••• Demands accountability from Kwara South stakeholders
The Omu-Aran–born legal practitioner has once again lent his voice to the disturbing and continuous closure and threatened closure of critical educational institutions in Kwara South.
When the Oke Ode School of Nursing was shut down and we raised an alarm, a prominent and highly respected traditional ruler in Kwara South dismissed those concerns, cautioning that insecurity in the region should not be politicised. Today, events have proven otherwise. The same insecurity has now spread to Oro in Irepodun Local Government, where credible reports indicate that the College of Education, Oro, is on the verge of closure.
The painful shutdown of the Oke Ode School of Nursing and the persistent neglect and now looming threat facing the College of Education, Oro, reveal a troubling and undeniable pattern of abandonment in Kwara South.
These are not isolated occurrences. They are symptoms of a deeper and more dangerous problem: political silence, weak advocacy, and a culture of fear among those who ought to speak boldly and act decisively in defence of the people.
Kwara South must not continue to accept marginalisation as fate or destiny. When vital institutions are allowed to decay, relocate, or shut down without resistance, the future of our youth is deliberately compromised. Silence in the face of injustice is not wisdom. It is cowardice.
Our people deserve leaders and stakeholders who will confront these injustices head-on, demand accountability, and insist on fairness and equitable development. Kwara South must rise, speak, and act. Anything short of this is a betrayal of our collective future.
When opposition voices are weakened, decimated, or silenced; when leaders and followers all eat comfortably from the same pot of soup, who then stands up for the people when things begin to go wrong?
This leads to the most important questions:
Who exactly is expected to speak out?
Who is mandated to defend the interests of Kwara South?
And why have those entrusted with this responsibility chosen silence?
I leave these questions to the conscience and reasoning of all well-meaning sons and daughters of Kwara South.
Amofin Titilope Akogun
President, BTA Foundation
Aspirant, Federal House of Representatives – Amofin Akogun