A traditional ruler in Kwara State, Oba Titus Ajibola, the Alapado of Apado, has appealed to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq to help ensure his elevation as a graded traditional ruler, alleging that he has been subjected to marginalisation by the Ilorin Emirate Council.
The traditional ruler made the appeal in a statement made available to Tribune Online on Saturday, noting that the quest for the elevation of the holder of traditional stool of Apado Town has been on since 1978.
“During the Ekundayo Chieftaincy Commission in 1978, I wrote a memorandum for the elevation of the then Alapado of Apado, Oba Abraham Owoyale as a Third Class chief. But when the report came out, those of us in the emirate were not considered,” he said.
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Oba Ajibola said the Apado traditional stool to be upgraded to first class, being one of the oldest village, adding that the Emir of Ilorin should be compelled to pay all the money accrued to him from the five per cent local government allocations which he said amounted to millions of naira.
He said: “Apado, being Igbomina and a Yoruba ethnic group, should be merged with Share and Loma [two Yoruba communities in the area] to form a local government out of the present Ifelodun Local Government Area.
“In the alternative, the present Ilorin East Local Government Area be split into two so that Oshin Local Government Area be created from Oyun River to Share Community boundary of which Apado shares boundary with Share and that the local government headquarters should be at Oke-Oyi.”
Oba Ajibola, who mounted the traditional throne some 15 years ago, said the struggle for the elevation continued when former Senate President Bukola Saraki became the governor and was also pursued during the administration of former Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed, adding that all the efforts were futile.
“My own memo was taken to the Emir of Ilorin. He called me and asked whether I wrote for elevation as a graded chief. I told him yes, I did. He told me categorically that I shall never be graded under the Emirate.
“The emir called of us, baales, alanguas (head of community wards and streets) and told us that we can never be graded but that he would pay us money that would commensurate to the position of graded chiefs.
“By 2005, the Emir wrote a letter to the late Dr Olusola Saraki to compel local government chairmen to increase his monthly allocation from four per cent to five per cent to enable him to pay us the baales and alanguras as graded chiefs.
“The request was granted but when the money was released, the Emir said the money belonged to him. He later told us that we do not belong to the Emirate Council and therefore, the local government will be paying us N20, 000 only as our monthly allocation,” he said
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