MADNESS OF THE CENTURY
Yes it is madness that will be met soonest with madness from the people of Ikaleland, my attention was drawn into a visitation to the Executive Governor of Ondo HE Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa where a company named Owena Bitumen Exploration led by one Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Mantu where he said he brought some foreign investors from Italy and France claiming they are investing one billion dollars into the Exploration of our Bitumen in Ikaleland, but what really caught my attention was their claiming of the establishment of their Bitumen processing plant in far away Ijebu Ode in Ogun State.
You are exploring our Bitumen in Ikaleland in Ondo State and you were planning of building the processing plant in another state, in the first place Bitumen is a very heavy mineral that needs a rail transportation from the site to a processing plant.
The said company went and met Mr Governor and thought they have sealed a deal without visiting the inhabitants of the area concerned that will be displaced from their ancestral habitat when Exploration is to commence, also a serious company or organization that really knows about Bitumen Exploration should know that their first assignment is to hold meetings with the custodian of this black gold and the establishment of a processing plant must be situated on Ikale soil.
Moreover no company will explore our black gold without the echelon of an Ikale blood, to me the said Owena Bitumen Company just came on a white elephant project visitation to Mr Governor, they are simply scammers that wanted to use our Bitumen to dupe the unsuspected investors.
I am saying this from the position of experience, having visited and study the process of Bitumen from the largest gifted custodian of Bitumen in the world, Alberta Canada and am lucky to have come from the community that has the second largest deposit of the black gold deep in the mangrove forest of Ikaleland in Ondo South of Ondo State.
Enough of all these drama that started in 1999 when Obasanjo came to Ikaleland to campaign and deceived we the ikales of Exploration of our Bitumen, Mimiko came used the Bitumen as a campaign tool, just not too long ago the late Rotimi Akeredolu claimed they are already exploring our Bitumen to deceive our people, just only few of us cried out shouting that it was a scam.
Message to them and their co-travellers is that no company or group of people will be allowed to step their feet or equipments into Ikaleland, they will be met with stiff resistance from Ikale people, the Bitumen is the only legacy we have to leave for our generation yet unborn for a better life!
I won’t drop my pen without acknowledging Senator Jimoh Ibrahim CFR who for the first time sincerely started the process of backing up our Bitumen through legislation in the hallow chamber of the Nigerian senate.
Any arrangements without our traditional rulers, leaders and Youths from Ikaleland will only brew another Tom Ateke, Tumpolo and Asari Dokubo in our peaceful Ikaleland.
Olujimi Adekanle JAF
THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF IRELE KINGDOM
Writing from Toronto Canada.
