I can hear the sounds… Rumbles of a city at the edge of a crumble… The people I hear mumble… Even as darkness fills the air of the evening…
The land of Ile-Eko is not new to rancor; from time immemorial, it’s been one issue or the other… Generally, the people are largely not happy with the ‘Ijoba’… But I won’t want to bore you with the history of our sordid recent past… For your information, Ile-Eko has come a long way! In fact, many members of the Ijoba have been around Ile-Eko for a while and attest that the land has seen better days… No doubt!

Now let’s get to the matter of the day.
There seems to be a somewhat silent uproar within certain circles in the land of Ile-Eko even as the people prepare to meet with the Olori tomorrow…. Yes, the meeting with the Olori: that’s exactly the crux of the matter… Or better put, the Olori wants to meet the people… Now this is even one matter of contention: is it the Olori that wants to meet the people OR was it the ‘Asojus’ that requested that the Olori meet with all the people?!? We hope we find an answer to that soon.!. But trusted sources have informed that it is in fact the Asojus that have demanded of the Olori that she must appear before the people… Okay, let’s not jump the gun. Let’s try and put things in the right perspective!
Without much ado, here goes the iroyin: some agents of the Olori, key members of the Ijoba managing the estate of Ile-Eko recently announced an increase in owo-ile, and this has sparked marked agitations amidst the people of Ile-Eko… The Asojus, led by the Asiwaju have met with Olori on this matter and expressed their displeasure and disapproval of the so called increment in owo-ile; and this they say is because there has been practically no improvements in the state of the estate in the past so many years. The fact that the estate is crowded, or over crowded for want of appropriate word to aptly describe the real state. And many more issues about the estate that words can not adequately articulate… As an aftermath of this, it is understood that the Olori has seen reason with the Asojus and as such granted an audience with every member of Ile-Eko to personally explain to them the state of things and give reasons for the recent developments…
So in this vein, the Asojus decided to call a meeting of the Ojogbons just in time before the generality of the people meet with Olori… And it was in this meeting that the Asiwaju gave a report of the meeting of the Asojus with the Olori… But I must tell you, it was a totally different ball game at the meeting of the Ojogbons… In fact, the town hall was in darkness throughout the duration of the gathering of the Ojogbons, but it would interest you to know that this was not enough to deter the Ojogbons from vociferating their ardently held views on what they think of the estate as well as the recent decisions of the Olori… In fact, I think I hear the cry of battle once again…

But as I sat out the meeting of the Ojogbons, I cannot but lament the death of reality… I tell you, reality is dead!!!

As I sat down there, I heard the Ojogbons give so many suggestions, I could see that they were very belligerent and are ready to throw caution to the wind…
In all sincerity, I think the Ojogbons are misguided… Or rather, unnecessarily unrealistic… In fact, I overheard someone say that two members of the Ojogbons were actually more or less playing politics ahead of the next change of government of the Asojus… And now there goes another witless use of urgent matters to score political points ahead of time… a recurring theme in the land of Ile-Eko in recent times, and this is quite a shame…

Not to digress too much… I really don’t want to say too much but there a few things I think the Ojogbons, and in fact the populace of Ile-Eko should be cognizant of…

So if the people refuse the decision of the Ijoba on the owo-ile for the estate, have they considered that the Ijoba can suggest that domicile in the estate is optional and that only interested indigenes should apply?!? What would the Ojogbons do in such a situation? Also, if the Ojogbons refuse to renew their owo-ile, don’t they think the Ijoba can use any means possible to evacuate them from the estate? I mean, does the estate not actually belong to the Ijoba?!? Can the people of Ile-Eko afford to ply their trade from satellite locations if it gets to that level?
For those that think a disrupt of the activities of the land is the way to go, well that does sound like a good idea among the Ojogbons but they should be fully aware of the consequences of any such actions… Can they take a cue from the fact that calendar of the Ile-Eko is already destabilized? Are they ready to spend X more years to ply their trade in Ile-Eko? The option really lies in the hands of the people of Ile-Eko. Every action has its consequence!
Then again, for those who claim the Ijoba packs them like sardine in the estate… what if the Ijoba decides to provide domicile for only a fraction such that they are not packed like sardine, but however a larger fraction of the indigenes have to ply their trade from satellite locations, would this be applauded as a positive move?!?
Oh! I think I’m raising too many questions already… But according to the Olori herself, it’s a matter of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea… Choices have to be made anyways…
I really cannot fully exhaust my thoughts on this matter arising… Somehow I think I can preempt the answers of the Olori to many of the questions that would be asked her… Except the Ojogbons bring something new to the table… If they go in the might we all saw this evening, the Olori has an answer to all that already, and I won’t be surprised if the Ojogbons are silenced by those answers. In fact, that would actually be a delight to watch!

However, I personally think the Ojogbons and every other person should be well prepared for the approach of the Olori tomorrow…
I would personally appreciate if they can make sensible and reasonable demands of the Olori… And not whimsical vociferations like we all observed at the meeting of the Ojogbon…

I definitely would not say that the Olori should not be questioned… But she must be questioned with relevant facts… I must tell you, she knows her stuff… Truth is all the questions the Ojogbons were raising this evening have already been put forward by the Asojus to the Olori, and I tell you, she dispelled with many of them as wittily as possible… and in my own personal opinion, in all sincerity…

I sincerely wish the Ojogbons a successful deliberation with the Olori tomorrow… while I quietly mourn the death of reality!!! Adieu…