Re: Ijesas Be Ready To Welcome Emir Of Ibodi Ijesa, Abayomi Abdulraheem

My take on Mr. Wole Ajewole on his piece ‘WELCOME THE EMIR OF IBODI-IJESA’ – a concerned piece on how Hausas buy some portions of Ibodi land

By Abdulahi Abayomi Abdulraheem

This is never an issue in actual fact sir. It is time we faced reality of global reality, if we truly want development in our land across the length and breath of Nigeria.

Large concentration of a group, tribe or nationalists are found in all developed nations. There is China Town in New York. If one visits China Town, one will never believe that he’s still in New York. All signposts are written in Chinese. There’s heavy presence of bicycles, tricycles, restaurants, gold stores, and other things that characterize China. Speaking English to majority of the people you meet on the streets is like speaking English to Chinese on the streets of China. With their presence, there’s no eyebrow and agitations from the indigenous New Yorkers.

A visit to downtown Queens and some parts of Jamaica in New York, one would see a large concentration of Jewish people. Hence, it is referred to as Jewish Community. Rarely will you see non-Jews living in these areas of Jewish-concentrated Community. They have their schools, their transportation system, their hospitals/clinics, places of worship, and even special holidays – where they neither transact businesses nor answer business calls. Despite this, New Yorkers never feel threatened.

A trip to some parts of Brooklyn, especially around Euclid Avenue, and some other parts of Jamaica in New York, one will witness a large concentration of Bangladesh. They are already becoming a community as they are the ones buying some of the properties in these areas. Yet, this is not seen as a threat to the lives of New Yorkers.

Yorubas are the most backward and un-united group that have not birthed the concept of the above sited groups.

Now, back to the issue of Ibodi and Ijesha land generally. I don’t think it is appropriate to throw stones at the people at home for selling their land to non-Ijesha. How many Ijeshas, home and abroad, have deemed it appropriate to come home and do something to develop the land – economically, socially, and human-capital wise???

Ijeshaland with such a huge number of successful sons and daughters can’t even compete with some local communities of Western part of Osun in terms of their sons’ and daughters’ developmental agenda and project implementation. Many are our schools that produce global icons that are physically dying. Our youth have little or no role models any longer. The culture of successful people visiting schools to recount their ugly and trying past with teenagers are gone. What these young people see are a group of rich elites who come home for burials, Iwude, Wedding, etc to flaunt their wealth. Hence, the ‘get-rich syndrome’ of these young people gets activated.

Practically, every street houses lazy and visionless young people who are busy with Bettings and Yahoo as the means to live the life Ijesha Elites live. Only few had/have the opportunities to learn the struggles some of our celebrated elites faced in order to become what they are today. Every street now houses 2/3 betting kiosk in Ilesa.

Igbajo birthed a polytechnic from their annual carnival. What has IWUDE birthed for Ijeshaland? Just a gathering of meeting hold friends and family members, party, and exchange pleasantries.

These aliens that we are now suddenly waking up to pursue are the ones supporting the viability of Ijesha economy. Imagine the number of communities in and out of Osun that come down to trade every Monday at Sabo Market. The Igbos, Hausas, Oyos, etc are the ones making Ijeshaland still breathing. Majority of us, the sons and daughters of the land, have suffocated it through denial of doing something at home. We have failed to use our positions and connections to develop both the land and our people.

We are in the era where successful sons and daughters of many Nigerian communities come down home to empower their young people , women, and the aged. Such is still strange to Ijeshaland. Only few are doing something! No signal gives one an impression and conviction that burial is going to hold in a house order than when such a house is undergoing renovation. Many are family houses begging for attention. If we fail to give attention to our family compound, how much more of a community? We’ll then raise an alarm if an Igbo man buy such a family compound to build shopping complex. Is it his fault or ours?

I will like to plea with us, especially the diasporans, to allow the Ijesha at home enjoy their ‘peaceful’ co-existence with all tribes present in our land. If we can’t buy the land from an impoverished Ijesha man who wants to liquidate his fixed asset, we shouldn’t crucify him for selling to any tribe who backs his demand with purchasing power.

God bless Ijeshaland. May He also bless us to see the need to doing something in taking our land to the committee of developed Yoruba land.

Ire oooo.

Abdulahi Abayomi Abdulraheem
ISERH Chief Servant/Exc. Director