With regard to a quit notice given to the management of Boripe North LCDA by the owner of a building (Alhaji Kadiri) being used as Secretariat by the Authority of the Local Council, the action taken by the Landlord was nothing but shameful and not in conformity with acceptable Yoruba traditional standard behavioural practice.
By findings, it was obviously uncovered that initially, negotiation to release this property for the use of government officials was entered into between the leadership of Iree Progressive Association and the Landlord.
Mind you, it is a common knowledge that before Iree community was privileged to have this LCDA situated at Iree township, stiff competition was being experienced amongst the communities that make up the Council Area, in which Iree town is one of them.
Consequently, the agitation and eagerness by the individual community to get this LCDA for it’s own town had influenced well to do people from each community to donate property freely for the take off of the Local Council, if it were to be located within their community.
That’s the first basis upon which this property was released by Alhaji Kadiri to the leadership of Iree Progressive Association.
In this light, it is crystal clear that the issue of whether the building would be offered for rentage or not didn’t arise at all. It was in the absence of those who negotiated for this property in the first instance that the owner began to engage with Council Authority on rentage.
Then, the agreement reached between the Authority and the Landlord was that, one million naira (#1,000,000) shall be paid annually to him, of which one million naira was paid between 2018/2019 as rent, while another seven hundred thousand naira was also paid between 2019/2020. Meanwhile, the Local Council Authority wasn’t aware there was no such arrangement before securing the building for government use.
Without mincing word, at inception, we have to understand that all the buildings used for Osun LCDAs created across the state were known to have been donated free of charge by the indigenous people, before some Councils started building their own.
But in the case here, we paid annually….Only that the hugely narrative began few months after the expiration of tenure of the immediate past political office holders at the LGs and LCDAs across the state, when people with statutory obligation to foot the bill had not been put in place at the LG level.
To our amazement, when the leadership of Iree Progressive Association heard that the Landlord wanted to take such action, they summoned him to a roundtable meeting, telling him that his property was taken for use by the Iree community people, not the Council Authority. And when offering it for rent wanted to be effected, he would have openly entered into negotiation with Iree Progressive Association which handed over this property to the management of the Local Council. That’s the position of Iree community leaders few days ago.
On this premise, it has become a known fact that the previous years’ payments made by the Council Authority on this rent are strange to the community leaders, for it doesn’t support the circumstance which warranted the release of the property for use in the beginning.
Aside these explicit explanations, at first, it is really a dent on the image of Iree Community to see an acclaimed son of the soil choosing to bring down the town, in the name of claiming rents from the Council Authority. If he doesn’t know, we have to tell him; intention to bring the activities of the Local Council to a halt is the same as demeaning the entire Iree community. It’s absolute madness!
In simple term, this shameless Landlord could have taken a queue from others who donated their apartments freely for the formation of LCDAs across the state for the benefits of their communities. He ought to have understood that these donors have made good history, and their golden footpath will for ever be indelible for upcoming generations to reap its benefit.
To crown it all, the action taken by Alhaji Kadiri, owner of the apartments being used as Boripe North LCDA Secretariat, by sending a quit notice to the Authority of the Local Council, as a result of his claim that he has been owed some months rent arrears, is disgraceful, shameful, irrational and strange to acceptable Yoruba ethical practice. And if he has any right claim, we enjoin him to chanel it to the leadership of Iree Progressive Association which negotiated the occupancy of the said property with him initially.
Beside, hiding under the allegation that the council environment is being misused was quite unfortunate. It was nothing but outright lies, as the council has always ensure the cleanliness of the temporary secretariat from time to time.
