. Call on Kwara Government to convene an all inclusive Stakeholders parley
The indigenous people of 23 villages in Akanbi 1&2 in Ilorin South LGA,the proposed site for Ilorin Smart City, have disagreed with information emanating from the government of Kwara State concerning the government’s engagement of host communities ahead of the ground breaking ceremony.
This position was made known by representatives of the 23 communities, under the aegis of Akanbi 1&2 Community Development Association via a press release dated 22nd May 2024, signed by the chairman, Mr Azeez Omolola, the secretary and made available to newsmen in Ilorin.
The people of these communities cited their Non-Inclusion in the Stakeholders meeting that proceeded a government press release announcing the conclusion of host communities engagement by the government.
The protesting people of the host communities queried the composition of the meeting held at the instance of Daodu Akanbi District, Alhaji Muazu Alege where attendees called on the government to formally invite representatives of the protesting 23 communities for proper dialogue.
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According to the release, “The entire 23 villages of Akanbi 1&2 in Ilorin South LGA are worried and dissatisfied with how our amiable governor, his Excellency Mallam Abdul-Rasaq Abdul-Rahman, is handling the issue of the planned revocation/acquisition of our ancestral lands for the SMART CITY project, without considering our rights as indigenous people in these areas for centuries.”
The communities also restated their commitment to resisting any forceful acquisition of their ancestral lands, citing historical Instances of similar acquisition of 65% of their lands for the University of Ilorin project decades back.
” The entire indigenous people of Akanbi 1&2 in Ilorin South Local Government of Kwara State have rejected the government’s plan to forcefully take over only available lands that we use for agriculture and food processing as a means of livelihood. Recalling from experience how the government took over approximately 65% of the land belonging to indigenous people in our area some decades ago for the purpose of establishing the University of Ilorin…”
“We are particularly concerned about the spate of press releases by the press secretary to Kwara State Geographical Information System which have failed to address some critical issues raised in our letter and press statement.
The one that bothered us the most was a press release dated May 8, 2024, titled “ILORIN SMART CITY: Kwara Government Engages Communities Ahead of Groundbreaking.”The aforementioned press release is seen as a clear attempt by the press secretary to the Kwara State Geographical Information System (KW-GIS) to conceal the truth from the governor, his cabinet, the public and permanently silence us”
The people are particularly miffed at the misrepresentation of the circumstances surrounding the meeting which the May 8th Press Release has claimed is a Stakeholders’ meeting.
“In order to set the record straight. We would like to provide an accurate account of what the KW-GIS Press Secretary, is attempting to portray as stakeholders engagement with our communities in a clear perspective.
Recalling our resolutions, which were adopted by all 23 villages at the end of the first Communities meeting on the subject of the Ilorin Smart City on Sunday, March 17, 2024. And was confirmed in a letter dated Tuesday, March 19, 2024, addressed to His Excellency Mall Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, Kwara state’s executive governor. The letter is also copied to HRH Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Sulu Gambari CFR, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Council; the Rt Honourable Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly; the chairman of KW G I S; the TIC Chairman of Ilorin South LGA; the National President of IEDPU and her youth wing; and other stakeholders who represent us at the state and national levels.”
“… it was Daodu Fufu that convened an unofficial meeting, which was attended by delegations from the Kwara State Geographical Information System, and some individuals from our communities who declared that they were not representing any communities in our area because no official letter had been issued to that effect.
Therefore, the reports in the press release was never the true outcome of the meeting, where individual attendees had explicitly called on the government team to formally invite the representatives of their 23 communities for dialogue…”
“It should be noted that the press release by the office of Press secretary to KW-GIS titled: “Ilorin Smart City: Kwara Government Engages Communities Ahead of Groundbreaking…”was not true, genuine, or reliable and should be ignored in order not to misinform the governor, his cabinet and the general public that the government has held series of meetings with us on the issue of smart city.
It must be realised that the state government or its agents never held an official meeting with any of our communities to justify the current press release or public announcement on various media channels, requesting that anyone with legitimate claims forward them to the agency for prompt action, as reported.”
“We would also like to address the group photo that the Press Secretary used to support his incoherent story. The group photo, which was taken at the end of the unofficial meeting that Daudu Akanbi District organized and which was published in the Herald Newspaper on May 7, 2024, purports to show that our community met with the government team was a mere picture that was taken at the end of the meeting, where a few attendees who Daudu invited told the land delegation point blank to do the needful by convening proper community’s stakeholders meetings.”
The release also noted that the people of the protesting communities admire, respect and support the developmental strides of the Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led government, they are willing to see to and help his government succeed in these laudable projects. They however called for a revisit of the Stakeholders engagement, as a precursor to a peaceful, willing and cooperative host communities of the Smart City Project.
“It should be noted at this point that the people of Akanbi 1&2 are law-abiding citizens who value his Excellency, Mallam Abdul-Rasaq Abdul-Ramon’s good works and Kwara transformation agenda to meet everyone’s needs.
It is also worth noting that we have consistently supported all tangible and rapidly developing projects that have positive impact on people’s lives; this is why we have always tried to prioritize our needs in order to ensure collaboration with successive administrations in facilitating meaningful developmental projects in our area.”
