Ife leaders protest exclusion from proposed councils

Community leaders and other stakeholders in Ife  on Monday protested the exclusion of Ife North Local Government Area from benefitting from the Local Council Development Areas being proposed by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

The governor had, in December 2013, presented a bill to the House of Assembly, seeking to create 27 new LCDAs, in addition to the 30 councils in existence in the state.

The President of Ife Action Council, Mr. Lawrence Awowoyin, and General Secretary,  Rev. Cannon Wale Ileladewa, at a press conference in Ile Ife, said the ommission  of the Ife North LG from the council, where new councils would be created, was an oversight that should be corrected.

Awowoyin said the group had written many letters  seeking audience with  the governor on the issue, but the letters were not even acknowledged; not to talk of granting their request.

He stated that he decided to make public the letter after waiting in vain for response from the governor.

Although the group  commended the governor for proposing to create new councils, it said that some councils with less population than those in Ife land got more LCDAs in the proposal before the parliament.

Awowoyin said the three present local government areas in Ife land deserved  nine LCDAs, but just two were included in the bill before the lawmakers. Ife North, with 153,274 people, according to the 2006 census, was completely neglected.

He added that it was worrisome because even Ila, with 62,054 population, got a new LCDA.

The letter read in part, “We hasten to say that in creating new LCDAs, the exercise  must be proportionally balance, corrective, fair and all inclusive in terms of equity. Unfortunately, our observation and analysis of the proposal before the House of Assembly conveyed contrary picture that elicit biases.

“We are inclined to draw the attention of our beloved Rauf Aregbesola to those local government areas that deserve more than the number proposed for them. Those that have been seriously ‘oversighted’ in the proposal are interestingly in Ife land.”