The Olowu of Owu in Egba Kingdom Oba Saka Adelola Matemilola, and his counterpart, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege who is the Olota of Ota of Awori Kingdom have initiated interlocutory mediation to end the prevalent inter-clan disputes between Ota and Egba indigenes over land and chieftaincy matters in the corridor of Ado-Odo Ota local government of Ogun State.
Penpushing reports that towards this, both traditional rulers had engaged in series of interactions overtime to create a pathfinder for sustainable peaceful solutions to the endemic crisis and laid to rest the issues.
The monarchs accompanied by their surrogate Obas and Chiefs held a village square meeting in Iju township, with Oba Iju, nonagenarian Olufemi Sodeinde on seat, to find a lasting solution to the constant breaches of peace in the domain over land and chieftaincy titles.
Penpushing further reports that it is recalled that persistent controversy on whether Iju town should be called Iju Gbaalefa or Iju Ota has remained a recurring decimal, turning the interlining city between Otta and Owode on Idiroko Road into a red flag zone.
The anecdotal narratives constantly recall that Iju town was a war camp of the Owu militia in the Egba Allied Forces that routed the marauding Dahomey soldiers into Abeokuta and environs in the 15th century.
Penpushing also reports that Iju, according to the archival narratives, is a Yoruba name for uninhabited thick forest where Akindele Gbaalefa, the leader of the Owu militia, representing the Egba Allied Forces, settled to strategize for the prosecution of the war against the interlopers.
The record has it that in response to Save or Soul call by the Ado Odo to the British authority to save the domain from Egba routing forces the British Evangelist in Abeokuta, Henry Townsend, was reportedly dispatched to mediate and secure peace in the corridor.
Penpushing reports that Townsend’s intervention, as recorded, resulted in the delineation of Iju and several other villages outside Otta, spreading to Oke Ore, named it Gbaalefa Peninsula and ceded it to Egba as ‘spoil of war’ which has remained so since the 15th century, while the current Oba of Iju is a direct great grandson of Akindele Gbaalefa.
The Ota people, however, remain in constant protest and denial of this archival records and insist Iju and all villages so named Gbaalefa Peninsula remain Ota land, while this contention has often polarised the Egba and Awori inhabitants of the zone with land speculators and politicians fueling series of conflicts, resulting in the loss of property and life, creating tension and strife in several villages in the zone.
Penpushing further reports that several stakeholders from both camps identified greed and avarice as the cause of the constant breaches of peace in the corridor particularly by land speculators, money bags and politicians who engage in divide and rule principle to dig the gold.
The stakeholders argued that the inhabitants of the area since the 15th century until this contemporary period, were one people from different clans and they lived together in peace without acrimony of any type.
‘Why is it now when all those, who in spite of their diversity, lived together, in love and unity without discrimination and covetousness are no more, that these generation of contentious offsprings mutilating identity and history to grab other peoples’ property by force”, they asked.
Penpushing also reports that in recent move to resolve the crisis Olowu and Olota pleaded with the audience which comprised of Baales from several villages, traders and their chiefs and members of community development associations (CDAs) in the corridor, to remain patient and give peace a chance.
The traditional rulers explained that some key people in the community of both Egba and Awori, have been called into a committee to deliberate on all contending issues with a view to proffering solutions, and they equally assured the people that the current intervention is with the concurrent approval of Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.
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