Ojelabi & His Group: Marginalising Interest Of Riverine Communities With Impunity

By Adele Abiola & Badru Moshood

I’m compelled to write this piece to call the attention of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) both at the national and state levels to the current marginalisation of interest of the riverine Communities in Otto-Awori Local Council Development Area by the leaders in the council area.

On Thursday, 24 April, 2025, the state Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, and his group met and reportedly endorsed: Hon Kareem Azeez Abiodun,current Vice Chairman of the Council and Hon Moses Olabisi Aina current Leader of the Council’s Legislative Arm as Chairman and Vice Chairmanship candidates respectively for the coming local government elections.

A look at the choices made by Ojelabi and his group, reveal a clear case of business as usual. No regard for the riverine Communities of this highly indigenous LCDA.

Since the creation of Otto-Awori LCDA, the riverine communities have suffered neglect and treated with disdain by political leaders in the council area.

Yet, when the party was losing election in the state Constituency I in Ojo Federal Constituency, it’s the votes from riverine communities that have prevented opposition from taking Ojo State Constituency II.

Since this council was created, it has produced one Chairman, one Secretary to the Local Government and one Sole Administrator.

Ojelabi was the pioneer Chairman while Samson Akanbi was the SLG from Ishagira. Kola Abiola from the same Ishagira served as Sole Administrator for one year.

It is a convention canvassed during the Ojelabi administration that the Chairmanship and other offices will be shared between upland and riverine communities.

Thus, while Ojelabi from the riverine was the Chairman, his Vice, Olufemi Adele Musa from Ilogbo in Ward C in the upland area while the SLG, Samson Akanbi from Ishagira, same ward as Ojelabi. That was as far as it was for the riverine people.

After Ojelabi, Musa was named the Executive Secretary. Bolaji Kayode Roberts from Otto in Ward A was the next elected Chairman of the council, he was from the upland area. His Vice, Musa from Ward C was also from upland and the two SLGs that worked with Roberts: Waliu Ashafa, from Ijanikin in Ward B and Bode Makinde from Otto in Ward A are both from upland area.

It was expected that a riverine person will replace Roberts but that was not the case. Prince Musbau Ashafa from Ijanikin in Ward and upland man was elected the next Chairman. His Vice is Azeez Abiodun Kazeem from Shibiri in Ward C and also from upland. Another Ward C man from Oke Agbo in upland area, Abu Fasasi Olalekan is the SLG.

Let’s also look at the elected representatives of the state House of Assembly Constituency II since 1999. No man or woman from the riverine has represented the constituency in the state Assembly.

Between 1999 and 2003, Honourable Emmanuel Okedeyi from Otto in Ward A Upland represented the constituency; Abayomi Sadiq from Ijanikin, Ward Upland served two terms between 2003 and 2011; another Upland man, Lanre Ogunyemi from Otto in Ward A served two terms between 2011 and 2019; and yet another Upland man, Surajudeen Tijani from Ilogbo in Ward C is currently serving his second term having been there since 2019.

The question is what has the people of riverine communities done to deserve this blatant cheating in the name of political arrangement.

Yet when the chips are down, it’s the votes of the riverine communities that deliver the party in critical terms.

The LG polls are here and the Ojelabi group has come with its bizarre selection again.

They have picked both Azeez Kareem and Moses Olalekan Aina both from Upland as their Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.

It is so unfortunate that Ojelabi, a riverine man would continue to work against the interest of the communities in the riverine. It’s very disheartening that Ojelabi will put the fate of a whole LCDA in the hands of one man who is not even from the council.

Majority of residents and people of the area know that the rather unjust, biased and one-sided decision was the voice of Ojelabi but the hand of the current Lagos State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Akibu-Sule, a man who will always leave his Iba enclave to dabble into Otto-Awori matter, just because Ojelabi is his man-Friday. If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been like them, they won’t have the opportunity they have now.

Their candidate: Azeez Abiodun Kareem has been enjoying government patronage for the past 15 years. He was councillor for six years and Leader of the Council for four years; he was Executive Secretary for one and half years and he has been Vice Chairman of the council since 2017 and will complete his eight years in that office in July, the same man they are bringing up to take the position of Chairman.

Since this council was created about 22 years ago, the riverine communities have only been lucky to produce a Chairman, an SLG and a Sole Administrator, and they are all from Ojelabi’s Ward E.

The entire administrative set up in the outgoing administration composed mainly of upland people.

They have zoned the Chairmanship and Vice Chairmanship to the upland again.

What sins have the people of riverine communities committed to be treated with this disdain despite their massive support for the party during elections.

The reason for this injustice, therefore, is best known to Ojelabi alone and his group alone.

Special appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, who as a result of his foresightedness created the 37LCDA’s in 2003 which Oto-Awori LCDA is one of, to entrenched grassroots development and make Government more closer to the people, but in 22years of Oto-Awori LCDA creation, Upland ward has spent more than 17 years at the helms of affairs. They have not only done that, they have also neglected the riverine communities in the distribution of infrastructure and developmental projects.

It is imperative therefore to give the riverine people the opportunity to rule and correct the injustice visited on them by successive administrations at the council since 2007.

A closer look at all this is that their political machinations are for selfish rather than selfless reasons.

They want someone that will be at their whims and caprices all the time. Somebody they can dictate to at will at the expense of good governance to the people.

We should remind Ojelabi of what happened to his predecessor who insisted on having his candidate against the collective will of the party. We advise him not to allow being goaded into oblivion by his man-Friday.

Go to the riverine communities in Otto-Awori and see the level of neglect. No good schools, no medical centres, virtually no infrastructure.

The only secondary school in the area: Egan High School in Egan Eremi, is virtually deserted, yet these people deliver during elections but they are constantly forgotten when it’s time for rewards as they are usually relegated to the background.

What have we done in the riverine to deserve this neglect and apparent show of disdain.

We demand answers from Ojelabi and his group.

Adele Abiola and Badru Moshood Executive Secretary and Public Relations Officer respectfully of Coalition for Equity at the Grassroots, write from Ishagira and Egan Eremi, riverine communities in Ward E of Otto-Awori LCDA