I donated land to Aregbesola for economic reasons – Adelekun

I donated land to Aregbesola for economic reasons – AdelekunWhen the late Apostle Oluwole Obadare died, Osun State Government tried to immortalise him by turning his burial ground into a tourist attraction centre. Now, Odo-Iju, Ijesa, a community has attempted to attract Christian religious tourism through the donation of wide expanse of land to the Osun State Government for building a worship centre that will have capacity to accommodate at least 200,000 worshipers at a time.  This is coming at a time the State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola is being criticised and accused of implementing a religious agenda. MICHAEL OLANREWAJU was among journalists that engaged the Loja Odo-Iju, Ijesha, Adedoyin Adelekun on the proposed worship centre to be built in Odo-Iju ijesha.

Governor Aregbesola is being criticized for planning to build a worship center in Ibodi, Odo-Iju.    Why is this so?
I don’t know the cause of their criticism because I don’t see anything unusual in what our governor is doing.
Is it appropriate for government to dabble into this venture?
What is inappropriate about it? I don’t see anything inappropriate about it.
It was reported that during a particular school endowment programme, the Governor said something about the project. What is your view and how did you come into this project?
Thank you. That is a different thing entirely. I am a member of Ilesha Grammar School old Students’ Association. I graduated from that school in 1964. Some of my seniors, the set that graduated in 1960 celebrated 50 years of graduation in December 2010, just a week after Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola became the Governor of the state and he was invited as a guest. The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (TRCCG). Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye happened to be a member of that set and he was there. During the celebrations, Aregbesola was invited to give his remarks as the Governor.
He used the opportunity to appreciate members of the association for their innumerable contributions to society and since Pastor Adeboye of The Redeemed Christian Church Of God was there, he took the time to appreciate the man, more for what is happening at the Redemption Camp on Klm 46, Lagos-Ibadan expressway saying that he wished something like that could happen in Ijeshaland. He went into the history of Christianity in Ijesha land and emphasized that such a development would yield a better economic increase for the state and its environs. He noted, that though not a Christian, he observed that each time he passed through the Redemption Camp, millions of people will always gather at least once a month and this has a huge impact on the business of all those selling various merchandise.
So, if a quarter of that population could come into the state particularly in Ijesha land,  it would boost the economy. I was in attendance at that occasion and I held on to that point as a salient one. I have no personal relationship with the governor and I had not met with him at any time before then. I just saw in him an interest to help the people. So, I keyed into the request and on returning home, I discussed the idea with my chiefs, that if we could provide a land for such a project to be domiciled here, it will help us a lot by improving the economic status of our people. The chiefs reasoned along with me and agreed that it was a well-conceived idea. I then wrote a letter to the governor, that we are willing to donate, in view of what he said, free of charge, the required land for the project and that was how the thing started.
What was the governor’s response to the letter?
A few weeks later, I received a letter from the governor thanking me for my letter intimating him about the land donation, and stating that a commissioner would come around to take a look at the said piece of land. I immediately informed my community about the response from the governor, telling them that we must be prepared to partner with the Government as a  commissioner is coming to see what we have to offer them. The commissioner for Lands and Physical Development in the person of Architect Muyiwa Ige came and the whole community were there to welcome him. They told him there that they support the free donation of the land.
Don’t you think that other religious bodies would demand such donations?
Ah! If they demand the kind of Centre, if I have the land, I will give it to them. The main thing we shouldn’t forget is the intention of the governor. The governor is not a Christian and his intention is that he appreciated what Adeboye is doing and the number of crowd he is pulling. He is looking at the effect such would have economically on his people among other things. If there is a Muslim community that holds meeting like that too that attracts a large gathering of people as well that has such economic benefits, if he talks to me, I will give him a land in the same vein because he is thinking of his people and their economic gains as well.
You’ve made mention of the economic importance. Does it really make sense to destroy farmlands and construct a worship centre?
It makes sense. I will tell you why it makes sense. These farmlands you refer to, let’s look at it. Economically, what are these lands yielding compared to the end result of building a worship centre? Some of the people who cultivate these lands do not make annual returns and if they make at all, it is so little. As the monarch, I collect isakole (tribute) from the people ranging from N1,000 to N 2,000 per annum and I can’t  even say I take up to N 100,000 isakole from that
district per annum. So, what I told them when I met with them based on the meagre isakole that I don’t even need in the first place but have to take as a monarch, was that when the worship centre is built, it would increase their earning power compared to the meagre sum they realize from the maintenance of the farmlands. Take for instance, a man whose wife sells soft drinks and in one day of meeting, can sell twenty crates of such unlike what peasant farming offers them.  What are they earning from this peasant farming? So, I don’t see it as destruction of farmland. What are they earning from the farm? That’s the question.
You said the land was given free. Recently, it was reported that the state government gave a compensation of N51million…
The governor is just trying to be passionate and kind to these people. There is a land use decree that says if the government want to use your land for something that would be of benefit to you, that it can be acquired without payment. But the government is just being compassionate and doesn’t want a situation where people will say their lands were destroyed without consideration like the question you asked about destroying farmlands. So, the number of cocoa, palm tree, and all the cash crops in there were counted and paid for nothing more which is allowed anyway because when the Federal Government is taking your land, they pay for cash crops. For which the people were grateful.
How does the traditional worshipper and Muslim faithful feel about this?
Well, my people and I are together. We understand ourselves. No one is complaining because any decision I take, I carry them along. We meet once a month and at that meeting, we discuss a lot of things- the progress of the town, what we need and so on. The Muslims, the Babalawos, Christians and everyone, we meet for the betterment of our community and we take decisions for the advancement of the community. Since two good heads are better than one, we make decisions together.
What are your expectations for the proposed worship centre?
My expectation is that the economic status of my community is going to be better. My community is a small one and I know that if the project spreads and becomes a city, it will spread even beyond to the whole of Ijeshaland and become giants economically.
In your own view, how profitable do you think this project would be?
Are we talking about profit this time? We are looking at the benefit to our people. The government is not making anything out of it. The governor is looking at the long-term benefit to the people. Give them another 2-3 years and you will see the difference entirely.
 Religious crisis is looming in the state with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confronting the government on the wearing of hijab and other religious regalia in secondary schools. Are you and other Kabiyesis planning to meet with the governor and other religious leaders on how to solve this?
As far as we are concerned, we Kabiyesis don’t get ourselves involved in the state issue. All we know is, we control our own people and once our different communities are peaceful, there is no need to get involved with state issues.
Lastly sir, what is your opinion about the education policy of the governor Rauf Aregbesola? Do you want some aspects of the policy changed?
Like I said earlier, I don’t have anything against his policy. He is doing perfectly well as far as educational policy is concerned, there is nothing more one could ask for than a governor who is doing what is good for his people.
Let me quickly chip in this. It is possible that the governor may be discouraged with the criticism of the proposed worship centre, what are your words of encouragement for him?
I said earlier that we see the governor as someone who has vision and the interest of the people at heart. So, why should he feel discouraged? You know what you want, and you are focused, don’t get discouraged. It’s just like someone trying to discourage me from donating the land. But since I know that it is for the benefit of even the generations yet unborn, I will say to the governor, he is a visionary leader and he should not get discouraged. He should just carry on with his visionary leadership and when the results show, these same people who have tried to discourage him  will come back to praise the work.