OPEN LETTER TO HON. NATHANIEL AGUNBIADE
Dear Honourable,
In a pondering mood I am writing you this letter. I am sorry if you would have wanted this letter to be a private one but I think that since it represents the preoccupation of my people in Ijesa North Federal Constituency, I feel morally obligated to post it in a public medium so that others, especially my good people of Obokun/Oriade Local Government Area, may also have access to its content. So, please bear with me.
After series of Campaigns with Promises made by Candidates from different parties during the last general elections, my people of Ijesa North Federal Constituency went to the poll on April 9, 2011 to cast their votes for who they think can represent them at Federal House Of Representatives, Abuja, for the next four years. They came out enmasse and voted for You, Bar. Nathaniel Agunbiade, thinking you can represent and serve them better.
Fortunately, the people of the “State of Osun”, most especially the “IJESAS”, were still in joyous mood for the Victory of Rauf Aregbesola in Court after three years of his struggle to regain his “Stolen Mandate” from the Oppressors. The atmosphere in “State of Osun” then was a changed one, the people were clamouring for change at all level of government in the State. They want change at the nooks and crannies of “State of Osun”; and that was why my people came out and voted for you, thinking you will be the Change for Obokun/Oriade Local Government Area.
On May 29, 2011, you were sworn-in and immediately assumed your office. You affirmed your promises to the people as you took the oath of office. Many of our people even witnessed you being sworn-in as their new representative in Abuja. You were challenged in court by your opponent; he alleged that you rigged the election, but our people stood and re-affirmed your victory, they were with you throughout the court sessions and thank God you won; Of course they know who they voted for.
They supported you through thick and thin but what has been their lots since then? They’re already abandoned. It saddens my heart! During your campaign, you made a lot of promises, which you know it’s a debt you must pay. You told them you are confident and won’t renege on your promises.
Need I remind you that you promised to visit the towns and villages in Obokun/Oriade Local Government after your inauguration, to liaise with the people in order to know their needs and make the provision, but have you visited any? I don’t think so! Are your promises mere empty words or gimmicks to win the election?
I tuned my radio this morning and I heard an advert of people congratulating the representatives of their State/Area for their achievements in their One Year of representation. I then pondered on what you’ve achieved so far during your One Year stay in office; lo and behold, I can’t pin-point to any. In that case, what have you achieved so far in your One Year stay in office? Sincerely, I have been thinking of the answer(s) you may give to that question. Maybe you will say there was peace in Ijesa North Federal Constituency during your One Year stay in office, maybe you will say “ase fe m’eye l’apo ni”; maybe you will say exactly what the former Representative of Osogbo Federal Constituency told his people after promising Heaven-on-Earth before election- “my duty as a legislator is to pass law that will benefit you all, not to embark on constituency projects; if you’re thinking that I will embark on infrastructural development, forget it, I won’t do that because it’s not my duty.” Then I will ask, why collecting the Money for Constituency Projects at the National Assembly if you won’t do any project?
Anyway, this is not the time to castigate you but to remind you of the covenant you made, your bond and the contract you signed with your Constituents. You need to be reminded of your promises in case you’ve been carried away with the good life in Abuja. Your Constituents are really yearning for the change you promised. They are waiting to be given an ounce of hope to live and wings to fly. The Youths can’t wait to attend the maiden of your promised annual Youth Conference in the Constituency, they want to exchange information and cross-fertilize ideas towards self development and leadership roles.
The students have revived their reading culture as they want to be beneficiaries of your promised scholarships. They are waiting to hear of your partnership with foreign institutions that gives tuition scholarships. They want you to communicate with them, they want you to spend some amount of time fielding phone calls and reading letters or emails for you to know what they’re concerned about.
Thy people are waiting for an “Unusual Representation”. They want to be allowed to have a say in how they are being represented. They want to see the office you promised to open in all the 22 wards of the Constituency after your inauguration, to bring governance to their doorstep, such that, whoever has a suggestion as well as criticism will lodge it there without intimidation or fear.
There are challenges facing my people which you’ve promised to tackle and I think I have to highlight some here. First of all, the spate of unemployment among our youths is alarming, it calls for serious attention. Many go into Okada business which endangers their life while some hangs around doing nothing and keep impregnating our innocent girls.
I think it is high time you started fulfilling your promises. You said you’ll strive to assist at least 50 YOUTHS annually to be gainfully employed, an average of 2 persons per ward in a year. In addition to that, you promised to employ at least 2 persons at each ward to attend to people. You told us that they shall be recruited immediately after inauguration, but it’s a year already and you’ve done nothing.
You promised empowerment for all. You promised to create vocational centres in order to give the training required to the youths who have prowess for craftsmanship and artisan-ship. You said you will not just ensure they are trained; you will access funds to establish them after the period of their trainings. The funds which you said are parts of the Funds that are readily made available by the Federal Government, that we are not aware of, or denied of its existence.
Our peasants and subsistence farmers needs help. You promised to establish a farm settlement in order to train the farmers and would-be ones, in modern farming techniques; you said they will be supplied fertilizers and other farming chemicals at discounted price. Also, you promised to support them and other Associations and Co-operatives with business interests with micro credit facilities which will be interest-free. I also think micro-credit should be given to entrepreneurs to procure working capital.
Another problem facing my people is poor health and sanitation. It calls for immediate intervention because it is only someone with long life that reaps the fruits of his labour. Health they say is wealth! What kills people is not hunger but scourge of diseases that could be prevented even before it stems. There is urgent need to facilitate access to medical treatment and campaign against deadly diseases like HIV-AIDS and water borne diseases through a mobile clinics and subsidy for medicine and referrals to specialists’ hospitals for further treatment.
There is a dire need for clean water in most of the villages in Oriade-Obokun Federal Constituency, and as God we have it, there are readily available sources of water for Obokun/Oriade Local Government- Esa-Odo Dam and Olumirin Waterfall, Erin Ijesa. Esa-Odo and Olumirin Waterfall can supply water to towns and villages in Obokun and Oriade Local Government if dammed; modern technology that is capable of pumping the water, with a treatment plant is only what is needed to be put in place.
Other projects you promised to embark on are:
v Job Creation for Adults
v Social Regeneration Project
v Supply of Tricycle for Intra Town Daily
v Educational Development
v Establishment of Rice Processing Mills
v Establishment of Cassava Processing Plant
v Establishment of Oil Palm Extraction Plants
v Establishment of Vegetable Oil Extraction Plant
v Establishment of Piggery, Snailry, Turkey and Guinea Fowl Farms
v Animal Husbandry Project.
v Creation of Agric. Processing Plants/Infrastructure
v Embarking on Agric. Implementation Programme.
There is no doubt that you are in, for a change in Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency. If all these programmes are well executed, your name will surely be imprinted in the heart of the people and will ever be heard as far as Ijesa North Federal Constituency is concerned; but the earlier you get to work on these projects the better.
And should in case you get carried away with the good life in Abuja and achieved nothing at the end of your tenure, many of my people will not be disappointed. Initially, many never expected anything from you, they have little hope in you because they never voted for you as an aspirant, they voted for the fresh victory of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola at the Court of Appeal.
I could still remember of an aged woman who came to the polling booth to vote without knowing the person to vote for; when it reached her turn to vote, she stepped forward and the party agents asked, “yesi in-ha dibo ko iya”, “egbe Aregbe ni ooo, egbe olosusu owo, Aregbesola ni maa te’ka mi ko”, the woman replied on top of her voice.
Many voted for the party, ACN, because they want total freedom from PDP’s oppression. Some voted against the third term bid of Hon. Oluwole Oke, as a mark of respect for the adopted civilized political power rotation/sharing between Oriade and Obokun LGAs.
My people won’t also be disappointed because you will not be the first representative that will achieve nothing during the stay in office, they’ve been disappointed by several representatives. They’ve been represented by people who did nothing during their stay in office; they’ve had a representative who only distributed Exercise Books to Old and Young, as Dividends of Democracy; they’ve been represented by someone who achieved in creating nuisance by sponsoring/funding thugs in the Constituency, they’ve been represented by someone who bought Exotic Cars worth of Billion Naira for the OBAs while their subjects lives in absolute poverty and sleeps hungry. They’ve been represented by someone who only strewn bags of rice around, and abandoned the decaying infrastructures.
They’ve been represented by people who only live big at the expense of their money. So, it will be good if you make your representation an “Unusual” one and if you do, your name written in ink as a REP will never be dumped into the waste-bin of history but will forever be remembered as far as Ijesa North Federal Constituency Politics is concerned. May God be with you and assist you in fulfilling your promises. My people and I are looking forward to reading your views!
Accept My Humble Regards!!!
Yours’ Truly,
Oluwatomilola K. Boyinde,
Initiator & President,
Ijesaland Renaissance Initiative,
Ijesaland@yahoo.com
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
ILESA: THE CENTRE OF IJESALAND!
ILESA: THE CENTRE OF IJESALAND!
Ilesa is a city located in west of Nigeria; it is also the name of a historic state (also known as Ijesha or Ijesa) centered on that city. The state was ruled by a monarch bearing the title of Owa Obokun adimula of Ijesaland. The state of Ilesa consisted of Ilesa itself and a number of smaller surrounding cities. The Ijesa, a term also denoting the people of the state of Ilesa, are part of the present Osun State of Nigeria. Some of the popular towns of the Ijesa are Ibokun, Erin Ijesa, Ipetu Jesa, Ikeji-Ile-Ijesa, Ijebu Jesa, Esa Oke, Ipole, Ifewara, Iwara, Erinmo, Iwaraja, Idominasi, Ilase, Igangan, Imo and many others.
Ilesa is home to the famous and prestigious Ilesa Grammar School, a school founded by Egbe Atunluse Ilesa and alma mater to many Nigerians including a former Chief Justice of the Federation, Alfa Belgore, a former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and the former Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof Oye Ibidapo Obe.
It is also alma mater of Professor Banji Ayoola, MD, Fellow, American College of Physicians, Medical Director of Kent General Hospital and Bay Health Medical Center, southern Delaware's largest healthcare system, as well as Professor David Olowokere, Professor and Chairman, Department of Engineering Technologies, Texas Southern University, to mention a few.
ILESA - A Major Military Centre:
Ijesa military prowess is summed up in this war song "Ijesha ree arogun yooo..ye so'gbodo fowo kan omo obokun ri a......" "An old Yoruba community, Ilesha was an important and major military centre in the campaigns against Ibadan, 60 miles (97 km) west-Southwest in the 19th-century Yoruba civil wars. A leading member of a confederacy known as the Ekitiparapo meaning 'Ekiti together'; this combined forces of the Ijesa and Ekiti was formed to fight for the independence of their people.
The town has a memorial to Ogedengbe, an Ijesa warrior-leader who died in 1910. This is because he played a vital role during the kiriji war of the 19th century, which prevented Ilesa and other towns from being conquered and dominated by Ibadan and other powerful regions.
Ilesha was the capital of the Yoruba Ilesha kingdom of the Oyo Empire towns in Osun State. In 1817 a long series of civil wars began in the Oyo Empire in which hundreds of people died; they lasted until 1893 (when Britain intervened), by which time the empire had disintegrated completely.
Ilesha, formerly a caravan trade centre, is today an agricultural, commercial and processing city situated in a region in which cocoa, kola nuts, palm products, and yams are produced. There is a sawmill, and alluvial gold is found and mined.
ILESA- Home of "Osomaloo":
Ilesa State was founded c.1500. Ilesha (or Ilesa) is the largest town and the capital of Ijesha kingdom in Osun State, Nigeria. Located on Latitude 8.92°N Longitude 3.42°E; it lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo, and Akure.
There are many other towns and villages in Ijeshaland, in fact not less than 200 towns and villages. Ipetu-Ijesa, Esa-Oke, Ijebu-Jesa, Ibokun are towns that have more than 100,000, 120,000 inhabitants. There are other towns like Imesi-Ile, Ikeji-IIe, Ifewara, Erin-Ijesha, Esa-Odo, Kajola, Otan-Ile, Owena-Ijesha etc.
The Ijesas are the "Osomaalos" of Nigeria. As described in the book by Omole (1991), the appellation was originally considered as a term of abuse to characterize the aggressive Ijesa textile traders. The word ‘Osomaalo’ is tied to the process of debt collection. It means ‘I will not sit until I have collected my money,’ showing an inflexible determination to succeed in the face of all odds.
ILESA - In Modern Times:
Modern Ilesha is a major collecting point for the export of cocoa and a traditional cultural centre for the Ilesha (Ijesha) branch of the Yoruba people. Palm oil and kernels, yams, cassava, corn (maize), pumpkins, cotton, and kola nuts are collected for the local market. Local industries manufacture nails and carpets, and the town has a brewery; there are also a recording company and a publishing firm, and the Supreme Oil industry at Ilesha. Several prominent quartzite ridges lie east of Ilesha, and gold mining is an important activity in the area, i.e The Iperindo Gold field.
Ilesha is a classic - though hardly a typical - example of that ethnographic celebrity, the Yoruba town: a large, nucleated settlement that is the centre of a kingdom and itself the primary residence of an overwhelmingly agricultural population. Even when it was largely derelict owing to war, in 1886, Ilesha's population was estimated to be between 20,000 and 25,000 and a figure of up to 40,000 may be appropriate for the height of its growth before the sack in 1870. Though this is not as large as the largest Oyo-Yoruba towns of the nineteenth century, its considerable size was not due,as theirs was, to very heavy recent immigration under the impact of the wars.
It was the recognition of the need for the Ijesa to lift up themselves by their own bootstraps that led to the establishment of the Ijesa Improvement Society, the first modern pan-Ijesa socio-cultural group, in 1922. It was at a time when the Ijesa not only had problems with their British colonial overlords but also with their own local administration under the Owa Obokun who had since 1914 been constituted into a Sole Native Authority on the model of the Northern Nigeria Emirates, under the Indirect Rule of System introduced by Sir Fredrick Lugard. This meant that the Ijesa had to contend not only with a hostile foreign colonial power but with a despotic local administration supported by that foreign colonial power. In this kind of unpleasant political climate, the best help was self help.
The principle of self help, which was elevated to a philosophy of action by the aggressively individualistic Ijesa in the inter-war years, was to assist the socio-economic development of Ijesaland and to make the Ijesa very cautious towards, if not totally suspicious of all governments be it local, regional or national in the post war and pre-independence era.
This explains why the few commercial and industrial establishments in Ijesaland today are owned largely by the Ijesa themselves. Indeed, with the exception of the recent Federal Government efforts to exploit the gold deposits at Itagunmodi and Igun in Atakumosa Local Government area, there are virtually no government-sponsored commercial and industrial undertakings in the whole of Ijesaland."
References: www.ijesaland.com
Yours Truly,
Oluwatomilola K. Boyinde,
Ijesaland Renaissance Initiative,
Ijesaland@yahoo.com
IPETU-IJESA ANTHEM
IPETU ARO-ODO ANTHEM
Ipetu Aro-Odo, ile ogbon
Ipetu Aro-Odo, ile imo
Ibi ori damisi maa re o
Ipetu ilu alagbara.
Chorus: E gbe gegege e gbe laruge (2ce)
Ibi t’olu damisi maa re o
Maa gbe gegege maa gbe laruge
Ipetu Aro-Odo alagbara.
Ipetu mo seleri pe
Ohun ti mo ni maa fifun o
Ohun ti mo ni maa gbe o ga
Ile olu da mi si ni o je.
Chorus: E gbe gegege e gbe laruge (2ce)
Ibi t’olu damisi maa re o
Maa gbe gegege maa gbe laruge
Ipetu Aro-Odo alagbara.
Gbogbo omo Ipetu e dide se
E fi ipile rere lele o
Nigba t’ojo ogbo ba de ba yin
Oruko yin koni pare.
Chorus: E gbe gegege e gbe laruge (2ce)
Ibi t’olu damisi maa re o
Maa gbe gegege maa gbe laruge
Ipetu Aro-Odo alagbara.
Ipetu Aro-Odo yi ti gbogbo wa ni
Ko ma gbodo baje
Tori ko si b’omiran ti a le lo
Ajo ko dabi ile
E je ka sowo po ka fimo sokan
E gbe ki ngbe.
Refrain: Gbee ki n gbee (2ce)
E je ka sowo po ka fimo sokan
gbee ki n gbee.
The Anthem was first rendered on Ipetu-Ijesa Day Nov. 2000 by Banjolat Friendship Academy Students, conducted by Staffer Abiodun Ajayi, subsequently approved by the Ajalaye of Ipetu-Ijesa.
Reference:
Banjolat Hymnal, Edited by Rotr. (Chief) ‘Banji Olatona J.P., First Edition, 2003.
N.B:
Rotr. (Chief) ‘Banji Olatona J.P. is the Founder & Proprietor of the Prestigious Banjolat International Nur./Pry School & Banjolat Friendship Academy, Ipetu-Ijesa, Osun State.
IKEJI-ILE IJESA AS THE HEARTBEAT OF IJESALAND!
IKEJI-ILE IJESA AS THE HEARTBEAT OF IJESALAND!
Ikeji Ile Ijesa is an ancient, small but developing city on the Mountain top in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State, a boundary from between Osun and Ekiti States. It is about forty (40) kilometers to the South-East of Ilesa. Located on Latitude 7.4667° N and 4.9167° E. Ikeji Ile Ijesa is almost entirely surrounded by hills of various altitudes; the hills are numerous, sometimes magnificent, giving the town its picturesque look and famously cool weather.
Ikeji Ile Ijesa is situated on an inter mountain plateau and it is blessed with clear and fast flowing streams. Ikeji Ile Ijesa dominates all adjoining areas. The total land space occupied and dominated by ISODU and later IKEJI stretches from Iyangidi River in the north to Owena River in the east; Awo River in the south and Oke Arifon, which forms the boundary between the Akinla of Erin Ijesa and the Akeji of Ikeji Ile Ijesa.
In the days of inter-tribal wars in Yoruba land, a group of warriors from Ilesa decided to use the rugged topography of Isodu (later Ikeji) to their military advantage. Later the people of Ipo under Ejisun from Ado Ekiti came to take refuge and after some time, the Ira people led by the Olura also came through Ipole Ekiti to take refuge in Isodu. Such was the military importance of Isodu (later Ikeji). At this time the whole of Ijesa army would not go into combat against an enemy without a warrior from Ikeji firing the first shot in order to ensure victory.
It is pertinent to mention that even Ibadan forces suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Ikeji forces during their match into Ekitiland. In fact, in one of such battles was the Elerinta war, Ikeji actually defeated Ibadan forces as confirmed in the History of the Yorubas. It was only a rejuvenated Ibadan army under Ali Iwo that succeeded in breaking through Ikeji lines in their onward match into Ekitiland. This was during the reign of Ogbose-Okun I (1781-1882) who took Ikeji to live in Oke Arifon for about fifty (50) years before he brought them back to the present site of Ikeji Ile Ijesa.
During the reign of Owa-Obokun Atakumosa 1, there were incessant military incursions of the powerful Oba Ehengbuda (1578-1608) of Benin Kingdom into Ijesaland, then Owa-Obokun Atakumosa consulted the Ifa Oracle who advised that Owa-Obokun should send one of his bravest and most valiant sons to go towards the East and establish a military outpost “on the eastern flank of his kingdom, at a point where the man sent would meet the rain. There he would settle to stem the tide of the incessant incursions into Ijesaland. He found such a valiant son in ADETEMI, who after receiving his father’s royal blessing moved with his entourage eastwards until he reached Isodu where the rain fell.
In accordance with the injunctions of his father and Ifa priest, he settled where the rain met him (ni ibi ti o to ko eji) and renamed the place IKEJI (i.e. iko eji, meaning that we met the rain). As a crown prince of Owa, he took over the rulership of Isodu from the Onisodu and adopted the title AKEJI i.e. the person who met the rain. Rain in Yoruba language means “Eji”. He made the Onisodu his deputy and gave him the title ORISA-AKEJI.
The Akeji and his militant men successfully repelled the military incursions of the Binis and secured Owa Obokun boundary with the Ekiti at River Owena.
The real names of many past Akejis have been lost in the waste heap of history and only their descriptive name are remembered.
Those remembered are:-
Adetemi (19th Century)
Adenimi
Asinsin-Okuta-Ko-Se-Ko-Senu
Ina Se Were Jogbo
A Won Se Gbeje Gberu
Period of War Marshals (6 in Succession)
Ose Iye Nikin Arere
Adogba Dorun Bi Akun
Aogbomaja Atirikalu
Amudi Esi Ba T Akunomoyeye
Afinbiokin
Ajire Loja Bi Ododo (1769-1780)
Ogbese Okun I (1781-1882)
Ogbese Okun II (Feb. 1883-June 1895)
Odugbo Ogun Arowosilejoye (Jan. 1896-1928)
Adeyomoye Agbese Okun III (Oct. 1937-Oct.1955)
Michael Adewoye Ogunmokun Adetemi III (Nov. 1956-Feb. 1990)
Adebayo Adefemi Ayegbo Ogunmokun Adetemi IV (Feb. 1995-Till date).
Ikeji Ile Ijesa people were blessed with jungles, so in this case, they were predominantly farmers who specialize in growing Food Crops like Maize and Cassava- produces in large quantities and Cash Crops like Cocoa, Date Palms, Kolanut. The women engage in mat weaving and they are renowned for their mat weaving. The mats are made from a local long grass, called “Eni” in the local dialect.
Oluwatomilola K. Boyinde
Ijesaland Renaissance Initiative,
Ijesaland@yahoo.com
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
IKEJI ILE IJESA ANTHEM.
IKEJI ILE IJESA ANTHEM.
Ikeji Ile ilu olola
Ikeji Ile ilu oloro
Ti o tobi ti orewa
Ilu ti a tedo sori oke
Ti ko le farasin titi aye.
Ikeji Ile ilu olokiki
Ilu isodu ti ogba dudu
Ilu isodu ti o gba pupa
Onisodu ti gbonile gbalejo
Awa n se iranti re.
Adetemi Akeji akoko
Akeji arojojoye
Akeji adele tejiteji
Awa n ko ‘kiki re
Awa n se iranti re.
Ikeji Ile ilu alaafia
Ilu to n san fun wara
Ilu to n san fun oyin
Ti oluwa n ti lehin
Ti oluwa n gbega.
INDUSTRALIZATION OF IJESALAND
INDUSTRALISATION OF IJESALAND BY ENGR. DIDEOLU FALOBI
PRESENTED BY
ENGR. DIDEOLU FALOBI, MNSE, MIoD
VICE PRESIDENT (AFRICA)
IJESA PEOPLE IN DIASPORA ORGANISATION (IPID)
AT THE I-PID WORLD CONFERENCE
HELD AT HOUSTON, TEXAS FROM OCTOBER 28 – 30, 2011
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Industrialization can be said to be the process in which a society or country (or world) transforms itself from a primarily agricultural society into one based on the manufacturing of goods and services. Individual manual labour is often replaced by mechanized mass production and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines. Industrialization as defined by Anyanwu, et al., (1997) is the totality of relations involving workers, employers and the society as they develop to make up new machines, process of building up a nation’s capacity to convert raw materials and other inputs into finished goods for other production or for final consumption. United Nations Committee on Planning saw it as not only a means of producing wider variety of products by the application of modern technology but also as a means of improving the working conditions and standard of living of poverty stricken people of the world. Characteristics of industrialization include the use of technological innovation to solve problems as opposed to superstition or dependency upon conditions outside human control such as the weather, as well as more efficient division of labour and economic growth.
Industrialization is a process of change (both social and economic) in which a human group is transformed from a society that is pre-industrial into a society that is industrial. Industrialization is characterized by technological innovation and can thus be summarized as;
1. The process by which traditionally non industrial sectors (such as agriculture, education, health) of an economy become increasingly similar to the manufacturing sector of the economy.
2. Sustained economic development based on factory production, division of labour, concentration of industries and population in certain geographical areas, and urbanization.
The objective of this paper is to look at industrialization of Ijesaland starting with the brief history of Ijesaland, industries in Ijesaland with emphasis on the opportunities for setting up industries, the agricultural resources; what they can be processed into natural resources available in Ijesaland and investment opportunities that abound in these areas.
It also looks at the requirements for setting up industries and the benefits in terms of return on investment that can be derived from such investments, the types of funding available to intending investors and in conclusion the opportunity for further development of Ijesaland through industrialization.
2.0 THE CONCEPT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
The role of industrialization in economic development cannot be overemphasized. Nations seek to achieve rapid industrial development because of its potential benefits. UNIDO (1973) observed that industrialization could stimulate economic development which would generate a surplus that in turn would lead to faster growth in output and diversification of that output which could lead to structural change conducive to sustained income and economic growth.
Industrialization would also bring about social transformation, social equality, higher levels of employment, more equitable distribution of income and a well balanced regional development, that is to say that an economy gains the veracity and resilience that enable it to raise the standard of living of its people.
Anyanwu, et al., (1997) outlined the importance of industrialization to include provision of avenue for the conversion of raw materials into finished consumer goods or intermediate or producer goods, creates avenue for employment, helps boost agriculture, helps to diversify the economy, helps the nation to increase its foreign exchange earnings, enables local labour to acquire skills, minimizes the risk of over dependence on foreign trade and leads to the fullest utilization of available resources.
3.0 A CASE FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Ilesha (Ilesa), founded in circa 1500AD, is the largest town and the capital of Ijesha kingdom in Osun State, Nigeria. It lies on Latitude 8.92°N Longitude 3.42°E. Ilesa lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo , and Akure.
Ilesa is a city located in the western part of Nigeria; it is also the name of a historic state (also known as Ijesha or Ijesa) centered around that city. The state was ruled by a monarch bearing the title of Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland. The state of Ijesaland consists of Ilesa itself and a number of surrounding towns and villages. The Ijesas, a term also denoting the people of the state of Ijesaland, are part of the present Osun State of Nigeria. Some of the popular towns of the Ijesas are Osu, Ijebu-Ijesa, Ipetu-Ijesa, Iperindo, Iwoye-Ijesa, Ibokun, Erin Ijesa, Esa Oke, Ipole, Ifewara, Iwara, Erinmo, Iwaraja, Idominasi, Ilase, Igangan, Imo, Imesi-Ile, Ikeji-IIe, Esa-Odo, Kajola, Otan-Ile, Owena-Ijesha, etc. There are in fact not less than 200 towns and villages in Ijesaland.
Most of these towns have basic social amenities, local industries, banks and higher institutions. Ijeshaland covers six local governments. Two of the local governments have their headquarters within Ilesha metropolis while the other four are at Ibokun, Ijebu-Jesa, Osu and Iperindo. Ijesaland deserves more than six local governments. SHE SHOULD AS A MATTER OF FACT BE A STATE IN HER OWN RIGHT. This is because Ijeshaland is more developed, her people more sophisticated, educated and can be more economically viable than some states in Nigeria.
3.2 IJESALAND IN MODERN TIMES
Modern Ijesaland is a major collecting point for the export of cocoa and a traditional cultural centre for the Ijesa branch of the Yoruba people. Palm oil and kernels, yams, cassava, corn (maize), pumpkins, cotton, and kola nuts are collected for the local market. Local industries manufacture nails, foams, paint and carpets, and the town has a brewery; there are also a recording company and a publishing firm, and the Supreme Oil industry at Ilesa. Several prominent quartzite ridges lie east of Ilesha, and gold mining is an important activity in the area.
Ilesha is a classic – though hardly a typical – example of that ethnographic celebrity, the Yoruba town: a large, nucleated settlement that is the centre of a kingdom and itself the primary residence of an overwhelmingly agricultural population. Even when it was largely derelict owing to war, in 1886, Ilesha’s population was estimated to be between 20,000 and 25,000 and a figure of up to 40,000 may be appropriate for the height of its growth before the sack in 1870. Though this is not as large as the largest Oyo-Yoruba towns of the nineteenth century, its considerable size was not due, as theirs was, to very heavy recent immigration under the impact of the wars.
It was the recognition of the need for the Ijesas to lift up themselves by their own bootstraps that led to the establishment of the Ijesa Improvement Society, the first modern pan-Ijesa socio-cultural group, in 1922. It was at a time when the Ijesa not only had problems with their British colonial overlords but also with their own local administration under the Owa Obokun who had since 1914 been constituted into a Sole Native Authority on the model of the Northern Nigeria Emirates, under the Indirect Rule System introduced by Sir Fredrick Lugard. This meant that the Ijesas had to contend not only with a hostile foreign colonial power but with an unloved local administration supported by that foreign colonial power. In this kind of unpleasant political climate, the best help was self help.
The principle of self help, which was elevated to a philosophy of action by the aggressively individualistic Ijesa in the inter-tribal war years, was to assist the socio-economic development of Ijesaland and to make the Ijesa very cautious towards, if not totally suspicious of all governments be it local, regional or national in the post war and pre-independence era. This explains why the few commercial and industrial establishments in Ijesaland today are owned largely by the Ijesa themselves. Indeed, with the exception of the recent Federal Government efforts to exploit the gold deposits at Itagunmodi and Igun in Atakumosa Local Government area, there are virtually no government-sponsored commercial and industrial undertakings in the whole of Ijesaland!
3.3 “OSOMAALO”
The Ijesas are the “Osomaalos” of Nigeria. As described in the book by Omole (1991) the appellation was originally considered as a term of abuse to characterize the aggressive Ijesa textile traders. The word ‘Osomaalo’ is tied to the process of debt collection. It means ‘I will not sit until I have collected my money,’ showing an inflexible determination to succeed in the face of all odds.
3.4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF INDUSTRIALISATION IN IJESA LAND
The Egbe Atunluse of Ilesa had been in the vanguard of self help in the development of Ijesaland in the height of apathy by the colonial government. This led to the founding of Ilesa Grammar School in 1934. However, the industrious nature of the Ijesas was exemplified by the foray of Ijesas into textile trading which took them far from home. This of course exposed them to Industrialisation in cities such as Ibadan, Lagos and Ilorin where they saw how one company gainfully employed hundreds of people directly and indirectly.
Thus, recognition must be given to the pioneers of industrialisation in Ijesaland such as Late Pa Lawrence Omole, Late Pa Isaac Ajanaku, Late Maxwell Falomo, Chief Adediran, Chief Moshood Balogun, Mr.Adedeji (DUCANA), Pa Fabelurin, Dr (Mrs.) Olayinka Obaleye and Mr. & Mrs. S.O. Ogedengbe among others. These great Ijesas and others founded various industries such as International Breweries Plc, Adediran Steel and Wire Industries, AKAD Oil, Supreme Oil, Flexible Packaging, Abiobe Plastics, Yinka Oba Foams, Rainbow Paints and Allied Products, West Steel, AMBACO Foods, Ogbedu Plastics, Ilesanmi Publishing, Fatiregun Publishing, Jorotom Leather Industries among others. The impact of these industries on the socio-economic growth of Ijesaland cannot but be applauded and acknowledged.
3.5. WHY INDUSTRIALISE IJESALAND?
As stated earlier, Industrialisation is a tool for socio-economic growth and emancipation. Ijesaland has a population of 481, 843 (1963 census). Given that the population rose by almost 300% compared with the 1963 census, then the projected population of the Ijesas today, if we allow for Rural Urban migration should be about 1, 500,000 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand) today! This population is highly articulate, well educated and generally hardworking. Osun state has a population of about 3.5million people whereas Yorubaland all of which forms veritable catchment areas for any industry located in Ijesaland has a population of almost 50million people. Given the projected Infrastructural development vision for Nigeria, Ijesaland will soon be linked by dual carriage way with Lagos through Ibadan and Ife; Osogbo and to the East through Akure. The rail line at Osogbo means that evacuation of products to all parts of the Country will be very easy. The presence of water resources in Asejire, Esa Odo, Erin Ijesa, Owena and so on also means that water, a major raw material in all industrial processes in readily available in Ijesaland. The people of Ijesaland, by reputation, are hospitable, honest and not known to easily give up on what they believe in. Ijesaland also boasts of several raw materials for Industrialisation such as Agricultural Products, cash crops, Gold, and abundant forest Resources.
Finally, scattered around Ijesaland are technical schools, Polytechnics and even the Universities of Ife, Ibadan, Akure and Ado-Ekiti are all within our catchment area with a high population of Ijesas as both staff and students.
Thus, all the major requirements for Industrialisation are in Ijesaland. These are:
Land
Human resources
Financial Resources
Market
Road Network
Raw Materials
Good Weather
A History of Industrial success as exemplified by previous success stories despite the odds.
3.6 BENEFITS OF INDUSTRIALISING IJESALAND
1. Immediate employment generation directly through the construction of industries.
2. Immediate employment generation indirectly through auxiliary services to be provided by others during the construction activities such as supply of aggregates and related activities
. 3. Directly employment of Ijesas by the Industries.
4. Increased business opportunities for auxiliary services such as supply of raw materials, distribution of finished products, provision of services such as consultancy, training, repairs, banking etc.
5. Increase in value of land and rental values of accommodation.
6. Transfer of Technology to the Indigenes.
7. Increased disposable income generally
8. Increased utilisation of land.
9. Introduction of better farming techniques and improved funding for farmers.
10. Increased tax revenue for the government.
11. Improved infrastructure by government to encourage the industrialists.
12. Benefits accruing from the discharge of corporate social responsibility by the different industries.
13. Reduction of criminal activities through gainful employment and better security which will be a natural concern of the industries.
14. Greater, better and more prosperous Ijesas and Ijesaland.
4.1 EXPORTABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN IJESHALAND
(A) CEREALS
Maize, Soybeans, Rice which can be processed into Animal feed, Poultry feed, Corn flakes, Corn starch, Industrial starch.
(B) ROOTS AND TUBERS
Yam, Cassava, Sweet potato, Cocoyam which can be processed into Garri, Industrial starch, Cassava flour, Yam flour.
C) FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
FRUITS
Oranges, Grape Fruit, Lemon, Tangerine, Plantain, Banana, Mango, Pineapple, Pawpaw, Guava, Bread Fruit, Walnut, Chrysophyllum, Albidum (agbalumo), Invingiagabonensis (Apon). These can be processed to juice, chips and soon.
VEGETABLES
Pepper, Tomato, Amaranthu (tete), Okro, Melon (Celocynthiscitrulus), Waterleaf (Talinum), Bitter leaf, Egg plant, Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis), Celosis (Sokoyokoto) Corchorus Clitorius (Ewedu) which can be processed into Tomato Puree, Pepper sauce, Tomato canning, Vegetable processing.
(D) LEGUMES
Cowpea, Melon, Groundnut which can be processed into Groundnut oil, Cowpea Flour and Vegetable oil.
(E) INDUSTRIAL CROPS
Cotton and Sugarcane which can be processed into clothing and household consumable sugar or industrial sugar respectively.
(F) TREE CROPS
Cocoa, Kolanut, Coconut, Oil Palm, Raffia Palm, Cashew which can be processed into Cocoa Powder, Cocoa butter, Palm oil, Palm kernel oil, Broom, Palm Wine, Kolanut Wine.
(G) FORESTS AND SHRUBS
Chlorophora, Excelsa, Teminalia, Superba, Antiarisafricana, Tectonagrandis, Ginelinaarborea, CordiaMilleni, Mahogany, Parkiabiglobosa, Gliricidiasepium, Adansoniadigitata etc. They can be processed into Paper Products, Ruler, Furniture, Billet, Tooth Picks, Particle Board, Electric pole, Match-sticks, and Asbestos.
(5) LIVESTOCK AND FISHERIES
LIVESTOCK
Rabbit, Poultry, Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Pig. Products like eggs, meat, bone, animal skin, Blood meal can be derived from them.
FISHERIES
Tilapia, Clarias, Heterotis, Channa, Cymnarchus, Momurus, Heterobranchuscarpio Chrysicthyis, Hepseus, Oreochromis, Oboscura, Cternopoma, etc.
5.1 WATER BASED PRODUCTS
Erin Oke waterfalls, Omi – Asoro and Esa-odo dam are all veritable sources of water for water bottling plants, breweries, hydro based power plants and related industries.
6.0 MODELS
There are different models for Industrialisation in a particular community. Some of these are as below:
6.1 PRIVATE
Private can be solely owned or in a partnership. The International Breweries Ilesa is a veritable example of a partnership that worked while most of the other industries in Ijesaland were promoted by individuals or single families.
6.2 PUBLIC
This is when one of the Federal, State or Local Governments decide to set up industries for strategic reasons. The Obafemi Awolowo Administration utilised this and this was how the Oodua Group was born. However, public ownership of industries is becoming unpopular as the governments are now committed to only providing an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
6.3 PUBLIC -PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
This is a model that allows partnership between private Investors and the government. In most cases, the governments’ equity is in form of land and infrastructures only. This model sometimes makes access to funding by purpose set-up Industrial funding organisations such as the Bank of Industry easier.
6.4 COMMUNITY
This model was made popular in China in which entire communities put all their resources together to create industries. This model is one which I will strongly recommend as a starting point for us in Ijesaland with a target of having an industry in each of the local government areas with a capacity for employing up to 500 people each directly.
In such a model the list of shareholders and structure will be something similar to what is below:
a. State Government = 5%
b. Local Government = 5%
c. Core Technical Investor = 40%
d. Core Financial Investor (Indigenes) = 30%
e. General Populace (Indigenes) = 10%
However, a target for exit must be put in place ab-initio such that after a certain number of years, the local and state government should disinvest and use the recovered investment as seed money for another industrial venture.
7.0 FUNDING
7.1 Foreign
There are various funds available outside Nigeria for Investment in Industries in places like Nigeria.
However, to access this fund, a strategy has to be put in place with well enunciated industrial policies and concerted action by all stakeholders. Some of the organisations with such funds are:
a) IFU – Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries
b) UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
c) IFC – International Finance Corporation
d) World Bank
e) IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
f) ADB – African Development Bank
There are also several foreign private investors who are eager to take advantage of the cheaper labour and huge market that Nigeria generally offers and all these can be attracted using a policy document that clearly enunciates the incentives, opportunities and objectives.
7.2 Local
The Bank of Industry (www.boinigeria.com) of Nigeria primarily assists local and foreign entrepreneurs to establish new industries as well as expand and modernise existing industries. The website quoted above contains full details of the requirements to access the funds. The funds are cheaper and the terms are much more liberal than what the regular commercial banks offer.
Also, funds are available with a lot of commercial banks for loans to support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is currently engaged in the establishment of various funds for various sectors of the economy which are being run by various banks. These funds are available at lower interest rates and more liberal terms. Please check www.cenbank.org
7.3 Business Plan
It is important to highlight here that a lot of Nigerian businessmen and entrepreneurs are denied access to strategic funds locally and internationally simply because they are not able to present professionally prepared Business Plans that can be used to assess the ability of the planned business to repay the loan. This is a very important aspect and it is my advice that prospective investors should never approach a lending bank without a proper business plan in place. There are consultants and planners who can prepare these plans professionally and it is better they are used. It is also imperative to note that a professionally prepared plan also helps the entrepreneur to better understand the business and challenges that might come up during its operations. It gives an insight to projected profit and loss over a period of time. It also identifies and puts in place an exit strategy.
8.0 INDUSTRIALISATION POLICY OF OSUN STATE
The industrialization policy of the Osun State government is promotional and participatory and includes the following:
(i) Government is ready to enter into partnership with private individuals or organizations, local or foreign, including the Federal Government in the establishment of viable industries by taking a maximum of 20% of the equity shares of such companies
(ii) Government will ensure that land is made available for any viable companies to be established possibly, through public acquisition, the land so acquired will form part of the equity contribution of Government
(iii) Viable industrial estates will be provided at the state level while the Local Governments will be provided with industrial parks
(iv) Tax holidays in the areas where the State Government has control will be given after due negotiation with would be investors; the industrialization of the state should be private sector driven; micro credits under the Small-Scale Industries Credit Scheme, Industrial Development Fund Scheme etc. will be given to viable would-be investors after an approved feasibility study
(v) A comprehensive survey of industrial establishments in Osun State covering both manufacturing and non-manufacturing ones will be undertaken
(vi) Survey of mineral resources and the production of a mineral resource map will be undertaken with a view to guiding would be industrialists
(vii) The Local Government Industrial Contribution (Esusu) will be vigorously pursued
(viii) The utilization of the public private partnership (PPP) arrangement in the exploitation of mineral deposits in the State will be explored.
The state government, in pursuance of the goal of poverty eradication and employment generation, will deliberately encourage and promote the establishment of MSMEs. MSMEs will receive the right focus in the industrial policy of the government. MSMEs will be developed around the available and right resources and be given necessary support. Government policy will encourage the MSMEs sector to be thoroughly structured and organized and be made to benefit maximally from the incentives and promotional activities of the State Government. The MSMEs naturally embrace labour-intensive technologies that generate more employment.
9.0 CONCLUSION
My fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, my romance with the Industrialisation of Ijesaland started when I was the President of the Ijesa Students Union (FISU) of the University of Lagos in the eighties and I had the priviledge of leading my executive on a courtesy visit to Kabiyesi, Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran. He had then requested us all to impress it on all Ijesa sons and daughters to come home and industrialise Ijesaland in order to create employment and stimulate development.
I thank the Almighty God and my colleagues in the Ijesa People in Diaspora Organisation for giving me the opportunity of this platform to present my thoughts on this issue. I consider industrialisation most important if we, the Ijesas, are to continue our dominance in our leadership role as it concerns trade and commerce in Osun State in particular and in Yorubaland in general.
In my own opinion, this exercise would have been a waste if we do not set up an agenda and date now for the organisation of an economic forum on the Industrialisation of Ijesaland to be held in Ilesa as soon as possible. Such a forum should be such that will attract Ijesa sons and daughters as well as our friends and business partners worldwide. We will then provide them with the list of opportunities and incentives. It is when we agree on this that we would have jump-started the process of restoring Ijesaland to its pride of place.
Once again, thank you.
Obokun a gbe a o.
Akereoko dele o.
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