People of Jebba, Shao and other Yorubas in Moro local government areas of Kwara state have decried their continued subjugation to the Ilorin Emirate system.
They added that their traditional stools are being relegated and
coerced to serve under the Ilorin Fulani feudalist-oligarchy.
The people spoke this in Shao at the second Saka Adeyemi memorial lecture organized by group known as Millennium Initiatives on Societal Values (MISSAVS).
The late Adeyemi, it was gathered was one of the arrowheads of Moro
Redemption Movement.
The lecture was entitled “Rape and nationhood: salvaging the fate of
Moro and other raped victims.”
The people warned that if something urgent is not done to remedy the anomaly they might be forced to go back to the trenches as done by their forebears in the 70s.
In his opening remark, MISSAVS Project Coordinator Dr Reuben Akano said that the lecture is geared towards the renewal of “our agitation for freedom of Moro, as its people are still suffocating under the yoke of Ilorin Emirate system.”
Dr Akano, English Language teacher of the Kwara state University (KWASU), alleged that “both Ohoro of Shao and Oba of Jebba had been
elevated, promoted and graded but on the instruction of the Emir of
Ilorin demoted, degraded and relegated.
“Moro towns and villages have over 200 Baales and Mogajis and as
traditional rulers they are restricted by the Ilorin Emirate system.
Moro does not have a separate traditional council. The people are
still being ruled by district heads called Daodu in local parlance.
“The Emir of Ilorin still collects five percent of monthly allocations
that are meant for Moro local government and this has been on for decades. We need freedom in Moro for our people and traditional
rulers.
“The Ilorin Emirate system is alien to Moro Yoruba tradition and
context. Ilorin Emirate system is an aberration for us in Moro. Ilorin
Emirate kingpins daily assault our psyche. Who will bail us out of the
rapacious grazing of Ilorin Emirate herds and cattle on a continuous
basis?
He urged current Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to rescue the people from the stranglehold of the emirate.
Said he: “We voted out Senator Bukola Saraki because he was believed to be a willing tool in the hands of Ilorin Emirate kingpins. We voted Mallam AbdulRazaq. What should we expect?
“Any dividend of democracy under the administration of Governor
AbdulRazaq devoid of grading of our traditional rulers and creation of
separate traditional council for Moro will be termed ‘as usual.’
The guest lecturer Elder Toyin Alabi agreed with the first speaker,
adding that “this oppression is evident today in the deficient
development experienced in local government as old as the creation of the state itself.
“Moro is the second largest local government in the state in terms of
land mass but there is virtually no development to show for it.”
