Leaders of Ife Community under the aegis of “Great Ife Movement ” have accused Modakeke communities of usurping the authority of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi by appointing heads of community in areas where only Ooni has the power to so do.
The group in a press conference addressed by its President, Barrister Femi Oyeyinka, added that the Modakekes further renamed some streets owned by the Ifes to Modakeke.
He described the act as provocative and charged them to desist from the inhuman behaviour which could create rancour between the two communities.
Barrister Oyeyinka who said, though the community condones lots of provocation from Modakeke indigenes, maintained, it will not stay away from exploring alternative dispute resolution rather than fanning the embers of war.
He however harps on the need for alternative dispute resolution to resolve conflict between the two towns.
According to him, “this address is not borne out of cowardice at all. To legitimate Yorubas, Ile-Ife is our own ‘Jerusalem’ or ‘Isreal’. So no war can overcome it by God’s grace. ”
“But experience has shown us that if we engage in war now and it takes up to say twenty years, we will still end it at a roundtable discussion. The lives lost will never be regained again and life is scared. The properties lost in war can even lead to untimely death of the owners.
“We hereby appeal to the war-mongers among the two communities not to feel disappointed. For accelerated progress and development at every nook and cranny of Ife land, Ifes and Modakekes need peace and justices now to reign supreme. Let us try this ADR method and see how it goes. The Almighty God will not disappoint us”.
However, President, Modakeke Progressive Union, Professor Peter Olawuni queried, “How do we usurp the Ooni’s authority. We have been living together for over a hundred years and we must manage our differences, nothing can separate us now”.
While saying, there could be no way they could usurp Ooni’s authorities, the community president argued that the Ogunsua of Modakeke was at the Ooni’s palace and acknowledged the superiority of the Ooni.
”Aside from that, “the community have decided to embrace dialogue with Ife and cautioned warmongers to be wary of their utterances in public Why lawyers of the two communities met last Wednesday to discuss the approach to resolving our several conflicts without having to go to war.
