Some concerned indigenes of Ogbomoso, under the aegis of Ogbomoso Diaspora Development Forum, have expressed concerns over what they described as factors responsible for the lack of development of infrastructure in the ancient town.
The group, in a statement jointly signed by its President and Secretary, Chief Olusegun Olawale and Reverend Remilekun Adeola, and made available to journalists on Friday, noted that religious crisis, insecurity, needless litigations among others are behind the slow pace of development of in the town.
The statement reads in parts:”Major threats to the development of our town include: civil and criminal litigation on land matters amongst the community leadership.
“Also, the local courts are full of unnecessary litigation that are impediments to peace and friendly cohabitation.
“A recent case of insecurity was the death of Mr Gbenga Owolabi, an Ogbomoso-born US-based hotelier who was kidnapped and killed by a group.
“The family of the deceased, for the fear of being the next target have since relocated to USA. Also, a case of trespass on the land of JALadeji and Sons Limited was everywhere in the news.
“The community can never grow when all these untoward events are being orchestrated by the local leadership. The so-called Ogbomoso Cradle events scheduled for December 2024 are threatened by insecurity, bad road, and unavailable infrastructure, amongst many others. It is evident that the cradle festival will fail.
“Religion crisis is also a bane of the community, the litigation between the Kabiyesi Oba Olaoye Ghandi against the Chief Imam Ogbomoso land is never resolved and may be a sour event that will tarnish the credibility of the proposed carnival.”
Land matters and controversy are everywhere in Ogbomoso and neighborhood towns like Iresa,Ikoyi ,Iya Oje, etc.The Ologbon of Ile Igbon is on litigation too with the Ayinla Afingbaoge family.
All these are impediments to the progress of the town, which are outside government control.
