A group of elders operating under the aegis of Kwara South Consultative Forum have reacted to some requests of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Union (IEDPU), seeking renaming the University of Ilorin after the founder of the Alimi Dynasty, as well as hanging of Emir of Ilorin portrait in all the five local government area offices under the Emirate.
The group kicked against all these requests and more in a press conference held at the Igbomina house, located along Ajase-Ipo road, Ilorin, today Thursday.
Reading the prepared speech, the Secretary General of the group, Engr. Otunba Adebayo Daramola said “The demands of IEDPU, if allowed to stay, will not only injure our unity but also stall every effort at engendering even spread of development across the state.
“They are self-serving requests that will not do this highly prided State of Harmony any good.
“Our concern, therefore, is to disabuse or discourage any attempt to foist on the rest of us, any agenda that will paint other citizens as being subservient, inferior, or outsiders in their own state,” he said
Daramola added that the press conference was not intended to antagonise or confront the IEDPU, but to promote oneness and create a state where a sense of belonging is respected and promoted.
“This is a highly provocative suggestion which is indifferent to the diversity and divergent history of the other ethnic groups in Kwara State. The fact that the University is located in Ilorin does not confer ownership on the city.
“The privilege of being the host community should not be misconstrued to mean exclusive ownership either. The entire state is the catchment area.
“The head of the Alimi Dynasty bears no relevance to the people of Igbomina, Ibolo and Ekiti descents in Kwara South Senatorial District and even the other senatorial District.
“It will, therefore, be unjust and unreasonable to impose a name that does not have a “State Wide Spread” on our collective inheritance,” said the group leader.
On the hanging of Emirs of Ilorin photograph in all the five local government offices under the Ilorin Emirate, namely: Ilorin West, South, East, Asa and Moro the group said “To us, this is a joke carried too far.
He said the group found it difficult to fathom the rationale behind this bizarre suggestion.
The group leader also canvassed for the establishment of the proposed Kwara State University of Education in Kwara South senatorial district and made emphasised to the conversion of College of Education Oro, in Irepodun local government area being the first and oldest among the three Colleges of Education owned by the State Government.
The group also cautioned the state government against proposed establishment of Kwara State University of Science and Technology saying “With KWASU in place and the proposed University of Education, the government should tread softly because University business is highly capital intensive and for proper funding it requires careful planning.”
The group however urged IEDPU and the government to always let equity, justice, and fairness lead in their passion for the development of their domain saying “The attitude of winners take all has become anachronistic in this era of live and let live.”
