Our attention has been drawn to the vitriols of a particular lawyer, who most likely, is an impersonator of heritage and calling. The said lawyer expressed his affiliation to Owalukare Royal Family, unfortunately there was nothing regal or noble in his deployment of language. Royals don’t deploy gutter language for public communications. That is on the one hand. On the other hand, the envy- laced rejoinder he wrote reeked so much of wilful ignorance, and we find that at variance with a profession that prides itself on learning.
However, his venomous outburst requires response if only to set the records straight. The envy and resentment of the history of Owo in his piece was quite discomfiting. Unfortunately, no society can be separated from its history as it is a veritable framework for understanding the past and the present, and may provide a gateway to the future. We are proud of our history because of its richness. In the precolonial times, Owo was a thriving city- state with imperial ambitions. During the colonial era, the ancient Kingdom exercised suzerainty over a large swathe of land and people; and post independence time till present, Owo is a beauty to behold in influence, power, and progress on all indices of development. Why won’t we be proud of our heritage and history? No amount of bellyaching will stop that!
The wilful ignorance of the writer reflected on the three points he highlighted in his jejune response, to wit:
- Ikare as headquarters of defunct Akoko Division: If Ikare was the headquarters of defunct Akoko Division, Owo was the headquarters of defunct Owo Division which had Akoko and other adjourning towns under its administrative canopy
- Ikare as a thriving economy: If Ikare is the economic heartbeat of Northern Ondo, Owo has been a nodal town within the Senatorial District for eons and
- That Ikare’s population equals or is more than that of Owo should be the lie of the century. Which year did National Population Commission (NPC) release such data? Still, we can help his ignorance. Ikare is about half of Owo in landmass. We allowed him the indulgence to make his inferences from that.
Regardless of these ill-fitting narratives, there is a critical question begging for answer. If Ikare trumps Owo on developmental indices as he claimed, why was their Representative afraid to push their case in an open meeting or negotiation with Owo and other towns before railroading them into a State Project without their consent? At least, if your dress is beautiful enough, you should be confident to wear it in public. Why sell your merchandise in the dark rather than in broad daylight?
And if Hon. Ifeoluwa is running errands for his constituents, the last time we checked, Owo/Ose Federal Constituency is not part of Akoko NorthEast/Akoko North West Federal Constituency. For that reason, he cannot coerce Owo into his constituents’ agenda without prior consultation. That amounted to incivility and antediluvian predilections – all relics of stone age politics
At any rate, as we asseverated in our initial reaction to the shenanigans perpetrated by the Akoko NorthEast/Akoko NorthWest legislator in the Green Chamber, that bill remains dead on arrival. Such egregious violation of fundamental tenets of democracy and the right to collective aspiration of a people can only live in the dreams of its sponsors.
For the umpteenth time, based on all indices known to man in statecraft, Owo towers head and shoulders above other towns in Ondo North Senatorial District, and for that, any idea of state creation that does not have Owo as its capital is a mirage. After all, that a blind man cannot see the sun does not detract from the majesty of the celestial body.
Signed:
Toyyib Musa-Omoloja
Archdiamond,
Diamond Group Nigeria.
Owo is the headquarter of Ondo North