Regent of Irokun kingdom in the Ilaje local government area, Princess Adeyinka Abejoye-Ogunyemi, has said that her people were prepared to endure any hardship to resist what she termed the territorial ambition of the Ogun state government.

Princess Ogunyemi, who faulted claims by the deputy governor of Ogun state, Noimot Salako Oyedele, that Irokun was not part of Ondo state, said nothing would change the reality that the kingdom remained within Ondo State.

Ogunyemi said the move by the Ogun state government to claim the Olurokun stool as part of the Ijebu Traditional Council was due to the now moribund multi-million-dollar Olokola project.

Speaking through the Olurokun Palace Secretary, Prince Emmanuel Ogunbajo, the Olurokun of Irokun, said the Ogun state government has no business rejecting her appointment as Regent on the false claim that Irokun kingdom was part of Ogun State.

He said: “The current non-existent territorial dispute was schemed when the Ondo and Ijebu Provinces were created in 1915 and part of Ilaje in the western boundary with Lagos along the Lekki Peninsula was sought to be carved to create littoral access for the new Ijebu Province.

“It cannot be overemphasized that apart from ambitious territorial claims, Ogun State has no presence in any of the constituent communities of Irokun kingdom which limited access to social amenities including secondary education is from the Ondo State.

“By this vaulting territorial claim of Ogun state, the Olokola project has become moribund and investors in oil refinery, deep sea port, and petrochemical industries scared away giving room for fake real estate developers and land speculators aided by officials of the Ogun state government.

The proposed Araromi-Lekki (Lagos) road through the old Ilaje-Lagos trade route by the Ondo state government is a salutary reenactment of the connections between Ilaje and Lagos.

He added: “We wish to let Her Excellency know that Irokun kingdom is not being claimed for Ondo State. It has always been as an inseparable component of the Ilaje nation as part of Ondo State. This reality will remain the same wherever the Ilaje is made to be by any administrative arrangement by Nigeria.

“The resort to violence and intimidation by the Ogun State Government using the police and other security agents, including some miscreant immigrants within the Irokun kingdom, will not alter the status quo that Irokun kingdom is an integral part of Ilaje and Ondo State. On this, we are resolved and prepared to endure any hardship in its realization in all generations.” (The Nation)

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