March 27, 2024

 

The blanket invitation of Oba Abdulerasheed Adewale Akanbi, Oluwo of Iwo extended to Fulani herdsmen has raised major concerns among the youths which led to press briefing by a group called Iwoland Concerned Youths, its President is Habeeb Alamu Olaotipin while Vice president is Alhaji Taiwo Ewonda.

Recently, Oba Akanbi, during his unscheduled visit to Gaa Fulani settlement in Odo Oba area of Iwoland, asked the Fulani herdsmen to come to Iwo town to live a better life.

Alhaji Taiwo Ewanda, the vice president of the group, at the press conference held at Haven Hotel, Hospital Area, Iwo, Osun State, took exception to the monarch’s decision, argued that there is an influx of unknown herdsmen into the community since the blanket invitation by the monarch and urged the state government to take urgent steps to halt the trend.

It can be recalled how Iwoland went agog when all sundries of the land stormed the street of an ancient Iwo, on January 16, 2016 when Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, the Oluwo of Iwoland was installed and presented staff of office.

All roads were led to the venue of the occasion, Reality Television Premises as it caused a heavy traffic on Iwo-Ibadan Expressway and linking roads on the axis. It was indeed a jubilation galore that Iwo has finally gotten a new king. While presenting staff of office to him by the then executive governor, Rauf Aregbesola advised him to lead by example and that leadership naturally comes with certain privileges and that a good leader must convert privileges to resources of governance.

Rauf Aregbesola reportedly advised Oluwo “Not everyone will readily agree with you and many of them will say or do things you will consider abhorrent. But they are all your subjects and you are required to preside over them with tact and wisdom in a way that will enable you to get the best out of them.”

“A leader must also be a unifying person and must never constitute a divisive agent. There are two kings whose reign the Yoruba never forget. These are the king whose reign is peaceful and the one whose reign is characterised by turmoil and scattering,” he urged.

SDT investigations revealed that ever since Oluwo ascended the throne, he has been fighting many battles all fronts as his views has always according to some subjects, the final.

According to a source close to Oluwo palace, disclosed that all elders of the town have been decimated to zero level. They are staying away from the palace due to Oluwo’s attitudes towards them and even those who supported and packaged him to ascend the throne have been sidelined.
Aside his battles with Chief Abiola Ogundokun, The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Agbowu of Ogbaagbaa, Chief Imam of Iwoland and even deities of the land.

Oluwo said, “I have talked to Buhari and other leaders in the country that we need to take care of you. We cannot abandon some people in the bush and expect that they won’t behave irrationally. We want you to relocate to town, rent apartments and live with people.”
According to the group; “While it is expressly agreed that the operational Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is magnanimous enough to have allowed the freedom of movement and domiciliary in any part of the country by the indigenes of this nation, such constitutional liberty should, however, not be a license for visitors to be burdensome in another land.

“We are genuinely worried by the unexpected and injurious recent pronouncements of some leaders and traditional rulers of our community which are tilting towards threatening of the subsisting peace in our community”.

“Equally worrisome was the recent open invitation needlessly extended to the Fulanis by a revered traditional ruler in our community which has formed the pedestal for the influx of Fulani herdsmen into our constituency of recent like never before. “It is our observation that this intended royal tact of extension of a blanket invitation to Fulani herdsmen is less thoughtful which is capable of rocking the subsisting peace of Iwoland.

“As focused youths who are not ready to compromise the existence of peace in Iwoland, we want to dissociate ourselves from such royal blanket invitation of the Fulani herdsmen and to also enjoin the state government to take decisive action against the development in the interest of overall peace in our land. “Our cursory observation since the expression of the most dangerous royal invitation to the herdsmen has shown that the influx of the Fulani herdsmen has become a daily occurrence in our land. “It is our absolute care and concern for the continuous safety of our people in their various homes which spurred our proactive approach to give the unsavoury development the required and needed solution in a jiffy as tomorrow may be too late.
“We won’t fail to pledge our continuous support for the administration of Governor Oyetola in his re-election bid because of the beautiful jobs he has been doing to develop the state. We also like to remind the whole world that the governorship slot of Iwoland should be a done deal after Oyetola’s two terms in the interest of justice, equity, fair play, and good conscience. “May our Iwoland not have a course to be turned to a theatre of war. May perpetual peace continue to reign in our ancestral home where Governor Oyetola has been miraculously performing wonders by extending developmental projects across the nooks and crannies of the state”, he urged.

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