Yorubas from the defunct Ijebu Province in Nigeria’s South-West have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government to create Awolowo State out of Ijebu and Remo divisions of Ogun State.

A report this morning in Daily Sun quoted the paramount ruler of Remo Kingdom, Oba Michael Adeniyi Sonariwo, Akarigbo of Remo, as making the call in a chat with the newspaper at the weekend. The paper quoted the royal father as saying that creating Awolowo State would put an end to the controversies that have been trailing the creation of Ijebu State since the agitation started decades ago.

“Akarigbo said creating Awolowo state would mean immortalising the late premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the way Washington D.C. was created in memory of the late founding President of the United States of America, George Washington,” the report said, adding:

“The rationale behind this, he said was that Ijebu and Remo have been agitating for the creation of a state out of the old Ijebu Province.

“He argued further that the place remained the only province in Nigeria today which has not become a state out of the provinces created during the colonial era.

“The royal father, however, said the serious controversies that had been hindering the creation of the state was identity crisis because Ijebus wanted Ijebu created and the capital located in Ijebu Ode.

“Remo, on the other hand, insisted that if the state must be named Ijebu State the headquarters must be in Remo so that the identity of the two people would be preserved.

“To avoid all these controversies, Oba Sonariwo added that if the state capital should be in Ijebu Ode, the state should be named Ijebu Remo State or Awolowo State, but Awolowo State would be a great honour for the first premier of Western Region, who did a lot not only for the Yoruba race but the entire nation.”

•Photo shows late Obafemi Awolowo.

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