By Wale Adedayo
Reports on Monday quoted former President Olusegun Obasanjo as claiming that the Ijebu worked against his suggestion that Abeokuta be made the capital of Ogun State in 1976.
We have gone into our historic archival record as fact checks and can confirm, with respect that this statement is not true.
Obasanjo seems to present himself as an Egba hero, who single-handedly confronted a nonexistent scheme by the Ijebu to deny Abeokuta the opportunity of being made Ogun State capital.
In his book about the Civil War…”Tragedy of Victory”…Brigadier Godwin Alabi Isama, stated without mincing words that OBJ love taking credits for the efforts of others and in the process seek to denigrate the innocent and do everything to bury them alive.
Obasanjo’s statement of yesterday against the Ijebu, is rather unfortunate to say the least.
The Ijebu Progressives which i represent, indeed found out that the committee, saddled with the responsibility for State creation by the administration of late Gen. Murtala Ramat Muhammed in 1976, made far reaching recommendations concerning each proposed State. The recommendations were implemented to the letter except in Ogun State, where Obasanjo used his position as Murtala’s deputy to truncate the recommendation of the committee.
Instead of painting the Ijebu black as being treacherous, it was the committee on State creation that recommended Shagamu as capital given its central location in Ogun State.
Geography has not changed.
This can still be googled, compared with Abeokuta.
Obasanjo would have none of it as he did everything possible to truncate the recommendation.
The same way Shagamu was recommended for being centrally located is the same with the recommendation of Ijebu Ode as the capital of the proposed New State of old Ijebu Province today, given its central location among the communities that will constitute the new State.
The Ijebus leaders have always been very fair in their thoughts and ways.
Requesting for Sagamu as the capital of Ogun State then, was purely on been natural central location with movement to all Zonal capital as advantage. Sagamu is 25mins from Abeokuta, Papalanto/Ilaro(35mins) by road and 25mins to Ijebuode.
OBJ had the opportunity to ask for two states out of old Abeokuta Province as was done to Oyo, Ondo and Kano provinces then, he rather prefer to sway the capital to Abeokuta….using sentimental reasonings in a military government.
It is an open fact that OBJ has never been fair to Ijebus for one day, even during his tenure as democratic President… the story of how he attempted and eventually killed the Olokola LNG project sited within well established FTZ in Ogun East Senatorial District will be told another day.
In any case, the quest for an independent new State of old Ijebu Province out of the present Ogun State, has now taken a new consequential turn, with vigor for finality, in the current democratic dispensation.
Using the same central location advantage to all of its people in the demanding areas, Ijebuode with equal distance of 30mins (max) to all the nine(9) LGs headquarters within Ogun East Senatorial District, may have been agreed by majority of indigenes and residents, as the new Capital….and it is the Lord’s doing this time around.
Obasanjo loves to play God. He fought President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when the latter was governor, for unilaterally creating more local governments in Lagos State without carrying him along. So he withheld the LG’s federal allocations for almost two years until the Supreme Court directed otherwise.
We are not perturbed by Obasanjo’s mudslinging against the Ijebu. It is his natural DNA.
But our Oshi would be angry if we do not put the records straight.
On this one, Obasanjo gaffed!
Wale Adedayo, former Chairman , Ijebu East Local Government, is the Convener, Ijebu Progressives.
