By Ayodele Oni
The Director General of the National Boundaries Commission, Alhaji Adamu Adaji, has mediated between Ekiti and Osun states over continued clashes among communities in the boundary areas between the two states.
With this development, peace is expected to return, going by the agreement reached at the meeting.
Deputy Governors of the two warring states, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, Ekiti, and Benedict Alabi, Osun, represented their states at the meeting, which was held in Osogbo.
They both expressed confidence that an amicable and lasting solution would be found to the lingering dispute.
A statement on Wednesday by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Deputy Governor of Ekiti state, Odunayo Ogunmola, said the two Deputy Governors signed a seven-point communique at the end of the one-day meeting, and appealed to the affected boundary communities to give peace a chance and refrain from actions that could lead to breakdown of law and order among them.
The Deputy Governors were joined by the Attorneys General/Commissioners of Justice of the two States, Mr. Wale Fapohunda (Ekiti) and Mr. Femi Akande (Osun), local government chairmen and traditional rulers of the affected communities.
Egbeyemi, in his keynote address, expressed concern that people living along the boundaries of the two States had been operating under very stringent conditions because they had been restrained from engaging in development projects in the disputed areas.
“While the two States are making frantic efforts to resolve the border problems, I wish to implore our people from both States to embrace peace and love and avoid provocation that can escalate tension among border dwellers.
“That they should remember that it is only in an atmosphere of peace and harmony that equitable/joint utilisation of border resources, facilities and amenities could be feasible and jointly enjoyed by the two States.”
The Osun Deputy Governor, Mr. Alabi, said the difference in the positions of the two States does not, in any way, suggest enmity, but a reflection of sound minds, and certainty of social composition.“
I have no doubt in my mind that with this latest intervention and commitment, this marks the end of brewing acrimony at the border towns of the two states, and the beginning of renewed hope, prosperity and harmonious co-existence in the area.”
Some of the flashpoints of tension along the boundaries are Okemesi/Esa Oke, Efon Alaaye/Esa Oke, Efon Alaaye/Erin Ijesa, Osan/Ila Orangun and Ogotun/Ikeji Ile.
The NBC Director General, Mr. Adaji, who was represented by the Director, Interstate Boundaries Department, Dr. Richard Orji, recalled that the agency’s last engagement on the Ekiti/Osun interstate boundary was in 2013.
Adaji noted that occasional tension arose in some sectors of the boundary because of claims and counter-claims by the affected communities of the two states assuring that the commission would leave no stone unturned in the quest for peaceful demarcation of the boundaries.
Highlights of the communique included a resolution that the fieldwork on the location of the tripartite point should commence from 2nd-7th of November, 2020 to be preceded by Joint Public enlightenment from 26th-30th October, 2020.
It was also resolved, among others, that border dwellers should continue to maintain peace and the status quo maintained pending the final resolution of the dispute.
