Kunle Adelabu
-Our administration’s span is unprecedented – Chairman
The Planning Committee of the Igbogbo Day Celebration has said that the major focus of the annual event this year is to lay the foundation for the Igbogbo Ultra – Modern Civic Centre at its proposed site at Offin/Oreta junction, Igbogbo.
Mr Balogun Titlope, Chairman, Igbogbo Day Planning Committee 2021-2024 and Mr Sulaimon Ayokunle, Treasurer of the committee, informed THE IMPACT at the Iwure ceremony which signaled the official commencement of the celebration at the Adeboruwa palace on Thursday.
The Chairman, who described his administration’s tenure as unprecedented in the annals of Igbogbo Day Committee, also spoke about the ground breaking ceremony of the civic centre, popularly called Igbogbo Town Hall.
“My administration is unprecedented because this will be the first time that a committee will be allowed to run the affairs of Igbogbo Day for four years. It has always been two years and we have been able to make some giant strides.
“We have a lot of programmes as usual; the usual, conventional programmes. However, there is a particular programme that we are going to run this year, which is the foundation laying of the Igbogbo Civic Centre.
“We are going to perform the ground breaking ceremony this Saturday, November 23. The foundation laying ceremony will be held at our permanent site which is going to be on three acres.
“So, this year’s Igbogbo Day fundraising is going to be gear towards that. This will be the beginning of having our own hall and large compound where Igbogbo Day will held every year, once it is completed. We have been celebrating the Igbobo Day for the past 36 years, yet we don’t have a site.
“So, all the funds that we are going to raise this year will be going into the project”, Mr Balogun said.
While thanking the entirety of Igbogbo residents, Mr Balogun also enjoined them to cooperate and support his committee in raising substantial funds for the project.
“Well, I just want to encourage Igbogbo people and thank them, because when you have embarked on a race of four laps and people have joined and supported you in it, so, it is necessary to encourage them further this time around. This is the last lap of this committee, and we are appealing for their support.
“They should come out and encourage us, and donate generously towards the success of the foundation laying ceremony of the Igbogbo Civic Centre and its completion.
“I want to use this opportunity to appreciate and thank the HRM, Oba (Barr.) Orimadegun Kasali, the Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, the Adeboruwa – in – Council and the Chairman and executives of Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA, because they have been supporting us tremendously.
“They made our job to be easier than expected. I, again, extend my sincere appreciation to the entire Igbogbo people who have always been at our back and accept all our ideas to be able to have a successful Igbogbo Day celebrations”, he said.
The Treasurer of the planning committee, Alhaji Sulaimon Ayokunle, also emphasized the importance of the foundation laying ceremony.
“The foundation laying will come up on Saturday 23 of November, 2024 , because Igbogbo has been yawning for a very befitting civic centre that is popularly known as town hall, and we are happy that it is going to take place in our own tenure as the planning committee of Igbogbo Day. However, the project is the responsibility of Igbogbo Development Association, that we are an offspring of and it is going to be a very big thing for us.
“It is a big achievement because we are involved in the project with the IDEA. This foundation laying ceremony is in conjunction with the Igbogbo Development Association”, he said.
Alhaji Ayokunle also appealed for the support and cooperation of the entire Igbogbo people, as well as that of friends of Igbogbo, in achieving the objective of having a civic centre.
“We would welcome everybody to the foundation laying ceremony. We encourage all sons, daughters and even visitors to partner with us in the construction of this town hall , and makes our civic center a reality within the shortest possible time, because it would be a thing of joy to complete it even before the schedule time”, he said.
