By DADA AYOKHAI
The clamour for the splitting of the Akoko Edo local government may have reached its crescendo, the penultimate week, with the highly revered Otaru of Igarra, HRH Oba Emmanuel Adeche,i lending his royal voice and calling on the relevant authorities to hearken to the wish of the people
Oba Okhishimede made the thought-provoking pronouncement in Igarra, the political headquarter of Akoko Edo’s local government, at the twin events to mark his 25th anniversary on the throne and his 80th birthday.
Lending his royal voice to the growing agitation for Akoko Edo local government area to be split into two, as a means of bringing development closer to the grassroots, the monarch listed how successive regimes have marginalised the Akoko’s over the years, adding the local government remains the largest and only unaltered council area in the country since independence.
The revered monarch told the mammoth crowd of ecstatic Akoko indigenes who thronged the venue of the historic event, including invited guests and well-wishers, that Akoko Edo has been short-changed over the years and the time is ripe to redress the situation
He bemoaned the plight of the Akoko Edo local government, insisting the local government has remained largely untouched and stagnant for years, while other local government areas of similar age and size have boomed and witnessed rapid development
Asking rhetorically the possible offence the good people of Akoko Edo may have committed to warrant the “untold neglect” visited upon them by successive regimes, the Otaru called for the splitting of Akoko Edo local government into three namely, Akoko Edo North, Akoko Edo South, and Akoko Edo Central, saying that is the only way to give the people a sense of belonging.
Top state functionaries, captains of industry, traditional and religious leaders, party chieftains, and other dignitaries attended the dual event held in the expansive palace of the Otaru. They commended the monarch for his bluntness and for saying the truth to the powers that be.
The Otaru of Igarra, HRH Oba Emmanuel Saiki II (JP), the Oshinoyi Ariwo Ovejijo, and also the paramount ruler of the Igarra/Akoko clan, is a leading first-class traditional ruler in Edo State. His reign brought relative peace, stability, and development to the ancient town.
For the revered monarch, who mounted the throne in 1997, to have broken his silence and spoken publicly on such a vexed issue, is a rare display of maturity and decorum in conveying the pulse of the people to the appropriate quarters for necessary action.
However, the last may certainly not have been heard of the agitation for the splitting of the Akoko Edo local government area. In the days to come, apostles of the agitation will devise new means and outlets to convey their messages to those in authority, regardless of the stiff constitutional requirements for the creation of local governments.
