Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described Ibadan, capital of Oyo State as one of the political centres of gravity in our nation that was practically written in stars. 

Speaking today, March 11, at the official coronation of the new Olubadan, Oba Dr. Senator Mohood Olalekan Ishola Balogun Ali-Iwo, Alli Okunmade II, Professor Osinbajo said that it is Ibadan that the call for Nigeria’s independence from British rule first resounded.

According to him, Ibadan is land of ancient renown and high achievements, saying that the city is at the heart of the history of the Yoruba people and Nigeria.

“This is after all a town unlike none other, founded and shaped by defiant non-conformists, warriors of major Yoruba subgroups from Oyo, Ife, Ijebu, Egba, and it would become the largest indigenous city in Africa and the intellectual hub of the modern Nigerian state.
“The people of Ibadan bore witness to the exploits of iconic nationalists and leaders such as Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, our country’s first President and the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was Premier of the Western Region for a time that is widely regarded as the region’s golden age.

“Ibadan became the hub of politics in the then nascent nation and the capital of the Western Region. It was and is still acknowledged as the political headquarters of the entire South-West Nigeria.
“Ibadan was and has always been a city on a hill, a place of refuge and a realm in which individuals could rise by the grace of their talents, on merit and their diligence.

“It embodies the values of openness, diversity and high achievement. It is therefore not surprising that Ibadan is a city of many firsts.
“It is home to the first indigenous TV station in Africa, it is also the home of the Shooting Stars Sports Football Club (3SC) – the first Nigerian club to win an international trophy – the African Winners Cup in 1976.
“This is the home of the first university in Nigeria, (the University of Ibadan), and for many years the iconic Cocoa House was the tallest building in Nigeria standing as a towering edifice dominating the city’s skyline – a powerful visual reminder that Ibadan ceaselessly inspires us to strive for greater heights in every endeavour.
“Even in the management of its traditional institution, Ibadan is unerringly unique. As we all know whoever would become an Olubadan must climb 23 chieftaincy steps from either of two lines: the Civilian and the Military. But it is its predictability and orderliness that ranks it among the most peaceful and unique ascension protocols anywhere.”
Vice President Osinbajo said that it is the custodianship of this illustrious heritage and proud tradition that the new Olubadan has been initiated into today.

“And it is therefore your Royal Majesty, a heavy obligation of history that the privilege of your ascension to the throne of your fathers now places upon your shoulders.
“But your shoulders are broad and sturdy as you come into this office better prepared than probably any monarch anywhere, with a PhD, a background in economic and social research, scholar, with an intellectual sympathy for Marxist dialectic,  university teacher, former Senator of the Federal Republic, and a champion of indigenous culture and community empowerment.
“Everything in your remarkable life and times; your abiding dedication and love for the people of Ibadan, your breadth of intellect, the openness of mind and largeness of heart has inexorably led to this auspicious day of your crowning as the Olubadan of Ibadan. I am sure this will serve you well on the throne.”

Erstwhile Yoruba Nation war-monger, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, has repented and preferred dialogue in the quest for the Southwest agitation for Oduduwa Republic and self-determination.

In a statement issued on his behalf by his lead counsel, Yomi Alliyu (SAN), Igboho said that it is only dialogue that would lead to the actualization of the Yoruba nation, begging his kinsmen and women to shun violence and embrace dialogue.

Igboho was recently released from prison in Benin Republic on health grounds.

He said that the ambition of self-determination can be achieved without firing a bullet or heating up the fragile situation in Nigeria.

“Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has implored all his supporters, especially his kinsmen at home and in the Diaspora, to embrace dialogue in their quest for self-determination without heating up the fragile situation in Nigeria,” Alliyu said.

“The Yourba Nation activist said that he would continue to preach against war, considering what was happening in Ukraine and some parts of Igboland in Nigeria.

“He expressed his believes that the ambition for self-determination of Yorubaland could be achieved without firing a bullet.

“Igboho assured all those in support of peaceful self-determination, through referendum, that the struggle continues, adding that he would not relent in his efforts in that regard.

“He thanked all his supporters, especially his leaders, Prof. Banji Akintoye and Prof. Wale Adeniran and all Nigerians, especially his people in Ilana Oodua and Affiliates, seeking self-determination.

“Igboho also thanked the President of Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, for releasing him from prison with a view to uniting him with members of his immediate family in spite of the fact that he would only stay in Cotonou for the time being.”

The Ekiti State Governor and chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Kayode Fayemi, has said that state governors spend more on police and army out of the security votes they collect than the Federal Government.

“Quote me, state governors fund police more than the Federal Government. We buy them vehicles. We pay them allowances. In some cases, we even buy ammunition, of course, under the authority.

“And if we are to engage our military in aid to civil authority, which you will find actually in 36 states in this country, we fund it.”

Governor Fayemi, who addressed participants today, March 10,  at a two-day multi-stakeholders meeting on the Peace and Inclusive Security Initiative, organized by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in partnership with the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja, said that security votes collected by state governors are used to support security agencies and their operations to enhance security in the states.

He was responding to questions on what the governors do with security votes and why they are against local government autonomy.

The governor said that not all the governors collect security votes, governor Fayemi, adding: “I can’t speak for others, but I also get feedback from other states in my capacity as chairman of the governors’ forum.

“There are hardly any of these institutions that you are talking about that we do not fund. We fund the police.

“Today, the military is involved in internal security operations, which really is a problem, because for me, when you inflate the role of the security institution, beyond its primary responsibility, you also have consequences that will come with that. That may not be palatable.

“But that is where we are because most Nigerians don’t trust the police. They will still come and beg governors to say ‘can you ask the brigade commander to put a roadblock in my area’.”

“If you engage the military, in a civil authority, your state is responsible to pay for the operations of the men that are engaged in that activity and not expect the military also to share that burden because that is not their primary responsibility.

“You have taken them out of their primary responsibility, you have to pay for it. So we pay for that, we pay for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.

“There is no security institution that you have that states are not responsible to more than the Federal Government that has primary responsibility for them.”