Ekiti: Pro-varsity rally in Ikere - I was under threat to oppose the govt - Monarch

Dapo Falade, Ado-Ekiti - 11.03.2008

A section of the Ikere Ekiti community in Ekiti State on Sunday staged a counter-rally to reaffirm their support for the siting of the proposed University of Education in the town.

Also, the monarch of the town, the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Adegboye Akayejo, has denied that he was privy to the state government’s decision to site the university in the town in order to save his domain from anarchy in the face of a protest earlier staged by some people from Ikere.

Some indigenes of Ikere had recently staged a protest against the decision of the state government to relocate the state College of Education from the town and replace it with the University of Education.

The Sunday’s rally, led by some community leaders and notable members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was taken round the town to condemn the activities of some indigenes of the town, who they said were opposed to the siting of the university in the town due to political differences rather than in the interest of the community.

But reacting, the coordinator of the Ekiti Democratic Coalition Alliance (EDCA), Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, who had taken the state government to court over the crisis, alleged that the state government had induced the protesters with N5 million to stage the rally.

Ogele, a human rights activist and an indigene of Ikere-Ekiti, said the situation had not warranted the counter-rally, adding that the governor was only trying to armtwist Ikere people with the intention to ensure that the college was eventually relocated to Ifaki-Ekiti, his (Governor Oni’s) home town.

Speaking at the rally, former deputy governor under Ayo Fayose, Chief Abiodun Aluko, castigated those he accused of hiding under political guises to deprive the people of a rare benefit, saying that he never imagined that some people could prefer a college of education to a university at this stage of socio-economic development.

Stating that the state government was not in any way planning to shortchange the people of the town, Aluko described the government’s action as a way of giving the people dividends of democracy.

He said all the right thinking people of the town had realised that the establishment of a university could be more beneficial than a college of education, stressing that the state government never had the intention of relocating the college as being rumoured.

Also reacting, Oba Akayejo said he had earlier opposed the siting of the university due to threat and misinformation from some quarters.

He said he was threatened that unending violence would rock the town if he failed to oppose the siting of the university in the town.

The monarch added that he had vowed not to bow to the antics of the people due to his resentment to violence, adding that no right thinking monarch would pray for violence in his domain.