Opinion: Corruption of Olubadan: Agitation of the State of Ibadan Ladoja, the wrong cause, the wrong time

The coronation of Olubadan Ibadan was expected to be a moment of unity, celebration, and cultural renewal for Ibadanland. Conversely, the atmosphere was interspersed with the newly named king’s intervention, former Governor of State Oyo, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, who used the opportunity to ask the Ball President Ahmed Tinubu to prioritize the creation of the Ibadan state.

While this sentiment can be emotionally resolved with some indigenous people, it is agitation that is pursued at the wrong time, through the wrong platform, and with a wrong understanding of the democratic process.

First, both Ladoja and Tinubu are experienced politicians and former members of parliament. They understand more than most that the creation of a country in Nigeria is not the responsibility of the only executive arm of the government. The 1999 Constitution clearly established a multi-step process: Approval by two-thirds of members of the State Assembly, ratification by the National Assembly, and ratification by the National Referendum before the President’s approval. This is a complicated procedure, and intentionally so, because countries cannot just appear based on executive or sentimental Fiat. By directing his request to Tinubu, Ladoja presented a misleading narrative to the public, as if the creation of the state was located in the presidential pocket.

Second, the history of Ibadan agitation for states is not new or direct. Since the 1980s, the indigenous people argue that Ibadan, gave its size, cultural heritage, and economic interests, deserves recognition as its own condition. However, every effort has stopped, it does not have to be due to lack of achievement, but because the procedure under the civil government makes such demands almost impractical. All 36 Nigerian states today, from Ebonyi to Ekiti to Zamfara, were created under successive military regimes – according to winners who can impose state boundaries with decree without consultation of citizens. Reality explains why the civilian era calls for new countries consistently failed: Democracy, with design, rejecting unilateralism.

Third, Ladoja claims that the Ibadan people “send him” to make the creation of the state their first assignment as leaders must be critically examined. Although there is no doubt that some bad people share this desire, scrapeing it as a communal mandate that undermines democracy. Democracy is developing rapidly in procedures, rules, and inclusiveness – not on personalized claims or political shortcuts. By presenting the creation of the State as the first job, the leaders of Ib and the risk of establishing hopes that they cannot give in the current democratic framework. Actually, economic, social and security problems that urge to demand faster attention than the search shown by unfit history in civil dispensation.

Also read: Tinubu said Nigerian GDP grew by 4.23%, inflation dropped to 20.12% when the reserve reached $ 42.03 billion

In the end, Ibadan deserves recognition and progress, but progress is not synonymous with the creation of the state. What Ibadan needs is more urgent is a policy that overcomes unemployment, urban infrastructure, education, and preservation of its unique culture. Agitation for the state of Ibadan, however noble in intention, wrong place in time and execution. It sweeps the constitutional reality, distracts the attention of development needs, and accidentally describes democracy as a system in which the results can be determined by the bargaining of the elite rather than institutional procedures.

I can say that every state in Nigeria owes its existence to military decisions, not democratic consensus. For Ladoja to push the Ibadan agenda on the shoulders of a civil president to disrupt two different eras. If there is, the request must function as a reminder that in democracy, the rule of law and legal processes – not a sentimental appeal – determine what is possible. The greatness of Ibadan will not come from pursuing the shadow of the creation of the state, but from embracing the responsibilities of democratic governance here and now.

As a former experienced senator and politicians such as Oba Ladoja, begging the president for the creation of the Ibadan state that produces the wrong priority impression, and further supports points that Nigeria looks like a banana republic where people can get what they admire through the back door, ignoring the inheritance process. The law making business encourages members of parliament closer to friends with the Nigerian constitution. So, it is hoped that Oba Ladoja must know better.

In the 1999 Constitution, the provisions on the creation of new countries were found mainly in the 8 paragraph 1-6, this section described the procedure to create new countries not for the imperial authority to provide false hope.

Author: Tunmise Ajeigbe

The article published in our graffiti section is the opinion of the writers and does not represent Nigerian ripple views or the editorial booths.