Protest Trails Creation of 33 LCDAs in Ondo

Fidelis David in Akure

Crises have continued to trail the creation of 33 local council development areas (LCDAs) from the 18 local government areas in Ondo State.

This comes two days after the state government said that the list of the LCDAs would not be made public until the law creating them has been passed by the Ondo State House of Assembly and gazetted.

But yesterday, some youths from Arogbo-Ijaw area of Ese- Odo Local Government Area of the state stormed the venue of the public hearing for the LCDAs, faulting the entire process.

The protesters, who carried placards with various inscriptions, said that undue political manipulation and chicanery were allowed to prevail over objectivity, common sense and rationality in the creation of the LCDA.

The Kalasuwei of Apoi, Mr. Pere Sunday Amuseghan, demanded correction in the skewed map that has ceded Ese-Odo communities into different council areas.

Amuseghan, who said that they had been living peacefully with their neighbours, noted that the government should not allow the map  to create enmity between them.

Also, the Ondo State Chairman of Ijaw National Congress (INC), Mr. Bonsuwe Ominidougha, demanded more LCDAs to the Ijaw Arogbo people who had only one LCDA in the proposed.

A legal Practitioner, Mr. Mike Barakumo, explained that most of Ijaw communities have been mapped into Ilaje and Irele council areas.

Other petitions submitted by various stakeholders, included change in the names of some LCDAs, change in citing of headquarters while some clamoured for additional LCDAs.

Earlier, the Speaker, Hon. Olamide Oladiji, saluted the visionary leadership of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for choosing to toe the line of other south-west states which had earlier created their LCDAS with a view to fast-track development at the grassroots.

Oladiji, however, emphasised that the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration would not hesitate to cancel or suspend the creation of local council development areas in any community or local government areas where there is crisis or court injunctions.

His words: “There is no gain saying the fact that what is happening in Ondo State today, in the context of the bold step taken by His Excellency, Arakunrin Odunayo Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to create LCDAS, is a great thing of joy and as such, all hands must be on deck in order to ensure that it succeeds and does not fall. The purpose of the yearnings and quest to bring government closer to the people and hence facilitate development at the grassroots must not be defeated.

“However, as much as we know as a matter of fact that it is not unexpected of community leaders to express their grievances and concerns about the geographical composition, nomenclature and location of headquarters of the LCDAS, so much more, we do need to know that our agitation and the ‘push’ for the realisation of our interests or requests must be done with caution (devoid of violence). In whatever we do today, we should be mindful of the fact that we do them in the eyes of the global community.

“Thus, let me state without mincing words, that the Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu led administration in Ondo State will not hesitate to cancel or suspend the creation of Local Council Development Areas in any community or Local Government areas where there is crisis or court injunctions.”

The speaker noted that “at this juncture, let me quickly mention that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria empowers state governments to create government areas, subject to the ratification of the state assembly and that the process towards this ratification gives impetus to our gathering here today.

“However, the constitutional bottlenecks caused by the required final approval of the National Assembly buoyed by quest to bring development to the grassroots, necessitated the creation and adoption of local council development areas as a comfortable nomenclature, which when they begin operation, they shall enjoy full status of the existing local governments.”