By Jeleel Olawale

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, CFR, Ojaja II, has dissolved the Ife Development Board (IDB) with immediate effect.

This resolution was announced in a statement by the Ooni’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Otunba Moses Olafare directing President of the Board, Comrade Lawrence Awowoyin to hand over to the palace traditional secretary, Comrade Idowu Salami to see to the interim administration of the board pending when the board would be reconstituted as soon as possible.

Otunba Olafare, according to the letter personally signed by the Ooni, dated  April 26, 2024 and served on the president of the board, Comrade Lawrence Awowoyin, wherein the monarch expressed gratitude to members of the dissolved board for their dedication and commitment creditably displayed through service well rendered to the best of their abilities in the last five years.

“Even though it has become imperative for His Majesty, the Arole Oodua to dissolve this current board in the best interest of Ife development, may I assure the affected stakeholders of the Ooni’s best regards as Ooni Ogunwusi acknowledges the invaluable contributions of the outgoing board members.”

Ooni also recognised the tireless efforts in fostering progress and prosperity within the community. In the letter, His Majesty has extended his appreciation for their service, highlighting their hard work and dedication as catalysts for positive change in Ile-Ife, Olafare said.

“Let it be added that, as the Ife Development Board (IDB) is dissolved today, Ooni has directed the outgoing board members in his letter to them to hand over all documents and other belongings of the board to the Palace Traditional Secretary pending the constitution of a new board.

“This transitional phase reflects the Ooni’s commitment to ensuring seamless continuity in governance while preparing for the appointment of a fresh team of leaders to drive the cradle city’s development agenda forward,” Olafare added.

Olafare described the dissolution of the Ife Development Board as positive signal of a new chapter in the journey of Ile-Ife, characterised by renewed vigour and steadfast commitment to progress under the enlightened leadership of Ooni Adeyeye who highly respects the intensified inundations from indigenes of Ile-Ife both home and abroad.

According to him, the Ooni is very much aware that the ancient city looks towards the future, and that anticipation mounts for the establishment of a new board that will build upon the achievements of its predecessors and steer Ile-Ife towards greater heights of prosperity and excellence assuring that the Africa foremost monarch is already in broad consultations with a view to constituting a new board on the Square Peg-Square Hole principle.

Olafare said that for transparency and accountability, the account of the board shall be subjected to professional auditors for a smooth take off of the new board.

President and other members of the just dissolved board were inaugurated in 2018 for a tenure of 3 years and re inaugurated in the year 2021 for a second term of another 3 years which is expected to terminate in 6 months time before it was announced today to have been dissolved by the Ooni.

The Oyo State Government, on Tuesday, opened the first phase of Olodo Bridge for pedestrians to ease the burden of road users on the axis, stating that the bridge would be opened for vehicular movements in a few weeks.

The State’s Commissioner for Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport, Professor Dahud Kehinde Shangodoyin, who inspected the project, said the opening of the bridge for pedestrians demonstrates Governor ‘Seyi Makinde’s commitment to the welfare of the citizens.

He noted that one side of the bridge would be opened for vehicles and pedestrians by the end of May.

Recall that the old Olodo Bridge was washed away by rain on July 23, 2023, thereby causing inconvenience to pedestrians and motorists living in the axis.

Speaking with journalists while inspecting the progress of the work at the ongoing Olodo Bridge reconstruction project, Shangodoyin said the opening of the bridge was to keep to the promise by the government to open the first phase of the bridge for pedestrians on April 30, 2024.

He added that one side of the bridge was opened to ease the pressure on road users, reassuring that construction work would continue on the second side and the work would be expedited to facilitate timely completion of the project as scheduled.

He said, “The governor has directed that this bridge should be completed and be used by our people. And, today, I am delighted that we are opening it for pedestrians.”

“As you can see, people are already using the road and you can see joy on their faces.

“What is left now is for us to complete the job on this road and open it for vehicular movement. I can promise you that before the end of May, we will open one side of the bridge for vehicular movement and pedestrians.

“This is another promise kept. His Excellency has delivered this project so that pedestrians can use the bridge for now, while motorists will do the same once the approach on the bridge cures within the next two weeks or thereabout.

“This bridge is 40metres in length and 12 metres in breadth, which means that it can accommodate three vehicles at the same time. It has two lanes for vehicles. But we will be managing one side until we complete the second part of the bridge.”

The Commissioner warned residents to be cautious while using the bridge as the contractor will still be working on the second part.

“My message to residents is that they need to be careful, because we are still working on the final part of the bridge.

“We don’t want Okadas and Micras to cross the bridge for now. We want both approaches to cure for 14 days before we allow vehicles to pass on the bridge.”

Some residents of Olodo Bank Area, including Mrs Elizabeth Olalowo, Reverend Moses Adebisi and Mrs Omolola Joshua, thanked Governor Makinde for ameliorating the suffering of road users on the axis.

They expressed relief on the opening of the bridge.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday returned to Nigeria after representing President Bola Tinubu at the just concluded International Development Association (IDA21) Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice-President.

Nkwocha said on arrival at the NnamdiAzikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Shettima met behind closed doors with the United States Deputy Secretary, Kurt Campbell, and his team.

“Among issues discussed at the meeting were security, bilateral relations, shared visions, technologicalcooperations, economic and mutual partnership.

“Both countries pledged to work more on deepening their bilateral relationships and their connectivity.”

Deputy Secretary Campbell has been in Nigeria where he was the co-chair of the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) with Foreign Minister, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar.