Date: 2018-01-14

The Ilorin Emirate Descendant Progressives Union (IEDPU), yesterday, in Ilorin, rejected the zoning of the emirate and the state to the south west by the Federal Government.

Reading its communique at the end of its 2017 National Conference held in December, the President of the union, Amb. Sheikh Uthman AbdulAzeez said the Emirate remain part and parcel of the Northern region and the North Central.

He cited the inclusion of Ilorin under Ibadan Zone of the Electricity Distribution Company (EDC), the zoning of the Emirate and the state by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) under Ibadan among others as reason for its rejection.

On the Hijab controversy involving Firdaos Amosa, the body demanded that government and all its institutions should respect the constitutional right of Muslims by allowing them appear in "our descent Islamic dressing and outfit at any public/official functions as guaranteed by the Constitution".

Other issues it complained about included the "declining standard of education in the Emirate..." and called on the government to attend to the welfare and entitlement of both teaching and non-teaching staff in the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the Emirate and the state as a whole.

The Federal Government, it noted, should replace the Federal Government College of Education Okene relocated to Kogi after states creation because Kwara is about the only state in the federation without a Federal College of Education.

On issue of taxes, it lauded the "impressive" effort of the government which is yielding result for the state and called on the state Government to improve service delivery particularly the provision of infrastructural facilities in the Emirate and in the state in general while pursuing it with human face as the current approach is biting very hard on our people.

It said it was happy that despite the palpable tension during the recently conducted council poll, no serious violence across the emirate was recorded. The group urged the government to do more in the area of delivery of dividends of democracy to the people particularly, security of lives and property.