Sequel to the rejection of the proposed Kwara Smart City by stakeholders in Ilorin South, the Ifelodun Youth Development Association, IfYDA. has urged the Kwara State Government to consider Ifelodun LGA for the proposed project.
IfYDA commends Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led government’s ingenuity on the Smart City initiative aimed at upgrading, expanding and maintaining infrastructure in the state.
The group says having such a massive developmental project delivered by the state government will not only be a historic milestone, but also put Kwara at par with its contemporaries doing excellently in infrastructural upgrading.
The group’s spokesperson, Mr Garba Ibraheem, in a statement on Sunday, urged the government to bring the project to Ifelodun local government area, adding that it is capable and ready to provide the needed land.
The statement reads: “We commend the Kwara State Government led by His Excellency, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, for its ingenuity in conceiving the idea of the Smart City aimed at upgrading infrastructure in Kwara State.
“There is a saying that goes thus: We sell gold to those who know the value. We, the people of Ifelodun, are not oblivious to the benefits of the Smart City projects, and we want to appeal to the government to relocate it to Ifelodun as we don’t rejected development here.
“Ifelodun Local Government is one of the largest local government areas in Kwara State by landmass and can provide the requisite human capital for the sustainability of the Smart City project.
“Ifelodun location will be right on the path of the new standard gauge railway from Lagos to Abuja, and there is ample land for an airport. Guaranteed electricity through the Ganmo mega substation is a plus for the project.
“Ifelodun has KAM wire, ARMTI, NCAM, and the Nigeria Sugar Institute, and has also been chosen to host one of the six National Mega Solar farms in Nigeria. In a nutshell, Ifelodun LGA can accommodate the Smart City.
“We therefore urge the state government to bring the Smart City project to Ifelodun local government for the development of Kwara State.”
Credible News reports that last week, 23 communities in the Ilorin South local government rejected plans by the state government to acquire their lands for the Smart City project.
Specifically, the communities in Akanbi Ward 1 and 2 had claimed that they received a letter dated March 1st this year notifying them of government’s intention to revoke/acquire the land for public use.
Chairman of Akanbi Ward 1 and 2, Azeez Omolola said that “the people of the 23 villages at home and abroad are expressing and registering our bitter feeling, sadness and deep sorrow over the plan by the state government to acquire/revoke our land being used for Farming for the establishment of Ilorin Smart City project when hunger is ravaging the people.”
Omolola declared the planned revocation/acquisition of “our land would mean sacking our people from their farmlands thus leading to acute and perpetual hunger.”
He urged the state government to “suspend immediately all plans to forcibly revoke/acquire our land for private use under the guise of public interest; constitute a panel of inquiry to look into what had led to the decision that completely left us in a matter that borders on our lives; examine all alternative ways that avoid destruction and grabbing of all our communities ancestral land, forests, and farmlands.”
Credible News.ng
