Oba Oyelude and Gen Buratai at the reception for the COAS at the royal father’s palace
By Banji Ayoola
The Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude popularly called Makama, Tegbosun the Third, and his Ikoyi counterpart, the Olukoyi of Ikoyi, Oba Afeez Adigun Badeji, Akinmoyero Akinropo the Second, and some of their prominent subjects have expressed deep gratitude to the Lord over the newly commissioned age long Osun Bridge, which links the neighboring Kuta, Ikoyi and Ede communities of Osun State together and opens the areas to the outside world.
Kuta and Ikoyi, which are intimately close to one another, are in Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State, while their neighbouring Ede community is in Ede Local Government Area of the state.
The bridge, which was completed by the Nigerian Army, was commissioned by Osun State Governor, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, supported by the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai on Monday, September 14, 2020.
At separate interviews conducted by The Radiance on the eve and day of the festive event in Kuta, the royal fathers with some of their prominent subjects and some of their guests, reeled out the socioeconomic benefits of the new facility to the communities, Osun State and Nigeria in general.
Following is the verbatim report of their views:
Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, a former Secretary to Osun State Government
“It (the commissioning) is very well attended and very well. We are lucky. We have another share of government through the COAS. We are lucky that our Kabiesi is making a landmark. So we thank the Lord. The people of Kuta, Ikoyi and Ede should be law abiding and grateful to government.”
Chief Abiola Ogundokun, prominent Iwo community leader and renowned publisher
“This is one of the indelible actions of capable leadership. It is a historical event that would remain indelible for life, that would appreciate because this place is now up for grip of progress. I see it as a very wonderful event.
“I advise our people to support the royal seat, and the Federal Government that has considered it wise to consider this occasion. We thank the Lord, and we should all work to reciprocate the good gesture of the government.”
Prince Samson A. Aminu, Chairman, Elders Committee of Kuta United Front, KUF
“That bridge, which by the Grace of God has been commissioned today (August 14, 2020) has passed through many years; and even somebody of my age experienced the problems we have been having for a very long time.
“For example, I was involved in the late fifties in the collection of what we called owo olodo towards the construction of that bridge, which ended nowhere; and some other things that happened thereafter through ages that we thank the Lord today that that bridge is already constructed.
“And I am quite sure very soon by His Grace, it is going to be an all season road in the sense that it’s not an issue of it is only during the dry season that you can pass through. Not only during the raining season. By the time it is tarred and by the Grace of God by the Federal Government, it’s going to be an all season road.
“I thank and congratulate our Kabiesi, our very indefatigable, amiable and painstaking royal father as far as the progress of the community is concerned.”
Mr. Timothy Oyatunde
“The commissioning of the bridge is fantastic and I feel happy that I am one of the witnesses.
“We need to congratulate our Kabiesi for his activities towards the upgrading of Kuta community as a whole and his efforts in seeing that the age long bridge is completed during his tenure.
“We pray that we use it for long and our children would enjoy it even when we are no more.”
Prince Adesoye Adedapo, the Ajiroba of Kuta
“I am highly elated because the generation yet unborn would appreciate what is happening today.
“Some years back, Kuta was regarded as a dead end because there was no road that passed through it. When you entered, it’s either you made a U turn or stopped there. But to the Glory of God and with the connection of our Kabiesi, the road has been done for us through the Nigerian Army; and by the Grace of the Lord, the Federal Government has commenced work on the tarring of the road as well.
“We are very happy. I want to congratulate the Kabiesi, the Olowu of Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Oyelude Makama, Tegbosun the Third and all the sons and daughters of Kuta for witnessing this historic event. We are very happy and we pray that the Almighty would strengthen the Kabiesi and his chiefs.”
Hon Gbenga Odedeyi, a former Chairman of Ayedire Local Government
“I feel extremely happy that this is coming during our own generation. What our forefathers could not do, the Lord has done it for us. Today is a special day in the life of Kuta. We are very happy, excited.
“This is marvelous. May the Lord bless our King. From my own experience, this is the first time that people responded very well to the programme. There are contributions from everybody. Everybody is extremely happy that this is coming during our own generation.
“I was at the bridge about three days ago (the interview was conducted on the eve of the commissioning). You could see from left and right fertile arable land that can develop the economy of the community in the nearest future.
“Economic opportunities would be coming gradually because people from Ede side would be bringing their products to Kuta. From Kuta, our people would be taking their products to Ede. The opportunities are open, endless that would benefit the people for life.”
Also, Odedeyi, at the end of a candle procession round major spots in Kuta and terminating at the Olowu’s palace, which he led on the eve of the commissioning from African Church Primary School, said:
“We thank the Lord. We moved down to where our former obas were laid to rest and we told their spirits that we thanked them that what they could not do, the Lord has done it.”
Mr Folawe Alalade
“The development is very fantastic. We thank the Lord for everything. The dead end issue is gone for Kuta-Ikoyi community and Ede. So the economic situation would improve. You know that communication is very important, whether by land, through the air or whatever.
“We are happy we are witnessing what is happening today. I congratulate you too because your father, my father and our forefathers suffered a lot.
“That we are witnessing this today, we are very grateful unto the Lord. Kabiesi the Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude, Tegbosun the Third has been very wonderful. It is a call to service and he is serving the whole community. Equally we are extending the gratitude to the Onikoyi of Ikoyi, Oba Afeez Adigun too for his cooperation and maturity. We wish them long life and better things in life.
“It has never happened in the history of Kuta. This is very wonderful. If you look at the contributions both financially and morally, and the response of our people, this is the highest I have ever witnessed in my life.
“We are very lucky. I wish everybody best of luck. We would all live to enjoy the best part of our life in this community.
“We appreciate The Radiance. You are very wonderful. We’ve been seeing your work on the net. God will bless you. You will rise and become big in the industry.”
Mr. Adisa Iwinlade, Chairman, KUF Publicity Committee for the commissioning
What magic did you apply in organising this ceremony?
“My answer to that question is that God has arrived Kuta. I can authoritatively say that He has arrived in Kuta.”
How?
“You would discover that for so many years, our forefathers had been on this issue for a very long time and it has never happened. The Lord has never said it would be done. But now I can assure you that God has arrived in Kuta.
“If you know the way and manner even the person who made this history happen, you won’t believe it. Honestly speaking, our Kabiesi is a gift to us. In fact I have been calling him Gift – EbunOluwa. Our Kabiesi is a gift to Kuta. He made it happen with the support of the Lord. He single-handedly made it happen.
“Even during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration as the Executive President of Nigeria, he couldn’t do it. In fact, we were thinking that it was all over when Obasanjo couldn’t do it. May be in another generation it would happen, but nobody knew that it would come so soon. So we give Thanks to the Almighty.”
How would this affect your brothers and sisters at home and abroad?
“I can assure you that nobody would beg those people outside Kuta, even those abroad, before they come home, because this road that is being constructed now would affect everything, both the economy and everything that would bring money. It would affect everything you can think of.
“So if you stay in Lagos, Ibadan, or anywhere, you went there because of money. But if you could get double of what you earn in Ibadan or Lagos here at home, why going there at all? So they would be forced to come home. No doubt about that.
“You would see the way and manner people accepted the invitation to come home and see the wonders that are happening in Kuta today. I think everybody is happy because I am happy, and I know that you are happy, everybody is happy.
“I just want to beg our people especially people who are in Lagos, Ibadan and everywhere to come back home to know that God has arrived in Kuta and anything, be it financial or economic are in Kuta today. So they should come back home. This is where their salvation lies. Their salvation is here in Kuta.”
Prince Segun Adeigbe, Chief Momimi of Kuta
“It’s a wonderful development and we thank the Lord Who has taken us thus far. We really thank Him that this thing is happening in our time; and we want to appreciate Him and especially Lt Gen Tukur Buratai for making this event a reality. We pray for him that he would land well in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Chief Ahmed Amoo Omu iya dun
“What our forefathers struggled to achieve, what we too tried to achieve has now become a reality. Many have died over it. And now the Lord has now done it for us on a platter of gold during the reign of our King, Oba Adekunle Oyelude.
“Many of our fathers have died over it. Many obas have tried fruitlessly to complete the project. But the Lord granted the fulfillment to our Oba Oyelude. And the Lord permitted its completion during our own lifetime too. All the houses in Kuta contributed.
“We are so happy. Even we took uniform aso ebi out of joy that we would witness the commissioning. May the Lord preserve our joy, give us strength to use the bridge and the road. May He show us mercy and prosper our people outside and those of us at home.”
Pa Agbajelola Salami, Ile Oosa Kuta
“When the project started, we were contributing owo olodo. Oladejo in ile Baale asked us to contribute money in three years. People refused. They said Jackson would construct the bridge for us to link us to Ede, even if he would build the bridge with lapalapa.
“When we were contributing owo olodo, whoever climbed and hid in the roof, we would drag down to make his own contribution. We forced ourselves.
“We would weed up to Osun river. Thereafter we climbed over and started weeding towards Ede. We weeded up to Ede. The day we got to Ede, they stopped the train. My mother hailed from Ede. When we got to Ede station, the train took off, we could not meet up. Five of us went and we returned to my mother’s house in Ede, at Ile Olosun. We slept there till the following morning when we trekked back home to Kuta.
“I thank the Lord. When we wanted to climb and cross over to Ede, we would step on a narrow strip of rock of about four inches in width and start weeding towards Ede. One day we climbed, a cocoa farmer asked us to be cutting cocoa trees. We could not cut them. He collected cutlass from one of us and started cutting the cocoa trees himself just for the road to go through. That was how we joined in cutting the cocoa trees and we got to Ede.
“He who did not go to oju ona then, they would give him chicken or goat. If he did not have either, we would trail him till he slept. At about 1 midnight, we would knock his door that he should come and tell him that we didn’t see him at oju ona. We would collect fine from him.
“Owo olodo then was sile meji aabo. About 1 am, some would run and climb to hide in the roof. Some would find such a person out and tell us that he was hiding in the roof. If he did not get money, we would fetch water in bucket and wet the place till his household would pay his own contribution.
“Those collecting owo olodo: There was one in ile Araba; the second was Baba Laje Dairo; the third was Gbada Lapade. If they said ‘arrest him’, they would arrest the person and mete out appropriate punishment on him.”
Hon Yunusa Akintola Amobi, representing Ayiwola Constituency in the House of Representatives
“We are very grateful. We thank the Almighty Allah for support for members of the community most especially the Kabiesi. This is a wonderful achievement.
“We had been awaiting this kind of development before now. Generations upon generations had put in their efforts, but unfortunately they didn’t make it till now.
“We thank Lt Gen Yusuf Buratai for his intervention to ensure this community develops. It is going to assist in a very long way to develop the economic potentials of this entire community.
“We are backward because of this impassable bridge that actually draws back Ede, Iwo, Ikoyi and Kuta in particular from making progress. But at present, we thank the Lord; with the intervention of Buratai and the Nigerian Army as well. We are very grateful to them and their interest would surely continue to linger in our people’s memory both young and old.
“This is going to affect the economic development of our people. The money in circulation brings about the economy. It’s one thing for you to have money to make business. It’s another thing to have a better turn over on what you are selling. And turn over depends on the population.
“Surely it would meet our expectation because of the influx of people from neighbouring communities, which had been very difficult before now. People from Ede can easily move to Kuta. People from Osogbo can easily pass through Abere to Kuta and people from Iwo as well can do it through the accessible road unlike before.
“So we are very hopeful that this time around, we are going to enjoy what we call progress which we have been awaiting for long.”
How do you feel that together with the Kabiesi and the Chairman of Ayedire Local Government, Alhaji Adeboye Mukaila Oladejo, you would be receiving the COAS and the Governor?
“We are very happy. It’s not our first time of seeing the governor. We are part and parcel of the government. That notwithstanding, the arrival and opportunity to see the COAS is unique. He is the one who even facilitated this project. It was like a play but it has come to reality. We are very grateful to him.
“We see smile on the faces of our people. We are seriously expecting tomorrow (August 14) to be joyous for everybody.”
Alhaji Adeboye Mukaila Oladejo, Chairman, Ayedire Local Government
Happy Birthday! How do you feel that your birthday coincides with this epoch making event?
“ I am the happiest person around. My birthday is 12th September. We are commissioning the bridge on the 14th of September. You should know that I am extremely happy. Honestly speaking, it’s my day. The bridge is just like birthday gift to me. I have no words to express myself than say that I am a happy man.”
Hon Kayode Akinboro
“Today’s event is very beautiful and amazing. I see in our people both young, old, females, males, boys and girls joy. They are very happy. What I have got to know from our people is that I can see the joy that there is a better future for every one of us in Kuta. I wish we continue with the mode of living, of behaving, and the love in our people.”
Mr Boladale L.A, Planning Officer, Ayedire Local Government
“This is a remarkable event.”P
Prof Olatoye Ojo, PhD, FNIVS, RSV, a professor of Estate Management at the University of Ife, OAU and a former KUF President
“This is an investment corridor, an investment hub and this is unlocking the development potentials of this axis not only for Osun State but for the entire country as a whole.
“It is also an invitation to prospective developers and investors because of the resources that have been opened up in this investment corridor. As a matter of fact, this is an investment destination for prudent investors across the country.
“We are lucky for this occasion because we have never had it so good. Our forefathers tried a lot to break the deadlock. And what is that deadlock – the Kuta – Ede Road with the Osun Bridge. But luckily, with the coming of the present Oba, Oba Oyelude Tegbosun the Third, we see him as a vessel unto honour that the Lord has raised to break this jinx with the instrumentality of his good friend Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff. The Lord has used them, the two of our our Oba and the Chief of Army Staff, to get this opened up.
“And we really thank the Nigerian Army for doing us this great favour; and we want more from them because they have invested a lot in this axis; and we would plead that they see other things they can bring to this corridor.
“We appreciate the Lord and the patriotic zeal of our brothers and sisters. It has been wonderful. It is as if we have never been this challenged, and everybody wants to be part of this success story. The rate of contributions to the success of today’s event has shown that in unity lies the strength of this community, and we would go places.”
Engnr Taye Shittu-Adeniran, a former KUF President
“It’s great. It implies that Kuta is now one of the bigger communities in South west. I expect my people to seize the opportunity of the vast areas of land we have, come down, and exploit the situation to develop the area in terms of agricultural inputs.”
Mr Alani Gbolagun
“This is a memorable event. Our forefathers started it decades of years ago. But now we thank the Lord, under His Royal Majesty, His Highness, Oba Oyelude, it has come to reality. Today is a day in the history of Kuta and environs. We thank the Lord for this.”
Prince Lateef Ajayi, son of a former Olukoyi (ijeta) and a Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG
How would this bridge impact on Ikoyi and Kuta?
“I believe that it is the Lord’s period because the bridge that links Ikoyi, Kuta and Ede together is the only thing that can facilitate the socioeconomic development of this community. Without this, we cannot move forward. But with this now we can now move ahead.
“I am believing God that this is the right time for us to move forward. So with this now, Ikoyi-Kuta-Ede Osun Bridge would make the people of this community to be more enlightened and more productive in the area of Agriculture.
“Ki a dupe l’owo Olorun fun akoko yii ti Olorun mu wa ba wa l’aye, l’aaye ati alaafia; paapaa fun Oba Oyelude, Olowu ti ilu Kuta ti Olorun lo lati mu awon ologun wa si ilu yii lati je ki awa naa je anfaani ninu oro orile ede Nigeria. A fi ope fun Olorun. A si ni igbagbo wipe pelu eleyii, ibasepo t’o dan moran y’oo wa laarin awon ilu meteeta wonyii – Kuta, Ikoyi ati Ede.
“Eleyii paapaa yo’oo si je ki awon ti won ns’owo ki won lee ni itesiwaju ninu okowo won nitoripe opolopo awon eniyan ni won ti n da oko ti won ko ri ibi ta oja. Sugbon ti a ba tile ko ere oko jade s’ita, ti awon eeyan nkoja lo ti won ri nnkan ti won nta n’ile, won a rii wipe itesiwaju y’oo ti ibe jade.
“So with this, we are happy with what is happening in this community this day. My advice to everybody, my sisters, brothers and everyone is that all of us should not forget our place of birth.
“There are many in Lagos today who have no good jobs, who are just roaming the streets. Come back home. Let us cooperate, unite and develop our community. There is land on which to farm and plant yams, cassava and other crops and make money. Many are just in Lagos. With this, I am advising everybody to please come back home. It is high time for us.”
Supol Lateef Ajani, retired, Chairman, KUF Lagos and Chairman, Security Committee for the commissioning
How did the security arrangement, which you supervised, work out?
“Area is very calm and quiet. It went perfectly. No incident recorded at all. It was a good day for Kuta and the army generals who came.”
How about the crowd control mechanism adopted?
“All was very perfect. The bridge commissioning is the beginning of the economic development in this community and it would encourage Tourism and economic development.
“My advice to my brothers and sisters outside Kuta is to come home and invest in Kuta.
“KUF Lagos sees this project and commissioning as a way forward. My advice to KUF members Lagos and all sons and daughters of Kuta both home and abroad is that we should also support Kabiesi Olowu in all his endeavours.”
Chief Mrs Lyinda Tolulola Atilola, the Iyalode of Kuta
Prince Mukaila Depo Aminu, Deputy President, KUF
Prince Wakili Layo Sanni, Chief Sobaloju of Kuta
Deacon Adegboyega Adeniran, President, KUF
Olukoyi of Ikoyi, Oba Afeez Adigun Badeji, Akinmoyero Akinropo the Second
“It’s a grace, highly welcome. It’s something we have been expecting for a very long time. Many of our obas have tried a lot over it. We thank the Lord that it comes now during our reign. It’s a great pleasure.”
Kabiesi, how do you see the overwhelming support of your sons and daughters of Kuta and Ikoyi towards this project?
“That’s how it is supposed to be because if you know how many people have gone on this thing, you would know that we have not even done enough.
“And we thank the Lord that it comes on in our own time. The road is okay now. Definitely the road would expose Kuta, Ikoyi, and Ede.
“I want our sons and daughters outside to come down home and build industries and all the social amenities. The town would be more and more developed. We need them. The facilities are here. There are light and water.”
Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude, Tegbosun the Third
Kabiesi, how do you feel with the commissioning of the bridge?
“To God be the Glory I feel sense of fulfillment and I give all the glory to Him for giving me the opportunity to attain a feat and a milestone my forefathers and fore-bearers have been yearning to attain. So I have fulfilled their mission today. “
And your reaction to the overwhelming praises of your sons and daughters at home and abroad for you and the COAS?
“That shows you that the Owu Kuta people are very appreciative of what the COAS has done for them. He has changed the narratives of our history. The enthusiasm and appreciation go to show that this is the people’s need. The project is our need.”
What about the unusual massive interest in the town?
“This is one of the common projects. If you ask anybody within the age bracket of 100 years to date, what does Kuta need? He or she would say Kuta – Ede Road Bridge. It is a factor that unites us.
“As for the COAS, he is our hero and he would forever remain our hero and a legend. As Charles De Gaulle is their hero in France, and Italians believe Benito Mussolini is their hero, we believe in Kuta that Buratai is our hero and legend.”
Are you considering giving him a chieftaincy title like the Atunluse of Kuta for instance?
“Leave that to me. The COAS is a friend. He is part of us.”
