Princess Azeezat Folashade Abeo Nurudeen, the factional Iyaloja General of Oyo State was our guest on our Radio Show, Parrot Xtra/Ayekooto anchored by Olayinka Agboola on Splash 105.5FM recently. During the interaction, she spoke about the controversies trailing her appointment and the roles she is playing to unify market leaders in the state among many salient issues… Excerpts:
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Princess Azeezat Folashade Abeo Nurudeen, the Iyaloja General of Oyo State. I attended Durbar Grammar School, Oyo town before proceeding to the Polytechnic Ibadan, Eruwa campus for my National Diploma in Mass Communication and later returned to the same Polytechnic Ibadan for my Higher National Diploma. While in secondary school, I always used my pocket money to trade and that was how I started my business journey. My biological father was a retired secondary school principal and I must not fail to mention the impact of the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Can you tell us how you got to become the Iyaloja General of Oyo State?
Five year ago, I never dreamt of becoming the Iyaloja General and it was never in my plan. I was in Berlin, Germany when I received a phone call from the late Alaafin that there is a need for a woman from Oyo town to fill in the post of Iyaloja General of Oyo state. Alaafin told me that it was rare before Ibadan people could offer such a gift to Oyo town that it was brought purposely for the unity of the state. I went with three names to the Alaafin as suggestion…and the names included those of Alhaja Muti Ayo, Iya Cooler and one other person to be considered for the position.
When the lot fell on me eventually to occupy the position, I felt reluctant because I was not ready because of my businesses and other things I am engaged with that requires frequent travelling.
During that period, I went to the office of the Governor, Commissioner for Trade and Commerce, Local Government and the Permanent Secretary to ask for confirmation if the position had been occupied before and the reply I got was that there was never an Iyaloja General in the state before.
(Cuts in…) For record purposes, Mrs. Kola Daisi was the former Iyaloja for men and women in the state before her demise…
Yes. But in addition, I visited the late Aseyin and the Olubadan to seek their support and afterwards the Alaafin called for a stakeholders’ meeting in order to endorse my candidature. After the formal endorsement, I was presented with an official letter as the Iyaloja General of Oyo state.
However, I later heard that some people have presented Alhaja Saratu Aduke Konibaje as the factional Iyaloja General of Oyo State while we were formally waiting for approval from the appropriate quarters and that was what birthed the crisis. Even Governor Seyi Makinde has once said that the market leaders in the state have no structure.
What do you think can be done to address the issue at hand?
What I met on ground was more than a plague, there was no unity and this affected our operations. I have been championing the unity of all market clusters and leaders in the state and presently we have a working structure.
Moreover, I have visited some places in order to familiarize with the grassroots and to intimate them of what we are doing.
Can you tell us some of your achievements since you came on board?
We now have a structure and this will enable the government to support our operations and enable us perform our responsibilities to the government also.
We now pay our dues to the government, perform our social and economic functions to the government and immediate environment.
In addition, on the part of our women liberation moves, we have an empowerment program for all clusters and market women in the state. We give palliatives to support them and this we have been doing consistently.
It is worthy of note that we now have a comprehensive data/record of market men and women in the state and we are currently working on it to update it. The market traders associations have a responsibility to be accountable to the government by paying their taxes and this will further enable the government also to perform its obligations to us.
You were talking about tax returns the other time. What exactly did you mean?
In developed countries around the world, they live on tax returns and the various manufacturing companies perform corporate social responsibilities by giving dividends to business people. Oyo state is one of the major customers of Dangote, BUA, Guinness, Nigerian Breweries and other notable ones. If we decide to shut our doors against them for one day, it will be difficult for them. It is because our houses are not in order and we are not united – that is why they have failed to perform their corporate responsibilities and give us our tax returns.
What advice do you have for market women and leaders in the state?
There is no need for crises among us. Let us work together for the progress of the state. In addition, there is a need for us to do the necessary things by engaging the relevant stakeholders to end street trading.
