Tinubu’s LG autonomy as a catalyst for Offa’s greatness

As the countdown begins to the September 21 Local Government Areas Election in Kwara State, the elders and the elites of Offa Local Government must ensure the people set aside parochial politics and take advantage of Offa’s uniformity in almost everything and ensure we elect a visionary Chairman and who will be supported by capable Councilors that will implement a developmental plan that will make our city the envy of the world writes Olukayode Thomas

Introduction

It is a consensus among indigenes of Offa, the headquarters of Offa Local Government in Kwara State, that we are one family.

Nothing justifies this assertion more than the experiences of intending couples.

A young man meets a young lady and they fall in love at first sight but before he could shout eureka, ‘I have found it’, the way Archimedes exclaimed when he discovered that the volume of an irregular solid could be calculated by measuring the water displaced when it was immersed.

A little background check will reveal that the jewel of inestimable value he just met is a blood relation from either his father’s or his mother’s side.

Most times, I wonder how Offa people inter-marry because, from my interactions, I discovered that most of us are related one way or the other.

United by one God

In my extensive travels across Nigeria and different parts of the world in the last four decades, I have never seen a community that abhors religious extremism like Offa.

I have been to communities in Nigeria and abroad where marriages are not sanctioned not because the couples are not Christians but because one is catholic and the other is a protestant, therefore they cannot marry.

In some Muslim communities, Shia and Sunni relationships and marriages are discouraged but not Offa.

In every Offa family, you will find a traditional religion worshiper, a Christian, and a Muslim.

Though it may exist, I have never come across an Offa family that has members of the three religions and they don’t live in harmony.

We are united irrespective of religious leaning and we do everything from burials to marriages, naming, housewarming, and others together without anybody raising an eyebrow.

I remembered that at a point in Offa history, the majority of Offa Muslims queued behind the late Asiwaju of Offa, Josiah Sunday Olawoyin, a Christian, to fight against their Muslim brothers.

They boycotted the Offa Central Mosque and started their own Musulumi fe Alafia Central Mosque in the Abogunugun area, and it is not uncommon to see Olawoyin, a Christian, observing the Friday Jumat service with them.

United by laare principle (Equality and Justice)

Offa is founded and guided by the principle of laare, Omo bu re, ikan o gbodo ju, Bi kan ba ju kan nile olofamojo ogun lon’da ni ile baba wan.

Everything in Offa it’s about equality and justice and once you discard these principles it may lead to war until the injustice is addressed.

Not favoured by land mass and population but despite these disadvantages, the Offa people are one of the most enlightened people in the universe, they are highly educated.

Offa is the only city in Nigeria, probably in the world with over 170 indigenes as professors, countless PhD holders, and countless graduates in different fields.

Offa people don’t wait for the government before they embark on development projects, especially in the areas of education, security, industrialization, quality healthcare, youth empowerment and engagement, investment in hospitality and tourism, and infrastructural development.

Victimized because of laare

Offa people adhering to the principle of equality and justice comes with a heavy price, neglected by successive Kwara State governments who see their strict adherence to due process, belief in the principles of egalitarianism, and best global practices as stubbornness.

The perceived stubbornness of the Offa people has led to its deliberate neglect and underdevelopment by succeeding governments in Kwara State.

Between 2019 and June 2024, the Kwara State Government, under the leadership of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq collected over Nine Billion Naira from the Federal Government on behalf of Offa Local Government as allocation from Federal Account.

But if one takes a tour around Offa, which can be done within a few hours, there are no signature projects by the Kwara State Government to justify the allocation of One Billion Naira to Offa within this period.

When he was campaigning to be elected the Executive Governor of Kwara State Abdulrazaq promised to conduct elections into the Local Government Council as soon as he assumes office.

But five years later, all the sixteen Local Government Areas in Kwara State are been run by Interim Management Committee Chairmen and Councilors appointed by him.

 These appointees are answerable and loyal to him alone and not to the people. The Governor continued to ignore calls for democratically elected Chairmen and Councilors until recently.

With the elections into Local Government Areas in Kwara now slated for September 21, 2024, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, this is the time for Offa people to elect a Chairman and Councilors that will be loyal to them.

 The effects of previous and present Chairman and Councilors who are loyal to Abdulrazaq instead of Offa people include but are not limited to lack of transparency and accountability, our roads and other key infrastructure are in terrible shape, our schools are in deplorable conditions, youth empowerment and engagement are completely neglected, one could go on and on.

But the Supreme Court’s verdict affirming the financial autonomy for Local Government Areas allows Offa to control her destiny.

 With the direct allocation of what is due to Offa coming directly to Offa, we can now enthrone a Local Government Chairman and Councilors who will be transparent with our finances.

The above, coupled with our renowned community development efforts, we have an opportunity to build a city that will be the envy of not just other Local Government Areas in Kwara State but Nigeria.

 The Chairman and Councilors need

Despite Offa indigenes’ homogeneousness and harmony especially when an idea is for the common good, it doesn’t mean that the town does have its share of anti-progressive elements who will see the new financial autonomy as an opportunity for self-enrichment, after all, there was a Judas among Jesus Christ 12 disciples.

This is where our elders and elites have vital roles to play in ensuring that we elect visionary men and women who have what it takes to take Offa to the next level.

This is a global trend. In developed places around the world, it is the elites and the elders that drive change and development.

China is what it is today because of the vision of Chairman Mao and his colleagues.

Dubai, hitherto a desert, is a first world today because of the vision of Sheikh Rashid ibn Saeed Al Maktoum, Libya became a first-world nation and witnessed unprecedented development because of the vision of Muammar Gaddafi, and nearer home, the Western Region was the best in Nigeria in the 1950’s and 1960’s because of the vision of Obafemi Awolowo.

This is 2024, Offa needs a Chairman and Councilors who are cerebral, cosmopolitan exposed to the management of human and material resources at the top level in the public or private sectors.

Ones that will uphold the sacred principles of transparency and accountability with our allocations from the Federal Government, Internally Generated Revenue, and contributions by indigenes. 

They must be committed to positioning Offa to the world as a place as a place to live, visit, invest, and generally do business.

The team that will be resolute in reviving our schools, healthcare, security, housing, power generation power, water, IT education for our youth, youth empowerment and engagement, tourism, sports, business, and investment, bring in investors to revive our industries and prioritize good relationships with our neighbors, and many more.

Once we have such candidates for the position of Chairman and Councilors through interviews, debates, or direct headhunting, the elders and elites will use our unanimity as one family and one compound and endorse them and ensure they are elected

Kunle Ajeigbe has started the sprint but it’s a marathon

Luckily for Offa, an eminent son of our city, Kunle Ajeigbe, the former Managing Director of Union Bank, Cameroon, who holds the honourary title Aare Bobaselu of Offa, has started sensitizing Offa indigenes on the need to jettison partisan politics and elect a Chairman and Councilors that has what it takes to move Offa to the next level.

Banking on the tradition of Offa queuing behind anything that is progressive and for the common good, Ajeigbe has started a Stakeholders Forum, consisting of politicians across party lines, concerned compatriots, and respected elders of our community – to take a bold stand.

According to Ajeigbe, “The upcoming local government election in September presents us with a unique opportunity to reclaim our local government and ensure that it serves the people of Offa, not the interests of outsiders or the state government.

“We must support a sound candidate who has a deep love for our community and no attachment to the state government. We need a leader who will harness the ample human resources and capabilities within Offa to make our local government outstanding once again. The autonomy granted to local governments provides us with the chance to deploy our resources effectively, but this will only be possible if we safeguard the election of credible leaders who are truly committed to the well-being of our community.”

While the writer is appealing to the Olofa of Offa as the fathers of all to be neutral, taking Offa to the next level is a marathon, not a sprint and Ajeigbe needs the support of other illustrious sons and daughters Tunji Olagunju  Sarah Alade, Ganiyu Adekeye, Taju Owoyemi, Segun Olaniyi, Saheed Popoola, Segun Olawoyin, Waheed Olagunju, and several captains of industries, business executives, former VCs, academia, youth leaders, community leaders, clergies, traditional and honourary title holders, union leaders, social clubs, Offa in the Diaspora and others who are elders and leaders in households and compounds.

We should be buoyed by the words of Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN), an Offa son by proxy, who said recently, that local government Chairmen and Councilors who embezzle council funds do so at the risk of going to jail.

 “One thing I keep saying is that the governors have immunity, but Local Government Chairmen do not have. The Councilors don’t have. So, it will be very easy to put them where they belong. So, if a governor asks you to go and commit a crime and you accept, he will not follow you to Kuje or Kirikiri. No, you are on your own.”

This is Offa’s time, we must use the opportunity provided by Tinubu’s financial autonomy to move from grass to grace and not from frypan to fire.

Because like Ajeigbe said we must reclaim our local government and ensure that it serves the people of Offa, not the interests of a few anti-progressives or the state government.

The time is now, let’s capitalize on Tinubu’s financial autonomy for Local Government Areas as a catalyst for Offa’s greatness. God bless Offa.

Olukayode Thomas, a two-time CNN African Journalist of the Year Award winner and a native of Offa, writes from Surulere, Lagos.

 

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