The Oloye of Oye-Ekiti, Oba Michael Ademolaju, has lamented that the inability of the Federal Government to compensate the agrarian town for the farming land acquired for the Federal University of Oye project has brought poverty and hunger to the land.
Despite alleged entreaties to the federal authorities to compensate farmers whose cash crops were destroyed when the land was acquired, he said they had not been forthcoming.
The monarch bared his mind while welcoming the Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, to Oye-Ekiti for the ground-breaking and inspection of project site for the construction of modern neighbourhood market in the town.
He commended the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration for extending the dividend of democracy to the community unlike his predecessors, whom he claimed failed to spare a thought for the community.
Oba Ademolaju said, “I must say that hunger and poverty pervades this town now. Not because my people are lazy, because one of the things I encouraged my people to do is to embrace agriculture.
“I told them we should not rely on neighbouring communities for food crops. In fact on my part, I sold N5000 vegetable that I harvested from my farm at the last market day.
“But, things took a dramatic turn for our people when the FG acquired our agricultural land for the university project. Yam, maize and other cash crops were destroyed without compensation despite several appeals. This is the cause of the poverty here now.”
He appealed to the state government to intervene in the matter by ensuring that the community was adequately compensated for their losses to turn around their fortunes.
The monarch added that Oye had never felt the impact of successive civilian administrations in the state until Fayemi came on board.
He disclosed further that virtually all projects predating the Fayemi-led administration in the community were self-help projects.
He said, “We have been responsible for everything. We have never felt the impact of government until recently. When I said recently you should understand.
“The market in this town, general hospital, good culvert, Post Office and others were constructed by Oye people themselves. It was when Fayemi came on board recently that everything changed.
“We have seen that Fayemi’s administration is undertaking reconstruction and renovation of existing infrastructure. In some instances, he is adding and building new ones. For example this market is brand new.”
As a royal father, he said he was father to all political leaders irrespective of party affiliation, but he emphasized that it would not stop him from commending Fayemi for his visionary leadership.
Last modified: February 2, 2014