From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
A Civil Society Organisation, The Osun Masterminds (TOM), has rejected the relocation of Ido-Osun airport by Governor Ademola Adeleke and has called on him to explain the choice of his hometown, Ede, in Osun State.
Similarly, Kunle Adegoke SAN said the claim that the airport land in Ido-Osun was earmarked for an Air Force base is incorrect, stating that the Nigerian Air Force initially considered the location but later rejected it because it is not strategic to have an Air Force base situated beside an airport. He added that the base is now situated in Osogbo, near the Osun State University (Uniosun).
Additionally, TOM described as a “lie” the claim that Ido-Osun airport has been allocated for the Air Force base, clarifying that the Air Force base has been sited in Osogbo and was never intended to be located at Ido-Osun, as claimed by the government.
The Executive Director of TOM, Prof Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, who spoke at a monthly state-of-the-state address in Osogbo over the weekend, asked whether the government of Adeleke has probed the purported spending of N3.5 billion on the airport by the government of Rauf Aregbesola, as claimed by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information in the state.
“We are curious to know how the Osun State Government came about the choice of Ede as the host community for their proposed airport. Was there any form of stakeholder engagement to forestall a crisis that such a decision could lead to? Does the choice of Ede, without proper consultation, not further lend credence to accusations of nepotism that a lot of stakeholders have earlier accused the Osun State Government of?”
On the shooting of park manager Nurudeen Alowonle by the police, TOM condemned the action of the police, wondering why a suspect would be shot inside a police cell.
However, the group also faulted the manner in which the state government mounted pressure on the Nigeria Police Force, stating, “Where a person is accused of a crime, government must allow the law run its course. The Nigeria Police Force is the only security agency saddled with the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting crime, and government cannot be seen to be interfering with that statutory responsibility of the Police,” TOM added.