Ijesaland will pay dearly for this!

Years back, Ijesaland, particularly Ilesa, suddenly woke up to discover it had become the South-West capital of 419. Fraudsters seized everywhere, dominating the social circle and as expected, becoming choice boyfriends and men-friend for loose unmarried ladies and housewives seeking material comfort outside. They came in different shades, but one inscrutable fellow stood out. They called him Oba Awon Aro because he was a cripple. If memory serves me, his birth-name should be something between Busuyi and Kanmi. He was a locally-trained bricklayer who had on-site accident and lost his spine to the thud. He sought alternative daily bread in fake sorcery and became the Don.

Suspected ritualists kill 80-year-old woman in Ondo •Sever breasts

Well, there was a modernised version of him called Olorunlugo who duped music maestro, Sunny Ade. While Olorunlugo was dusting up big boys like Sunny, Oba Aro, was spreading crude expertise across the famed home of hardwork, industry, commerce and bibire (apology to Dr. Wale Bolorunduro’s campaign), by siring venomous offsprings everywhere. Somehow, justice came from “nowhere,” actually, from the jungle. After buying off nearly all who should speak up, some ruffians in the garb of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) came up with a disorganised mob and dislodged Aro and his men. His house was burnt down on a glorious Sunday, his bevy of bleaching cream-loving wives, doing Ben Johnson into available bush, to escape maiming. Aro escaped, but every shred of what he made from the loathe-some trade was consumed, cars, et all. His disciples also vanished before murderous hands could be laid on them, though not without their illicit acquisition, suffering the same fate. It was the end of an inglorious era.

But the OPC elements also became a midnight nuisance and daytime shame, murdering extra-judicially at will, while operating as a law unto their caprice. A fateful night, I almost got shot by some drunken characters in the name of ridding the land of the undesirable. Well, the system took care of their irritant leader who made a career out of motor-park thuggery. The land was “quiet” for a while, but petty thieves are said to be on daily rampage now, with the blanket darkness covering the six local governments, due to IBEDC/youth face-off, providing a coverlet for the marauders.

Since late Bola Ige used his influence to cut Ijesa North from the unified Ijesaland, there has been a seeming sustained administrative rudderlessness which only a united traditional institution could provide. There is this conspiracy theory that the birth of Ijesa North Traditional Council was malicious, intended to weaken the paramouncy of Owa of Ijesaland, and restrict his kingdom majesty only to the title. Well, maybe.

But whatever was behind the split isn’t working for the land as we speak and the eight years of shon-of-the-soil governorship have shown the limit of political leadership on effective communal peace, prosperity and security, even if the best of intentions, is invested into it.

The house is decidedly divided against itself and all manners are crippling in, including the mess which the gold-rich areas of Ijesaland have become. Penultimate weekend, Saturday Tribune had run an extensive report on the activities of illegal miners from the North, particularly Zamfara of all places! About 24 hours before the publication was out, Dr Segun Ojo, engaging environmentalist/researcher, ex-NEMA Director, gentleman pastor and anti-corruption crusader per-excellence, had called in to share his concern beyond the degradation, illegality, corruption, bribery and shameful compromise on-going at the “golden” axis of Ijesaland, including Ifewara, the home of renowned preacher, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Dr. Ojo’s findings went into the heart of the matter; the burgeoning insecurity in the areas, which is already festering across board.

Security reports from what could be called Ijesa forest of thousand deamons (apology to WS) revealed a pattern that had devastated other places around the country, with the most recent being Zamfara where many of the illegal miners confessed on tape, to flee from. Approaching their established conclaves from Ile-Ife, illegal emergency shanties accommodating them reportedly litter everywhere, traditional instruction overseeing those areas allegedly pocketed with sustained tips, with the leadership of the arena, reportedly controlling unofficial budget running into tens of billion, Ijesa girls being taken for light sport as they are being impregnated at a snap and a fiefdom being daily entrenched while serving as rigging machines for politicians who harvest votes from the darkened  polling booths within the axis.

Above isn’t even the problem, well maybe the present danger, because the arrangement has been on for a while and everyone seemed to be enjoying the lucre from the bush. I remember a certain long-staying chairman of Atakumosa West LG, Joshua Ogunleye, and the caricature task force he had in place, which consistently got beer and pepper soup money from raids on the “golden” forest. And that was more than 18 years back.

But it wasn’t a killing field then.

to be continued…