The regent head of Ijebu Ode and co-founder of EKO Hospital, Lagos State, Dr Sunny Kuku, and the Special Assistant to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Youth Development, Pastor Okikiola Fayomi, have both urged President Bola Tinubu to help actualise the long-held dream of the creation of Ijebu State.
Kuku, who is also the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebu land and the acting Awujale, alongside Okikiola, who doubles as the National President of the Ijebu Youth Association, made the plea while addressing journalists during the 2025 International Youth Summit, Empowerment, and Award Programme.
The event, with the theme: “Youth empowerment for a new era: Catalysing the great creation of Ijebu State,” was held at Ijebu-Ode.
Represented by Dr Yemi Kuku, the renowned physician said in a statement on Sunday from the media office of the youth organisation, signed by Okikiola, that although the agitation for Ijebu State had spanned several decades, the people remained hopeful that President Tinubu would finally make it a reality.
“We have been promised in the past that we shall get it, but it all ended there. We are, however, hoping that this is our time, and I have no doubt about that.
“There is hope that we shall get it under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, who has been doing fantastically well with the management of the affairs of our nation.
“We have that assurance that the dream of having Ijebu State will be realised under this present administration by the special grace of God,” he said.
Kuku also urged the youth to serve as catalysts for excellence and to shun any acts that could jeopardize their future.
Similarly, Okikiola said that several leaders, beginning with the late Senator Abraham Adesanya, had fought for the creation of Ijebu State but failed due to disunity between Ijebu and Remo people.
He stressed that the time had come for both groups to speak with one voice to achieve their common goal.
He explained that all Ijebu and Remo youths had been sensitised and now united in their resolve not to miss the opportunity.
“We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu to please help with the creation of Ijebu State, because it remains the only province among 24 provinces created over 100 years ago that is yet to metamorphose into a state.
“So, we are appealing to our hardworking President to help correct this imbalance. It is a dream that we are quite optimistic will be a reality under President Tinubu.
“We are also appealing to the entire National Assembly to please support the bill for Ijebu State creation to come to limelight,” he said.
Okikiola noted that the youth had earlier held a rally around Ijebu-Ode to mobilise support and cooperation from all stakeholders to ensure that the dream finally came to fruition.
The Founder of Eyes Foundation Hospital, Dr Kunle Hassan, represented by Yusuf Adesanya, commended the youth group for championing empowerment and urged them to refrain from social vices.
Highlights of the event included the distribution of empowerment tools to the youth, with a call on them to embrace vocational training and pursue entrepreneurial ventures to create wealth and reduce unemployment.
Recall that former governor and senator representing Ogun East, Gbenga Daniel, recently alleged that some indigenes of the state were collaborating with outsiders to frustrate the agitation for the creation of Ijebu-Remo State out of the present Ogun State.
Daniel, who is sponsoring the bill for the new state in the National Assembly, warned that such internal sabotage could derail years of collective struggle and the dream championed by the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona.
“From what I have gathered, each geopolitical zone may not get more than one new state.
“In the South-West, we have competition from our Ibadan brothers, who are also demanding their own state. Our only advantage is that, of all the provinces created in 1923, only the Ijebu Province, which comprises nine local governments, has yet to become a state,” Daniel said.
He expressed concern that “some of our people, perhaps because of temporary benefits, are working with outsiders to sabotage this dream,” adding that, “We are short of calling them bastards.”
Daniel stressed that the proposed Ijebu-Remo State, with its capital in Ijebu land, would correct historical imbalances and accelerate regional development and political representation.
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