From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, has described Ibadan, as one indivisible entity, though it is a very big city that spreads across 11 local government areas that are also very big.
He made this remark at his Alarere residence in Ibadan on Monday when he played host to the President-General-Elect, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Niyi Ajewole, and his executive council members who paid a courtesy visit to the him.
The Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Owolabi Olakulehin, and notable members of Olubadan-in-Council were in attendance.
Olubadan noted that the one indivisible entity makes all the sons and daughters of Ibadan brothers and sisters, which he described as a very unique feature that distinguishes the city from others across the globe.
Oba Balogun, in a statement, issued by his Personal Assistant (Media), Oladele Ogunsola, sais what made Ibadan so unique “is our inter- relationship. If we are not related paternally, we will relate maternally and where and if none of these brings us together, we will marry one another. So, if we describe ourselves as brothers and sisters, it is not an understatement.”
Speaking through his kid-brother, the Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Dr. Kola Balogun, the monarch said the coming into being of Ibadan was divine and the manifestation of the unseen hand was the making of the metropolis, the seat of everything ‘firsts’ in the country.
He added that when the thought that the very person God used for those things for Ibadan to be the city of ‘firsts’, was an Ijebu man (Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late Premier of the Western Region), presiding over the entire Western Region then, it could not have been anything, but divine.
“As the Premier of the Western Region then, the late Chief Awolowo could have taken all those things he did in Ibadan to any other place within the region. Bbut, his government chose Ibadan for reasons I consider as divine. Anything that is good is always associated with Ibadan. Look at our traditional institution, we remain the envy of all across the globe because of its uniqueness. All these could not be described as happenstances, there’s unseen hand of God behind our existence as a metropolis”, the monarch added.
Oba Balogun, who congratulated the newly elected CCII Executive Council and urged the new team with the sobriquet of ‘rescue and restoration team’ to work its talk by ensuring the restoration of the glory of the council, having rescued it by winning the election.
“We have heard all what the incoming President-General, Barr. Ajewole said, especially as it concerns the new Ibadan Central Palace. All hands would be on deck and all the stakeholders would be involved in the management of the coming funds into the project”, he added.
Balogun of Ibadanland, High Chief Olakulehin, his Osi, High Chief Lateef Adebimpe and Ekerin Olubadan, High Chief Hamidu Ajibade, who all spoke at the programme recalled that the CCII had not impressed the Olubadan Advisory Council in its handling of the new palace project, which informed its withdrawal from the Council early this year.
Speaking along the same line of thought, the High Chiefs said their various traditional councils had shown commitment to the project and would be ready to partner with the new CCII team based on its avowed commitment to the early completion of the project.
Earlier in his brief remark, Ajewole had said that his team would ensure that the reigning Olubadan would be the first occupant of the new palace with a promise that within the first six months of his being in office as from July this year when he would formally take over, the first phase would be completed and Olubadan would move in there.
Recalling the relationship between him and Olubadan, which was dated back to the 1980s when nobody could have imagined that a day like this would come, Ajewole disclosed that Oba Balogun had a long time ago proved himself a committed, sincere and genuine lover of Ibadanland and that it won’t be a surprise to him if good things start happening in (and to) Ibadanland under the reign of the monarch.
According to him, “When in 1986 I spearheaded the erection of Iba Oluyole Statue, I came to His Imperial Majesty, then just an aspiring Ibadan prominent person and the bags of cement supplied us far outnumbered our need. We had to begin selling cement after making use of the required number of bags. All the prominent sons and daughters of Ibadanland that made contributions to the project had their names inscribed on it.
“Aside the Ibadan Central Palace project that we will make a priority in our team, empowerment of our youths would gain our attention as well. Going into our family compounds now in hinterland has shown us the convergence of miscreants, which is what our youths are turning to. We have to leverage on the bill sponsored by our Imperial Majesty for the entire country, while in the Senate and make our youths productive.
“Under the new administration, our market men and women would have access to loans to boost their trades as a Microfinance Bank would be established by the CCII. Kabiyesi, I on behalf of my team promise to stand by you and make sure that Ibadan of your dreams come into being in your life time as I pray for long and peaceful reign for Your Imperial Majesty.”