BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN—THE Oyo State House of Assembly yesterday passed a motion for the erection of the statue of the late sage and former Premier of Western Region, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo  in front of the Government House.

The House led by the Speaker, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, condemned the destruction and replacement of the former statue of the sage with that of an unknown soldier.

Removal of the statue of the foremost Yoruba leader  during the administration of Rashidi Ladoja, was condemned by Nigerians especially, residents of the state and the South West.

The statue was built by former Governor Lamidi Adesina in 1999.

Instead of rebuilding it, the immediate past Governor of the state, Chief Alao-Akala of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, replaced it with that of an unknown soldier.

At the sitting of the House yesterday, the Speaker and her deputy, Mr. Babatunde Olaniyan moved the motion saying “Awolowo was one of the founding nationalists whose contribution to development of the zone could not be forgotten in a hurry. Awolowo was one of the founding nationalists who fought for the country’s independence in 1960. He lived a life worthy of emulation, discipline, integrity, sound administration and dedication to duty”.

The House urged the government to move the statue of the “Unknown Soldier” to Idi Molly, in Dugbe area of the city.
To prevent another administration from pulling it down, a member of the House, Akolade Olagunju, suggested that the House should affirm the decision by giving a permanent protection to the statue.

According to him, this became imperative to avoid waste of money and energy erecting the statue.

He argued that there were instances in the past when the statues would be erected by government and another government would pull it down, saying “this will only be a waste of time and resources especially for tax payers.”

Contributing, Ibrahim Bolomope, noted that there was no way Nigerian politics would be complete if the name of the late sage was not mentioned, stressing that that the statue should be replaced with a modern one.

Similarly, the Speaker said, “the first premier of the western region contributed immensely to the growth and development of the entire Yorubaland and Nigeria as a whole. Unless, we as a people learn to give honour to who it is due, we may not be able to inculcate disciplined and dedicated life pattern as well as patriotism into our younger generation”