Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, has disclosed that Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration has installed 10 kings and 40 Baales since 2019 to develop the state.
Speaking at the third edition of the Ogbomoso Digital Economy Summit, held at the Great Hall, Ladoke Akintola University, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, on Wednesday, the governor said the governor had installed more traditional rulers than any other administration in either the old or new Oyo State.
According to him, since 2019, Governor Makinde has installed 10 kings and 40 Baales. He has the bragging and tangible rights to cognate experience in chieftaincy matters more than any other modern administration.
At the event, which was attended by the Soun of Ogbomoso land, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye, Orumọgẹgẹ III, Oyelade said the relationship between government and traditional institutions must be cordial, and the onus of such a relationship rests more on the traditional institutions.
The commissioner said while the government needs traditional rulers to assist in consolidating its policies and activities at the grassroots, the state law that governs the existence and emergence of conventional rulers is tilted in favour of the state government. Thus, traditional rulers who want to accelerate community development must find a synergy.
Identifying the symbiotic relationship between government and traditional institutions, Oyelade urged the Soun of Ogbomoso land to prioritise a functional relationship with the government further to actualise a sustainable development of Ogbomoso land.
“It is therefore incumbent on us to realise that to achieve this objective, there has to be a ‘paradigm shift’ in our quest for the bigger picture,” he said.
“Our relationship with the state government must undergo a surgical appraisal.
“And I say this, not for the sake of Kabiyesi himself or the stool he occupies, but because of us, his sons and daughters.
“He must as a necessity be our mouth and our eyes; he must be the intermediary between us, his citizens and the outside world, particularly the State Government.
“Kabiyesi has proven to the world that he is a goal-getter and a farsighted leader. Now, he must prove that he is also a pragmatic ruler for the sake of the rest of us.”
The commissioner lauded Oba Ghandi for his determination to pursue informed and aggressive developmental projects defined within 25 years for Ogbomoso.
Acknowledging the potential impact that the summit would have on the Ogbomoso land address, the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Olaoye, reiterated the need to reposition Ogbomoso land to unlock the people’s potential and transform it into a hub of excellence in agriculture, education, infrastructure, health, tourism, and commerce.
