Nigerian Politics and Power of democracy 2: Creation of State: The Most Veritable Tool for Major Economic Advancement. I am still puzzled, if not confused why it is so difficult to split Ogun State into 2 and Oyo State into 2. Year in year out, we have all witnessed the speed at which Kogi State, Ekiti State, Osun State etc have developed after they had been split out of kwara State, Ondo State and Oyo state respectively. This obviously brought about Kogi State University & Polytechnic, and same goes for other states as well... though Oyo State has been at a crawling speed either because all the State Governors lacked the courage to engage on such gigantic, but noble course or they are short-sighted or should I rather say they are confused as well. In the case of Kogi state, as a result of the establishment of Kogi state University and Poly, enormous businesses sprang up and transformation that emerged is unprecedented without the state creation. We all know that Commercial banks these days are careful, if not extra-careful about immediate profit they will generate from growing economy, if not just a local govt, but also from a state capital. In the case of Kwara vs Kogi or Ondo Vs. Ekiti or even Oyo Vs Osun, we all can visibly see the transformation of the new Osun State after 24 Years or so that it was carved out of Oyo State. Particularly about Kogi State, I can recall a meeting I had some time ago with some men in Kogi State Poly. These men said that, before the creation of Kogi State, they had lived in abject poverty, a life with no purpose, no direction in Ilorin, capital of kwara state. These men were natives of Lokoja and would never have had a shot at enjoying the beauty of academic environment , if not for the creation of Kogi State. I mean, if Kogi State were not carved out of Kwara, they would have continue working for some peasant business owner, earning crumbs. Maybe they would have had several broken marriages as is the case: when women divorce their husbands if they feel he cannot care for them again. Today, reverse is the case, because not only are they gainfully employed level 13 or so civil servants in academic supervisory positions in Kogi State Poly, their children are doing very well and they have all enjoy the comfort of their own privately owned accommodations. I once lived in Abeokuta a couple of years back for a total period of 18months and I have a vivid understanding of the “ruralness” low state Abeokuta was back in the late 80s. The roads leading to Ogun State Polytechnic was not tarred at all and the banks were very scanty. Obviously, the economy was just dragging at that time. But today, more banks have littered every nook and cranny of the village-now-turned-turned with more branches and you the academic centred economy of the city of Abeokuta is now dynamic and receptive to all and sundry: Agro Allied operators, small and micro business owners, even industrialists and corporate firms have enjoyed the dividend of democracy. However, what the late “Abami-Eda”, Fela Anikulapo Kuti used to refer to as “N£POTISM” when I was a teenager that made it necessary for Kwara giving back to Kogi State and also for Oyo giving birth to Osun State still dangles in the air. Ijebu State is over-ripe and ready to be delivered out of Ogun State and definitely, Ibadan state coming out of Oyo State has become inevitable if every they want to smell progress. I have lived in Ikenne for over a year now and honestly, I cannot point to one single developmental program or project shooting out from Abeokuta, Ogun state capital. Though this is an age-long matter that has obscured the whole REMO land into one massive rural village, but at the moment, if you pay a visit to Ikenne, Iperu, Ode, Ogere etc and compare the development there with that of Abeokuta, you will definitely conclude that REMO land is not part of Ogun State at all. Even Sagamu that is proudly refered to as Head of REMO land, was only recently honoured with the first-ever over-head bridge, courtesy of Gov. Ibikunle Amosun (but let him not over-brag on this because it is too much less than anything to celebrate after 3years). In this article, I do not intend to exonerate or tongue-lash any of the prty. The situation has made it too cumbersome for any governor, be it progressive or laid-back to tackle such gigantic item on the list. When you talk about education in Ogun State, I can make bold to say that after the creation of Ijebu State, a Multi-disciplinary University and another Agric University such as FUNAB is inevitable. Drumming out loud my subject of discussion, if our economy is to experience the expect3ed growth and transformation we all dream of, creation of state will be very handy especially in Ogun State. Whoever says that more state or more universities will create more confusion should just visit Kogi State and ask questions from indigenes of Lokoja. (I sincerely pray Elder Jide Osuntokun will get to read this). I can say it comfortably that Olabisi Onabanjo University is one of the most affected in this confusion - Especially when you talk about the Basic Science Faculty (Medicine and Para-Medical departments). Students of this faculty have to spend two years in Ago-Iwo and then move to Ikenne to complete their two years, whilst the core medicine students will have to again proceed to Sagamu for houseman-ship etc. How can a student excel under such scattered structure, but again our fathers easily justify this that it is their own way of spreading development throughout Ogun State, and I wonder whether they are studying Medicine or Geography. A medical student needs to live in a concentrated environment: like what we have in the University of Ibadan, where Medical and Para-Medical Students spend one year within UI campus and move straight into UCH (University College Hospital) till the end of their academic program. I herewith implore our leaders in this democratic system to wake up and shorten this unfair process by cutting off all the bureaucracy confronting the creation of states in Nigeria because The pros of Ijebu State out of Ogun State And Ibadan State out of Oyo State Far outweighs the cons. They should consider thousands of Job Opportunities it will create. It will surprise you that as of today 10th July 2014, Ikenne town does not even have a single branch of any commercial bank!!! Call it Zenith or GTB, Diamond or Access, UBA or Skye etc., there is none in Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State even as you of today. This I believe should give you a vivid picture of the low-level of the economy and social status of the Ikenne – home-town of Chief Obafemi Awolowo who fought tirelessly for the emancipation and advancement of Nigeria, further than just the people from the South West or Yorubas through grass-root education. If not for Awo I believe Ikenne would have been nowhere on the 1960 MAP of Nigeria. Again I will say, correct me if am wrong. Still talking about the dividends or advantages of creating these new states from Education point of view, I sincerely believe it will further check the exorbitant fees demanded by these private universities. Apart from all the above points, I also believe this • will allow more students to have access to good quality and organised federal or state government tertiary education. • Reduce the problems of JAMB and its unfair post JAMB manipulations. In the case of OYO state, I grew up in Ibadan and I can tell you vividly that out of the 33 local government that makes up Oyo State, Ibadan city alone, has 11 local governments: Ibadan North, Ibadan North East, South, South West etc , all within Ibadan city. Yes that is why they say it is the largest city in West Africa.. It is still so since 1960 till date. If Ibadan state is created, it allows indigenes of Ibadan-land to come together and address their issues more intimately, without interference from Ogbomosho or Oyo people which has been a major political y mater that has set the state backwards till date. I can remember that before Osun State was carved out of Oyo state, there used to be serious political and historical feud between the traditional rulers, especially Ooni of Ife and Alaafin of Oyo, about supremacy. In conclusion, let me opine that if another census were to be conducted today, we will be able to see that the population of Oyo State would have gone beyond 12million and that of Oyo State, perhaps more than 15million. Needless for me to chuckle in that the total population of the entire country of Ghana presently is about 15million!!! There is no way any single state government could have managed a crowd of 15million people effectively centrally. Rather than worry about main issue confronting the creation of state e.g. subvention and allocation from Abuja, our legislators should worry more about the many advantages and how many hundreds of thousands will have better life, once Ijebu State is established. I never intended to engage you through this laborious journey, but at this juncture I believe you would have seen my point that this is surely the only way Ijebu and Ibadan people can enjoy full-fledged dividends of democracy (like other Nigerians). Thanks for reading.. pls contribute
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 12:30:16 +0000