The unfolding realities emanating from the kerfuffle between Ifon, Ilobu and Erin, in extension, should be a source of worry to every well-meaning Omoluabi. I watched trending videos of how thousands of people were fleeing the hot spot and properties were destroyed while sacred lives were desecrated, and I imagined how we found ourselves at this calamitous stage as Yoruba people. The fact that we play destructive politics even with serious carnage shows how exacerbated our moral decadence has gone.
The Ilobu/Ifon crisis is not a lone conflict in Yoruba land in this 21st century; Ofa and Erin Ile, Igboho and Igbope, Ife and Modakeke and other intra-tribal conflicts lingered for years, and some still re-emerged in recent times. All these crises were linked to landed properties and boundary disputes. This is a passionate appeal to the Yoruba leaders to eschew bitterness, jettison political difference and come together in a strong voice to proffer lasting solutions to these recurrent pandemoniums.
While Ifon traced its origin directly to Ile Ife, the Ilobus acknowledged a powerful hunter from Oyo as their progenitor. The ultimate conclusion of the story is that we are all distant cousins, as the Oyos were also from Ile Ife. To this point, Oni of Ife and Alaafin of Oyo have a prominent role to play in the peace parley as the progenitors of the two warring towns.
In a more pragmatic move, the 1978 Land Use Act vested the ownership of land in the hands of the government: all land in each state is in the governor’s hands, who holds it in trust for the people and grants individuals or corporations rights of occupancy, rather than full ownership. In line with the above, the Osun State Governor has a key and decisive role to play.
The root cause of the crisis is the earth’s surface located at the borderline of the three ancient communities; therefore, the government should consider creating a buffer zone and taking ownership of the land for public usage. In a broader sense, government agencies related to military or paramilitary could have a subsidiary on the piece of land.
Declaring curfew could only be seen as temporary succour, as the disagreement has gone psychological and the people from warring towns take pride in fighting for their communities; nonetheless, the government must be ready to take some bold steps and hold people accountable for their actions and inactions.
First, large-scale arrests should be made; major propellers of the crisis and the key participants from the warring communities must be apprehended without fear of favour and must be made to dance to the music of the law. Killing and destruction are not to be entertained regardless of any disguise. Life is sacred, and human blood should be seen as sacrilege.
Secondly, there should be an intercommunity committee comprising people from the warring communities and security agencies and headed by prominent traditional rulers or key Yoruba figures outside the warring communities. They should be meeting regularly to assess the threats before they manifest, and there must be deliberate efforts to enhance proper reconciliation.
At this point, to enhance a lasting peace, pride of any form must be lowered and blame games should be totally discouraged. Instead of giving the warring communities the platform to trade blame and make accusations, efforts should be directed to the 3 Rs: Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, and Yoruba leaders must come forth with elderly wisdom.
OGS
Writing from the United Kingdom.
