Oluwo of Iwo makes case for college location in hometown

By Usman Shuaibui

The Oluwo of Iwo, Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has expressed his readiness to join the league of critics of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration should the proposed federal college of education in Osun State not be located in his town.
The monarch said taking the proposed higher institution to a town other than Iwo is tantamount to betrayal of unalloyed support he had given the government since he ascended to the throne of the Oluwo in 2016.
He said he ranked top among traditional rulers in the country who publicly identified with President Buhari during what he described as his trying period, recalling how he had organized special prayer for his improved health condition in his palace while President Buhari was recovering in the UK.
The king in a press release posted by Premium Times yesterday also said that the anti-corruption policy of the government was also supported based on his conviction that the president was on a rescue mission of the country, clarifying that it is fair enough for him to protest against the government which fails to recognize and appreciate his concern for it.
“I am saying it with authority that I control the direction to which my people’s votes go during elections because my people love me with passion. They know I also love them with passion. So, they listen to me when elections matter comes.
“They demonstrated this during the 2019 elections when we delivered bloc votes for the ruling government. In other words, I can tell them to change their vote pattern, and they won’t look back. President should know that one good turn deserves another,” he said.
The traditional ruler also reaffirmed the long history of his town with progressive political parties from the First Republic era of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, to the Second Republic of the late, Bola Ige, and the Alliance for Democracy of Bisi Akande, saying there is no reason to not compensate his town’s loyalty.
“The history is there to know that Iwo is home for the progressives. During the 1983 elections, my people stuck out their neck for Chief Bola Ige and lost some of them during the clash which followed. I am calling on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Bisi Akande, Ogbeni Rauf Aeregbesola and Governor Gboyega Oyetola to ensure justice is done on this matter and give my town the federal government college,” he stated.