Traditional rulers in Osun State, under the aegis of the Osun Council of Obas, have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently wade into the crisis surrounding the withholding of local government allocations in the state, warning that the situation has crippled grassroots governance and left communities in distress.
Speaking after a meeting at the Ile Oodua Palace of Ife, the monarchs, hosted by their permanent chairman, the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, expressed concern over the severe impact of the prolonged withholding of funds on traditional institutions and local communities across Osun’s 30 local government areas and one area office.
In their statement, the council noted:
“Traditional rulers being natural leaders and closest to the people, are critical stakeholders in nation building, human development and community engagement structured to be empowered to perform optimally through a functioning local government administration.”
The monarchs stressed that their concern was not rooted in politics but in the wellbeing of ordinary citizens.
“As purely apolitical fathers of the land, we are not interested in the politics, individual differences or whatever that could be responsible for the seizure of the local government allocations, our interest is to see a working society and functional local government for the benefit of all especially the vulnerable individuals across our communities,” the statement read.
They lamented that the suspension of funds has paralyzed local governance, leaving markets, rural roads, and other grassroots responsibilities unattended.
“It amazes us daily to see secretariats to have suddenly become inactive because the allocations meant for their smooth running have been withheld for several months, over issues that have nothing to do with the common people currently suffering the brunt,” the monarchs said.
Calling directly on President Tinubu, the traditional rulers urged him to use his office to resolve the impasse:
“It is on this note that we call on Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to intervene as father of the nation. We will be glad if Mr. President can hear the cries of common community dwellers across our farmlands and villages, suffering hugely from the total deactivation of local government activities for several months.”
The council added that restoring local government funding would not only re-energize communities but also strengthen the traditional institution to better support Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Either political or judicial, we wish to implore Mr. President that resolving the crisis will benefit Osun State greatly especially her rural communities and also reenergize the traditional institution across the land to continue to compliment the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government in the prompt delivery of the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’,” the statement continued.
The Ooni of Ife, Ooni Ogunwusi, who signed the statement, concluded by expressing confidence in the President’s capacity to resolve the matter:
“Sequel to Mr President’s efforts towards assigning constitutional roles to traditional rulers across the country in an attempt to foster rural development and civil engagement, we are confident in his ability to resolve whatever might have been responsible for the blockade of Osun State local government allocations. We are sincerely grateful, Mr. President.”
