Call it a season of royal visit. Just as Oba Akiolu of Lagoshad recently graced Chicago with his royal presence, the Lamodi of Isiwo in the Ijebu-Ode Local Government area of Ogun State, Nigeria, Oba (Engineer) Adedoyin Sikiru Salisu Fibigbade the First, paid a visit to the Windy City penultimate Monday. He spoke to the editor, Joseph Omoremi and Associate Editor, Bola Jaiyesinmi. Excerpts:
Inquirer: Why are you in Chicago?
Oba Adedoyin: I’m here to see my people in Chicago. They are well-organized and they see me as their father and I’m duty bound to come and see them anytime I had the opportunity. They are the first Isiwo indigenes to be organized and they take the development of Isiwo seriously and as a priority. They also look for the welfare of their members in Chicago.
Inquirer: Are they doing anything in particular now?
Oba Adedoyin: They have a lot of programs but first of all, they see themselves as member of one family. Inquirer: Can you be specific on one of the programs?
Oba Adedoyin: Back home, there are lots of self-help projects, which we are involved in. The resources in Nigeria cannot cater for the demands. We have to complement government effort. That is where these people have been helpful to us. For example, the federal government has given us a health center and we have only six in Ogun State with 20 local governments. The government made it mandatory that the community must be involved in the project. They have given us the building and infrastructure and we have to support the government with other things like water supply, access roads and electricity to the health center. I want my people to appreciate the effort oft the government, hence my coming to Chicago, the most organized group of them all. They are registered with the city and Cook County and they have willingly accepted to do that for me.
Inquirer: Are you exploring the opportunities in the county too just like the Oba of Lagos did?
Oba Adedoyin: We hope to have something like that. By virtue of my position as an engineer, more so a British-trained engineer and a European engineer, I have connections with lots of engineers in Europe. Not only that, I’m still the Nigerian representative for the British Institute of Civil engineers. I can use the opportunity to talk to some of these engineers in Europe to make a town the godfather of Isiwo. Definitely, that is one of the areas we are going to pursue in the nearest future.
Inquirer: You have a new governor in Ogun state. What is the expectation from him?
Oba Adedoyin: The new governor has a lot of programs. When he was going for elections, he made a lot of promises and we have to give him some time. But he has done one thing good for the community, which is going into agriculture because if you can feed yourself, you are strong enough to work, and he is trying to create some jobs in the agricultural sector. There are lots of land for farming and agricultural practice. We expect to benefit from the agricultural programs. Once you are an agricultural state, the government should assist with access roads to move the products around to other markets or in Ogun state.
Inquirer: How is your background in engineering helping Isiwo?
Oba Adedoyin: By my position and exposure, I have been involved in a lot of things and projects. For example, I was an active member of the executive council of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in the past. And I belong to other clubs like Ikoyi Club, Lagos Tennis Club and others that have given me exposure and contacts with people. Also by virtue of the projects that I had handled in the past like airport construction, dockyard and water supply. These were the reasons why my people felt that I should be the king. I felt it was a call, for service and I’m happy that during my time I’ve been able to embarked on a lot of development projects through my contacts.
Inquirer: What is your vision for the town?
Oba Adedoyin: Only God knew why he created me and when you get to a stage, it is not the material accumulation of things like that that really matter but what you can do for the community. Just like the late President J.F. Kennedy said “we should think of what we can do for our America and not what America can do for us.”
Inquirer: The people of Isiwo are everywhere in the world. Are they the only people traveling in Ogun State?
Oba Adedoyin: Not really. We are only fortunate that Isiwo is the gateway to Lagos and other major towns and cities in Nigeria. We are a few kilometres from Lagos state boundary. In those days our parents had the opportunity of being in Lagos and they were exposed to early civilization, education, and commerce. It gave them the opportunity to sponsor their education and many of them traveled abroad for the golden fleece and they have always identified themselves with theirland which is Nigeria. Their intention was mainly to acquire knowledge and wealth and plough it back to the community. And that is why as the royal father, I left all the goodies of being in Lagos and social amenities to become the king.
Inquirer: Any industry in Isiwo?
Oba Adedoyin: We have commercial services and in terms of industries we have small-scale industries like block-making.
However, in order to attract big companies to Isiwo, we need to put in place basic infrastructure like adequate water supply, electricity and a lot of things which we really don’t want to disclose are in the pipeline now.
Inquirer: Any major challenges facing the town or its surrounding?
Oba Adedoyin: Not really because Isiwo is the only major town in the area. The people are aspiring to build houses and set up small-scale industries. We are lucky to have got friendly citizens. In Nigeria, we don’t have enough resources to go round and in the near future, things will be alright. Right now, we have about three or four going into mechanized farming.
Sooner or later we would be able to have food processing industries and a sawmill because we have a lot of timber. We hope one of our sons and daughters will seize the opportunity.
Inquirer: In essence you are encouraging those who have settled down here to return home and start these companies?
Oba Adedoyin: Not only here in Chicago or U.S.A. I have been to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. I’ve been to France, Germany, Netherlands, London and here because after the fifth anniversary of my coronation, I want many progressive things to happen before the 10-year anniversary, which is about four years from now. During the first five years, we were able too have a borehole, a health center, upgrading of our police post to a police station and establishment of a post office in the town. I want the town to be expanding. We have a bank too.
Inquirer: How do you guaranteed the safety of the indigenes?
Oba Adedoyin: Isiwo as far as we are concerned is a safe. It has been my priority in the past five years. We’ve introduced a lot of things like the vigilante group and we’ve been able to upgrade the police post to a police station headed by an ASP. We are planning to provide a vehicle for the police. The police station covers about 16 towns and villages. It is not only for Isiwo but Isiwo and Itamapako.
Inquirer: So you are not affected by all these trans-border car theft?
Oba Adedoyin: They don’t have to come to Isiwo because if they do, they are going to meet their waterloo. Inquirer: How?
Oba Adedoyin: I don’t need to go beyond that but if they come they will be caught and handed over to the police.
Inquirer: But the police appear helpless?
Oba Adedoyin: We have our people fully authorized to keep the town safe and sound. The car theft and trans-border robbery does not occur in our area. There may be some minor theft but not of the huge magnitude of car robbery and killing. Armed robbers and thieves cannot come and wreck havoc in Isiwo. They used to do it in the past but nothing of such has happened in the past five years.
Inquirer: How far have you achieved your mission on this trip?
Oba Adedoyin: I have been getting responses from our people, positive ones for that matter. I’ve been well-accommodated and attended to as their father. I did not arrange this trip, they wanted to sell their town to the whole world, particularly to other residents in Chicago.
Inquirer: Any promises?
Oba Adedoyin: Oh yes. There is a lot of promises and I know and believe that they will fulfill them. One of my reasons for this trip is to come and thank them for their past efforts and contributions to the town. Inquirer: How is it being an Oba?
Oba Adedoyin: You cannot compare the time you are a free man to now that you have to cater for thousands of people. Before you become an Oba, you were working for yourself and may be for a close relationship. Now, it is an arduous task. You have to work between 18-20 hours a day but I feel grateful for offering me the opportunity.
Inquirer: What are the things you’ve see in this your trip that you will want the Nigerian government to emulate?
Oba Adedoyin: In terms of services we don’t have things like social security at the moment. It is one of the things that has to be given to us. You have all this brain drain because things like social services are missing. In terms of technology, there is no gap but in terms of social services there are lot of gaps. A computer scientist here will perform in Nigeria with the same facilities in Nigeria. But the facilities may not be available in Nigeria and the computer scientist will prefer to stay here. Access, maintenance culture is also important. Everything is managed and there is coordination.
