Ekiti Elders Tip South Governor, Condemn Insecurity

By Gboyega Adeoye/ADO-EKITI// As activities ahead of the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections slated for 2022, begin to gather audible volume, the Egbe Ilosiwaju Omo Ekiti, a socio-cultural group, has called for harmony and urged the youth and other political actors in the state to be fair in their decision on who becomes the next governor.

The group issued this advise as members of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA), began a tour of the 16 local councils in Ekiti State, ahead of the governorship election slated for 2022.

They said Ekiti State has remained retarded economically and politically since 1999and only a change in the culture of selecting who becomes the next governor, would bring the needed succour.

The group of elders who expressed confidence in the pro-Asiwaju group urged its leaders to eschew selfishness and present a vibrant, resourceful and progressive person to lead SWAGA into the Ekiti gubernatorial election billed to hold in July 2022.

Egbe Ilosiwaju Omo Ekiti, comprising notable elders from all walks of Ekiti state, stated that a governor from the southern senatorial district of Ekiti State, is potent winning ticket for any liberal political party in the 2022 contests.

The group therefore advised that SWAGA should lead the Ekiti people out of the present political quagmire, by presenting a common candidate with less baggage and of impeccable past.

The elders also expressed concern over the rising insecurity in Ekiti State and the country at large and urged all Ekiti sons and daughters to join hands with government to combat the raging scourge.

In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Pa Amos Ajibola Omotinugbon, in the state capital, Ado Ekiti, the group impressed that governing Ekiti State should be conceded to the south senatorial district of Ekiti State, “in the spirit of equity, fair-play and egalitarianism.”

The group noted that the call for fair-play became necessary as a panacea for the required harmony to boost broad participation in building the state to desired expectations.

Pa Omotinugbon noted that since the South has not gotten the opportunity to lead the state since the beginning of the third republic in 1999, it would only be fair to concede the slot to the zone, come 2022.

“As elders in the state, we think it is our responsibility to guide our younger ones in politics to follow the path of honour. Politics is, and should be an all-inclusive game. If we have three senatorial districts and governorship has only been between the north and the central since 1999, we think it is just apt we call the players to order.

“At the close of incumbent government in 2022, the central would have ruled for 12 years and the north 13 years, while the south is yet to have a taste of power. We think it is only fair that we concede to the south in the spirit of love and togetherness that bound us as a state,” he said.

The group also enjoined politicians in the state to embrace order and eschew all forms of violence, stating that any act of lawlessness at this time may further aggravate the lingering insecurity in the land.

According to the Egbe Ilosiwaju Omo Ekiti, the security situation in Ekiti State and indeed Nigeria, call for all hands to be on deck to collectively found a truce and deal with the situation with needed urgency.

“Our state and indeed Nigeria, is currently on the horns of a dilemma. We are at a point where nobody is safe again. Our forests have been occupied by strange men who now kill, maim, rape our women and destroy our farms. We think we can only combat these notorious invaders in unity. We have no option than to join hands, as one people with one heritage, one history and one destiny, to liberate ourselves from these impostors.

“More than ever before, we need to see ourselves as one people bound in same tradition and values, set all acrimonies aside and collectively roll up our sleeves to find a way to oust these invaders, bring back peace and tranquility to Ekiti and restore our ailing economy from the excruciating grips of these hoodlums,” Pa Omotinugbon said.