Concerned Stakeholders Raise Alarm on Herders’ Activities at Unilesa, Condemn Grazing and Mining on the Campus

The actions of herders on the University of Ilesa campus in Ilesa have been characterized by stakeholders, including traditional rulers and community leaders in Ijesaland, as a calamity waiting to happen.

The participants at a town hall meeting held in response to the media story of the herders’ incursion into the university community denounced the action and called for immediate action.

The meeting was co-chaired by Asiwaju Yinka Fasuyi of Ijesaland and Oba Olufemi Agunsoye of Ijebu-jesa.

Asiwaju Fasuyi stated that the people of Ijesaland could not afford to let miners and herders use their selfish interests to sabotage the progress-minded Ijesas’ efforts to make the school rank among the first ten universities is possible short period.

The Asiwaju gave the school administration assurances that the Ijesa people would intervene and seek a peaceful solution for one to compel the miners and herders off the property.

The Ogboni of Ipole, Oba Kehinde Oyeleye, and the Odole of Ilesa, High Chief Bola Orolugbagbe, both made remarks expressing surprise at the incident. They said they had no idea that such uncivilized practices could be occurring in an academic setting.

Speaking for the people of Ijesaland, chief Mrs. Hannah Ojo accused the traditional leaders and chiefs of the area of being responsible for the unsightly and anti-social development.

She pleaded with them to take into account the students’ safety as well as the efforts made by a few distinguished Ijesas to guarantee the conversion of the long-gone Osun State College of Education into a full-fledged university.

In line with the Yeyerise suggestion, Mr Wahab Arewa of the Ilesa West Central Local Government intimated that Governor Ademola Adeleke had convened an emergency meeting earlier this month to tackle the issue and reassure the Ijesaland people of the government’s commitment.

Other speakers, using the Ibadan Explosion as an example, vehemently denounced mining and cattle farming and urged the relevant authorities to take the necessary steps to prevent the loss of life and property.

Alhaji Isiaka, a community leader from the Hausa tribe, told the gathering that the cattle are typically owned by well-known individuals in the community and pledged to contact the herdsmen to learn about their owners in order to initiate a constructive discourse with them.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Taiwo Asaolu, briefed the audience on the initial steps taken by the management to diplomatically handle the growing tension at the University of Ilesa caused by the careless mining and cattle rearing practices. He stated that the state government has been alerted to the precarious situation in an attempt to nip the security threat in the bud.
Asiwaju Yinka Fasuyi led the other attendees in briefing Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, of the meeting’s resolutions at the conclusion.

The ijamo ‘B’ Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Oluagbenga Ajiboye, on behalf of the Ilesa Area Commander, Mr. Taiwo Yusuf, reaffirmed the police’s commitment to defending citizens’ lives and property and stated that his men were prepared to carry out the government’s decision on the subject.

The meeting had in attendance traditional rulers and chiefs, representative of security agencies, civil societies representatives, government functionaries and management of the University of Ilesa