In this interview with Seun Ibiyemi and Oladosu Olanrewaju, Oba Muftau Adebayo Lawal. The Onipe of Ipee land, speaks on his achievements, issues of leadership in the county among others.
We would like to know you
My name is Oba Muftau Adebayo Lawal. The Onipe of Ipee land (Titiloye 3rd) Oyun Local Government in Kwara state.
Can you tell us more about your town?
Ipee is an integral part of Ekun Osi in Kwara State and it’s within Oyun Local Government Area.
We heard that you will be celebrating 20 years on the throne soon, can you share the journey so far?
Well, thank God that we are still living by the grace of God, I will be celebrating my 60th birthday and 20 years on the throne of my forefather by 19th of November.
So far, so good, we thank God for the journey so far. Because without God, we may not be where we are today. God has been in control, he has been with us.
We thank God that we have been able to achieve what we have achieved today. We give all glory to Almighty God.
It’s been 20 years so far. What have been your achievements?
Once again, I thank Almighty Allah for the journey so far. By the time I came on board, Ipee was not like this, in fact when I came on board I can say there was no water.
Our road was not like this, It was not tarred and there are a lot of developments that have come on board when we came. And that development is still going on, because Ipee has expanded beyond where we met it.
Social activities have improved. Government is now with the community. We have a lot of people that are representing us.
Before I came on board, we didn’t have anybody that has been (maybe) a Permanent Secretary or Honourable. But today, we have all these on board, So we are part of the government.
Looking at the current situation in the country, what do think about politics in Nigeria?
I’m not a politician, but everybody can see it, it’s a matter of eye saw. The way Nigeria is today is not where we met it yesterday.
So the type of politics we are playing here, well, I cannot say, we cannot blame politics but we are still not mature enough.
By the politics we are playing in Nigeria we are only praying to God to give us good leaders, because the problem at hand is that of leadership.
So if the leadership is good, the country will be okay, good for everybody. When we have bad leaders, we cannot achieve anything.
What has been the challenge in the past 20 years?
We are bound to encounter a lot of challenges that are unavoidable. As a human being, you are bound to face challenges. But by the mercy of God, at least the challenges are being sorted. God is in control.
We have a lot of challenges within the town, with the neighbouring town, even within the families. But through prayer I think we are overcoming all these challenges.
As far as Ipee is concerned, what advice do you have for your people as you celebrate 20 years on the throne?
My advice to my people is that Ipee is developing, Ipee is moving forward, we should all join hands to at least cooperate with one another. It’s only through this that we can achieve a lot. To all our people in the diaspora, they should come back home to come and develop the community, the government cannot do it alone. We should help ourselves and come together as a body to make the community progress.
What do you want from the government?
Everybody wants the government to bring development to his community.
We thank our present governor, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the efforts he has made to bring about development. But we are still praying for more, we still want more.
Although our road has been tarred, at least, the one from Offa to Ipee is in good condition, but from Ipee to Oro, we want government to assist on that to make it motorable, so that our farmers can reach their farm easily. They still need to bring their goods to the market and to the town.
Our tertiary institution needs attention. We want innovations there. The government should come to our aid. We cannot do it by ourselves. We really need the intervention of the government.
Like our public schools are there too, we want government to assist us to equip them and to recommission it also so that people can benefit from it. So we still want government to come to our aid, with the development of the community, because we cannot do it alone.
Afenifere has just thrown its weight behind Tinubu, what do you have to say about that sir?
Afenifere will always throw their weight behind Tinubu because that is their choice.
Everybody has the right to choose whatever he/she wants.
Tinubu is a Yoruba man and Yoruba says “Omo eni o ni se idi bebere ka fileke si idi omo elomi.” So everybody, will want their race to be in power, at least the Hausas are enjoying Buhari.
So if Tinubu is in power, Yoruba too will enjoy him. So they will always throw their weight behind Tinubu because he is our man and we all need to support him.