Wole Olanipekun Advises Ekiti Governor, Oyebanji On Areas Of Priority

By Olarewaju Falayi

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun has advised the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji on areas he should focus on as his priorities in serving the people of Ekiti State.

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The Ikere Ekiti born Senior Lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun dropped the message at his Country Home on Saturday while answering questions from pressmen who besieged him for interview after the empowerment programme which he organized to empower the people of his community.

The Ikere born philanthropist used the opportunity to call on the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji to prioritize his administration on three major areas of Infrastructure, Education and Security.

On Security, Olanipekun counselled Governor Oyebanji to strengthen the internal security in the State by uniting the people and the stakeholders and as well equipped the Amotekun Security Outfit to fortify the internal security of the State. 

Olanipekun opined that, irregardless that there are no much resources in the State, urged Governor Oyebanji to make good use of the little resources provided in the budget for the running of Amotekun Security Outfit in order to strengthen it. 

Olanipekun emphasized further that, the  Amotekun Security Outfit in Ekiti State should be streghtened and properly localized to put things right.

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On infrastructure, Olanipekun averred that the Governor of the State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji should improve on the network of roads in the State to ease the road transportation system in the State most especially for road users. 

“He said he could recall many years ago, that from Ikere Ekiti, the boundary town between Akure in Ondo State and Ikere in Ekiti State and Otun Ekiti, the boundary town linking Ekiti State to Kwara State, when the road was in a very good state only take a period of 150 minutes for it to be covered. Whereas, Ikere Ekiti to Omuo Ekiti only take 1 hour 30 minutes; while Ikere Ekiti to Itawure in Efon will take just 1 hour”. 

“What am I saying in the effect, is that, Ekiti State is so compact, that, with the little resources we have, if you manage the resources well, we will get good roads”. 

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Continuing, he told Governor Oyebanji to give Ekiti people good roads to enable the people carry out their trade effectively. 

He added, that, there was a time, her mother used to go to Otun Ekiti and she will always come back the same day. Also, that in those days, when he was still practicing in Ilorin, he would leave Ikere Ekiti any time he was in the town to Ikere Ekiti over the weekend and go back to Ilorin on Monday. 

He maintained that he would set out about 7am in the morning and will get to Ilorin before 9am and still go to court. He decried the level to which the Ekiti roads roads have now broken down. 

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On Education, he called on Governor Oyebanji to assemble all the Professors and great thinkers in Ekiti State to develop the educational sector in the State to enable Ekiti people ruled their world in Education.

He went on to describe education as the science, miracle, development, growth, involvement and discovery made by great thinkers in Ekiti State in which such cannot be seen in any other place more than we have it in Ekiti State.

Speaking further, Olanipekun said, great thinkers and Professors are men of letters. He added that in Ikere Ekiti alone, his own home town, there are 90 Professors, three of whom he knew he met for the first time.

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In the same development, Chief Wole Olanipekun, has thrown his weight behind the position being canvassed by governors that Nigeria must use the opportunity of the Constitution Amendment to get the nation fully federalised and democratised.

The legal Icon predicated the stalemate being experienced by the passage of the amendment bill in some states, saying that the governors’ insistence that the State Police and judicial autonomy should be approved for subnational, to stem the tide of insurgency, killings and kidnapping of Nigerians as a right step in the right direction. 

Olanipekun expressed displeasure that only Nigeria was resisting true federalism among the nations of the world practising democracy, describing this as an aberation and reason why Nigeria has refused to develop acceleratedly. 

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Speaking about the state of the nation, Olanipekun said; “We are having this stalemate in the Constitution Amendment because some governors expressed reservations that they will only accept the passage if State Police is approved. That is, something like state autonomy.

“I support the governors on this. Nigeria is the only country that practices democracy, where we have only one Police Formation being controlled from Abuja, and this is failing us”, he declared. 

“Let us look at our land mass from Calabar to Kaura Namoda, from Bayelsa to Borno, how can it be secured by only the federal police? Look at the size of the Southwest, can it be policed by only federal police? Even in Lagos alone, it is wrong to have only one Police Formation.

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“Let us look at London, it has London Metropolitan Police. Havard University alone has Havard University Police Department. Looking at all these, why are we different? Why are our people like this? Why are they failing to allow Nigeria to be fully federalised and  democratized? 

“Even in the legal profession, we are facing a lot of challenges that started under Gen Sanni Abacha’s era. Abacha took all the juridisdictional powers of the State High Courts and gave them to the Federal High Courts through the Decree 7 of 1994. That was the beginning of the problem we are facing today in Nigeria’s legal profession. 

“The jurisdiction of the State High Courts is subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Courts, even when the Federal High Courts were mere revenue courts. This is a jurisdictional fallacy, it can’t work, it has been failing us.

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“The governors views were clear. They are not asking for what is utopian, but what ought to be under an ideal democratic situation. So, I align myself totally with the reservations of these governors”, he concluded.

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