke- Ogun would form a senatorial district.
The stakeholders also expressed preference for an Oke-ogun indigene to be the senator that will represent Oyo North in the next dispensation beginning from 2027.
While expressing concern over the security situation in the area, the elders stated: “The kidnapping incidents in the North-West local government areas of Kwara State and parts of Ogun State are affecting the people of Oke,-Ogun.”
This made them to call on the federal government, security agencies and governments of Oyo, Kwara and Ogun States to take pro-active steps to put an end to the insecurity situation.
They equally called for concerted actions to check the incessant incursion of herders into the farms of Oke-Ogun people, and the enforcement of the Anti-Open Grazing Law that was passed in Oyo State about five years ago, strengthening of security agencies, empowerment of vigilante groups as well as the deployment of modern technology for security purposes.
The elders contended that the insecurity situation and paucity of incentives are adversely affecting agricultural practices and called on the government to provide better incentives to farmers besides strengthening security.
The meeting commended the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde for employing teachers for schools in the state last year.
However, they observed that in spite of the noble exercise, most of the primary and secondary schools in Oke-Ogun still suffer from inadequate staffing. It called on the government to remedy this situation by employing indigenes of the area to teach in their schools as soon as possible.
They lauded the government for the ongoing work on the roads in the area, while drawing its attention to some other inter and intra town roads in Oke-Ogun, “many of which are in a very deplorable state”.
In the same vein, they commended the Federal Government for releasing money to facilitate the construction of Badagry-Oke-Ogun-Sokoto Highway and called for an accelerated action so that the project can be completed as soon as possible.
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Oke-Ogun Council of Elders expressed profound appreciation to the President for approving the establishment of Federal University of Agriculture and Technology recently sited in Okeho, Kajola local government area of Oke-Ogun. They expressed the hope that all that is necessary would be provided so that the university can take-off soonest.
The meeting noted that health facilities in Oke-Ogun are insufficient. It therefore called on the state and local government councils in the area to provide more health facilities and ensure that they are properly staffed and equipped. The meeting urged the state government to employ and post more health personnel to government-owned institutions in Oke-Ogun.
