The Collapse Of Saraki Empire Prt 3 By Ono Bobi
History reveals that there is no greatness without a price for discipline. Some people are of the opinion that there are two types of pain in life – the pain of discipline and the pain of regrets. So let me reaffirm the truth that life has restrictions predicted on the governing rules of God.
This puts no limitations on our liberty rather it sponsors its fuller expression that man as a creation of God should have SELF CONTROL. It reveals that lack of self control could result such fleshly gratifications such as pride, arrogance, ostentation etc.
This is why any one, no matter how highly placed in society who lacks discipline or self control cannot be a good leader. The above ill-fitting behavioural presentations of Dr. Bukola Saraki resulted the Ile-Arugbo inferno that has been burning since the past few weeks.
I am not a lover of pathological liers and those who mischievously run away from the course of truth. Many commentators have been playing to the gallery all with a view to pleasing the Saraki family without pursuing the kernel of the issue. And the kernel is derived from the question: Does The Landed Property On Which Ile-Arugbo Stands Belong To Dr. Olusola Saraki?
Permit me to present two submissions from Mr. Michael Ologunde, AD Secretary, Kwara State and an anonymous former Local Government Council Chairman.
He says: “Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration has lived up to people’s expectations, even up to 75 per cent in Kwara State”. Ologunde praises the governor for the efforts so far made to retrieve all misappropriated funds, lost property and all that the past governments have stolen in Kwara State.
According to him, the governor, EFCC and the state’s House of Assembly have indeed done a good job.
On Ile-Agbo, Ologunde says it is a phantom name. “We don’t know it as Ile-Arugbo (a house for the aged). People are only trying to link it with the aged. We have always known it as Ile L’oke and it is not owned by the Saraki family. It is s fabrication by their supporters”.
“Sometime in 1985 or 1986, there was a structure at the back of the Ministry of Works, the contractor who was handling that building project is the current Ohinoyi of Egbiraland, King Ado Ibrahim. No state government will be so naive to reclaim any land owned by Saraki if he duly had his papers. Let Bukola tender the papers in court; for not tendering the documents in court would be tantamount to robbling the state of that land”.
On the demolition: “Several people have been claiming that the demolition was as a result of age-long political rivalry between the Saraki and AbdulRazaq families. I say, that is not true.
Going deep into history, the Sarakis should be grateful to the AbdulRazaqs because the governor’s father – Folorunsho AbdulRazaq was the one who encouraged Dr. Olusola Saraki into politics.
Dr. Olusola Saraki’s father actually introduced his son into politics through Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, a lawyer. Before then all Kwara political structures were in the hands of Kwara South and Central.
People like Baba Ekurin of Oke-Ode, J.S. Olawoyin of Offa and Sule Maito of Ilorin controlled the structures. These were the people controlling Kwara politics. Lawyer AbdulRazaq was on the other side and was in control of parts of Ilorin.
The period afforded him the opportunity to introduce Dr. Olusola Saraki into the politics of Kwara. In a nutshell, the rightful political strongman of Ilorin, is Lawyer AbdulRazaq.
So to say the demolition was borne out of an old political rift is to miss the point. The governor is fighting for the masses. The property doesn’t belong to Bukola’s father but to the government and the people of Kwara.
The people are only asking for what belongs to them through the governor”.
Information has emerged, on how Dr Olusola Saraki stopped local government chairmen from building a bigger edifice on Ile- Arugbo land as well as preventing them from using tiles to beautify the premises.
According to an associate of the late Waziri of Ilorin, sometimes in 2002, Dr Olusola called all the local government chairmen from the 16 local government areas to jointly build a small edifice for him at the ile- Arugbo premises, to serve as a gathering place for his supporters.
It was gathered that, when the ALGON chairman of the time, showed him a sample of the big edifice they had planned to erect on the land, Baba Saraki told them not to build such big edifice because he doesn’t own the land, that he was only using the land temporarily as government could take it over anytime.
The source, which prefers to be anonymous also explained that, Saraki’s caution to the local government chairmen explains why the building on the Ile-Arugbo land was very small, compared to the other Saraki buildings opposite the premises.
The anonymous source also added that, even when they attempted to tile the entire land surface to make it more convenient for visitors, Dr Olusola Saraki prevented them from doing so, as he repeatedly told them he doesn’t own the land.
Truth is sacrosanct. From the above submissions, we can infer that Bukola Saraki and his sisters have only been playing to the gallery and applying to the emotions of Kwarans, which has been the case ever since the Ile-Arugbo matter blew into the open some two weeks ago.
Why should Dr. Bukola Saraki refer to the demolition as vendetta, undiluted malice and jealousy from Governor AbdulRazaq? So where is the discipline and self control expected of a leader?
I remember the former Senate president has often indicated that his family is in possession of documents to prove their ownership of the disputed land and the legality of the allocation. Kwarans will meet you in court for the TRUTH to reign.
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