Araromi Seaside, is in Ogun and not Ondo State – Ogun Monarch

Bisi ABASS

Araromi Seaside which is being proposed as a tourism zone by the Ondo State Government, is part of Ogun Waterside Local Government and is under Ogun State and does not belong to Ondo State.

The Onirokun of Irokun Kingdom, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Kabiyesi Alayeluwa, Oba Buari Ola Balogun (Ogbelege IV), Waterside Local Government area of Ogun State, made the clarification while countering the announcement by the Ondo State Government in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde.

Olatunde had claimed that the Araromi Seaside was part of Igbokoda in the Ilaje Local Government Area of the State, and was set to be declared a Tourism Zone by the Ondo State Governor.

According to the Irokun Monarch, “For the sake of clearance, reference should be made to the geographical Boundary declaration of States along the bight of Benin, even at the time and after the Western Region, where it will be found that the entire landmark of Araromi Seaside fell into Ijebu Land and is one of the Communities of Irokun Kingdom of Ogun Waterside.

“Secondly, it should interest everyone that may be concerned to know that I have severally visited Araromi Seaside as one of the Communities under my jurisdiction, and had serious consultations with the dwellers of the land, who were scheming to move to Ondo State on the ground that they are a community that has been abandoned by the Ogun State Government.

“I frantically established it to the people there on the land, that despite their agitation for Ondo State as a people, the land they occupy cannot be transferred to Ondo State by them. That the land belongs to the Irokun Kingdom, an Ijebu community under the administration of the Awujale of Ijebu land, and is under Ogun Waterside Local Government of Ogun State.

“It is, therefore, very pertinent this time around that I am using this opportunity and medium to voice out to both Ogun Waterside Local Government and Ogun State Government that the land mentioned here, Araromi Seaside, is their land and not that of Ondo State.”

The State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, recently concluded to declare the Araromi Seaside in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the State, a Tourism Zone, in partnership with La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, to replicate the success stories of Tourism, particularly in Dubai, in the Sunshine State.