EKO NEWS
Cultural Centre: Lagos Govt Robbed Randle Family Of Our Heritage – Bashorun Randle
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In 2016, the Lagos government demolished the Chief J.K. Randle Memorial Hall.
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The government built the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History on the site of the demolished hall.
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The Randle family accused the Lagos government of plotting to wipe out the name of the family in the state through the demolition of its property.
Eko Hog Blog reports that Elder statesman and politician, Bashorun J.K. Randle, has accused the Lagos State Government of cruelty.
According to Bashorun Randle, the state government demolished the Chief J.K. Randle Memorial Hall, the Dr J.K. Randle Swimming Pool and the Dr J.K. Randle Love Garden in the Onikan area of Lagos, to make way for the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History.
EDITOR’S PICKS
In September 2016, he said the state had no legal rights to the property, adding that the government failed to notify the family about the demolition.
“That place is our history ground. It represents the name of our family. Destroying property in the place is like destroying our heritage and the glorious contributions of our ancestors,” he said at the time of the demolition.
“Even if the state government wanted to do such a thing, the members of the family should have been informed. The guard, who had been living in the place for the past 30 years with his family members, was thrown out into the cold night; they are homeless now. The sad thing is that we were not notified about the demolition.”
Last week, the Lagos government announced that the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History is one of the projects President Muhammadu Buhari will commission during his working visit on Monday and Tuesday.
Reacting to the announcement, Bashorun Randle described it as disturbing and unfortunate.
In a statement he shared with Eko Hot Blog on Sunday, he described the site of a the cultural centre as a “crime scene” perpetrated by the Lagos government.
The John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History
He lamented that the Randle family has no equity in the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History.
“After ravaging the iconic Chief J K Randle Memorial Hall and the historic Dr. J K Randle Swimming Pool at Onikan, Lagos with bulldozers and caterpillars as well as large contingent of heavily armed policemen (the dreaded SARS), Lagos State Government has callously and wickedly invited President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR to the crime scene under the pretext of launching a Yoruba Cultural Centre – an enterprise in which the Randle family has no equity,” the statement reads.
“This is at a juncture of our nation’s history when our official policy is to de-emphasize tribe and tongue!! This is most disturbing, unfortunate and bewildering.
“It beggars imagination that the State Government would go to such lengths and brazen diversionary games to deflect attention from the glaring rot and nauseating decay in several Lagos communities and drug havens — Mushin Olosha; Lagos University Teaching Hospital Road; Daleko; Matori; White House Bus Stop; Amikanle; Tunji Alaso etc.
“The Randle family has been SWINDLED in broad daylight and robbed of its sacrosanct heritage at gunpoint. We are not fooled.”
The demolished Chief J.K. Randle Memorial Hall, which belonged to the British Crown, was named after Bashorun Randle’s father, Chief J.K. Randle, for his achievements.
The site of the hall was said to have been passed on to the Federal Government after independence.
FURTHER READING
According to Bashorun Randle, his grandfather, Dr J.K. Randle, constructed the swimming pool and the love garden with his money, but handed them over to the Lagos City Council in 1928 to manage.
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