Oyo LCDA crisis: Our position, by Bishop Ladigbolu

The Oyo Metropolitan Development Association, an umbrella body of Oyo indigenes, home and abroad, has said that it was not favourably disposed to a situation where the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) would encroach on established boundaries, or involve the ceding of statutory entities to others without their consent.
It also expressed strong indignation over what it called ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ in the creation of council areas, adding that it strongly believes in contiguous communities having a lot in common and that peaceful and lawful means should always be employed in resolving  knotty issues, while the use of force, coercion or violence should be avoided at all times.
Chairman of the Association, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, who made the declaration at a recent town hall meeting held at  Atiba hall in Oyo town, said the forum embraced with open arms, great excitement and bright expectations the idea of creating additional council development areas in the state, and particularly in Oyo metropolitan areas.
Bishop Ladigbolu stated that neither the Alaafin nor Oyo indigenes were in conflict with the state government or the people of Afijio local government area on the creation of new council development areas, contrary to widespread misconceptions, adding that immediately the creation of new council was announced and in line with the government
request for interests in additional council areas’ creation, five new ones were formally proposed to the authority.
“We proposed for the creation of additional five council areas to make total number of new LGDAs to be nine. Also, as soon as the government gazette of the new council development areas was published, we started writing letters of appeal to appropriate authorities, seeking for the correction of the glaring errors in the delineation of the towns and villages included in the LGDAs, with particular
references to Atiba, Orire, Oyo—East  and Oyo-West  Local Governments.
“We have no complaints about all other LGDAs both inside and outside Oyo metropolis. We equally wrote about six letters between September 9, 2016 January 4, 2017, just as we received a delegation of placard-carrying protesters in the town last year, who accused the Alaafin of selling their land  and villages to Afijio people’ all appropriate steps taken were to no avail’’.
Ladigbolu disclosed that after much pressure, Governor Abiola Ajimobi decided to grant audience to the association, but he  could  not attend due to another important community assignment scheduled same day for Lagos.
“When the Alaafin was informed about the decision of the governor to meet with the association and those to represent it, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111 volunteered to meet with the governor since, according to him, the issues at stake were crucial and in the overall best interest of his domain.
“He was accompanied to the meeting by two prominent indigenes, a former member of the House of Representatives, Akinrogun Segun Taiwo, and former council chairman,
Chief Anjorin Laoye’’.
Ladigbolu further explained that a meeting of the LGDA  Petitions Committee in Ibadan was attended by the association in early January this year to further press home their point and draw government’s attention to the anomalies found in the process, but to no avail.
He asserted that the association is aware and supportive of the legal steps taken by the concerned Baales and Chiefs in order to protect their fundamental human rights and the rights of their people whose villages have been invaded, adding that there was still room for the government to effect corrections.
Giving an insight into the marathon meeting between the Alaafin and the governor,  Akinrogun Segun Taiwo said Oba Adeyemi spent hours, explaining, with facts and
figures, on why new council areas allocated to Oyo metropolis should be more than five in order to allow development to spread, as well as why Oyo land should not be ceded to other local government development areas.
He added that at no time did the Alaafin oppose the creation of additional council development areas, let alone kicked against the move for more council areas to be created at the meeting contrary to baseless rumours milling around.
“Governor Abiola Ajimobi was elated and convinced about the Kabiyes’s submission, which he described as highly intellectual and vividly explicit. The governor commended the monarch for not storming the Government House with placard-carrying demonstrators and for his unflinching support for his administration. The governor admitted that
arguments of the Alaafin were tenable, just and adequate. He also assured that before the conduct of the local government election, all the anomalies raised by the monarch would be redressed.’’
Taiwo, who also disclosed that the governor requested for another official letter to be written and forwarded to the government for appropriate action, stated that despite that the directive was timely adhered to, the government has refused to take any action.