… Ilasa EKITI Rejected The Exercise
Barely 24 hours after the passage of law creating the 19 new Local Council Development Authority, (LCDAs), by the Ekiti House of Assembly, one of the affected communities, Ilasa Ekiti has rejected the exercise.
The community, which rejected the citing of the headquarter of the new LCDA, said that undue political manipulation and chicanery were allowed to prevail over objectivity, common sense and rationality in the creation of the LCDA.
Writing under the auspices of Ilasa Development Union (IDU), the community in a letter dated 5th August, 2021, to the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said that there was nothing to cheer in the creation of Ekiti South East LCDA.
In a letter signed by Mr Tajudeen Olutope Ahmed, Esq and Adebayo, Bode Thomas, the National President and National Secretary respectively, a copy of which was available to newsmen, they noted that Ilasa–Ekiti ought to have been named as the headquarters of the newly created Ekiti South East LCDA, “rather than given an amorphous and non–existence name as the headquarters of the LCDA. For us, this is politics taken too far!”
Ekiti Assembly passes Executive Bill requesting creation of 19 LCDAs
The letter reads in part :
“The leadership of Ilasa Development Union (IDU), has taken notice of the passage of Local Government Bill, 2021 by the Ekiti State House of Assembly which culminated into the creation of 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the existing 16 Local Government Areas.
“As laudable as the idea behind the creation of the new LCDAs are, the creation of Ekiti South East LCDA is nothing to cheer about. This is because undue political manipulation and chicanery were allowed to prevail over objectivity, common sense and rationality in the creation of the LCDA.
“Among the component member communities of the LCDA, it is not in doubt that Ilasa Ekiti ranks far and above others. Apart from it is long existential history, its Oba is the only monarch in the LCDA in grade ‘A’ status while others are in the grade ‘C’ classification.
“This is in addition to the fact that Ilasa Ekiti has played leadership/headship role to a segment of the component towns in the LCDA for decades (Ekamefa community).”
The IDU maintained that the committee set up to look into the viability of the LCDAs clearly recommended the headquarter of Ekiti South East LCDA to be at Ilasa Ekiti; “we gathered that the recommendation was truncated by the powers that be as a way of favouring the interests of “certain powerful and influential politicians” from some of the other component towns.
“The implication of the naming of Ekiti South East LCDA headquarter as Isokan is that the secretariat of the LCDA can be situated at any part of the LCDA. This is most unacceptable and condemnable.”
The community also expressed misgiving that the so called Ekiti South East Local Council Development Area is unnecessarily congested, while the old Ekiti East Local Government is now left with Omuo Ekiti town alone (since Isinbode Ekiti has joined Ayekire LCDA where it rightfully belong), Ekiti South East LCDA is parading nine (09) independent communities as members.
“It is on the totality of the above reasonings that we hereby declare that there is nothing cheering in the purported creation of the LCDA.
“As the umbrella union of all sons and daughters of Ilasa Ekiti, we condemn the naming of Ekiti South East Local Council Development Area as “Isokan”, an amorphous and non–existence place, instead of Ilasa Ekiti where it rightly belongs.
“We call on the Government of Ekiti State to ensure necessary amendment to this monumental anomaly even as we warn that no attempt should be made at taking the headquarter of Ekiti South East LCDA to any other place other than Ilasa Ekiti.”