Igboho in the Shadows: A Wake-Up Call to the Elite to Save Our Heritage from Economic and Educational Stagnation

 

Igboho is a town steeped in profound historical significance, once serving as a sanctuary and the capital of the old Oyo Empire. It is a town of warriors, thinkers, and resilient people. Yet, to visit Igboho today is to witness a heartbreaking paradox: a town with a glorious past but a rapidly stagnating present. 

While neighboring communities in the Oke-Ogun region are aggressively climbing the ladder of modern development, Igboho seems to be moving in reverse. This is no longer a time for quiet murmurs in living rooms; it is time to sound the alarm. We are facing an existential threat to our local economy, our youth development, and our collective dignity. 

It is time for the elites of Igboho—the professors, business moguls, legal luminaries, top civil servants, and influential diaspora—to rise up and save the town.

The Educational Deficit: Why Igboho Needs a Higher Institution Now

Education is the engine of any modern local economy. Yet, in 2026, Igboho remains trapped at the secondary school level. Look around us: Saki boasts of a thriving Polytechnic and other institutions; Iseyin has successfully secured a LAUTECH campus; Kisi has existing structures and is actively proposing more. 

Why is Igboho the exception? 

A higher institution is not just about academics; it is the ultimate economic catalyst for any grassroots community. The absence of a university, polytechnic, or college of education in Igboho is directly responsible for our stunted economic growth. 

The Ripple Effect: When a town has a higher institution, it attracts thousands of students and staff. This influx creates an automatic housing boom for local landlords, massive patronage for market women, and daily income for transport workers. 

The Banking Void: We constantly complain about the lack of major commercial banks in Igboho. But banks follow the money. Without a student population paying tuition, lecturers receiving salaries, and the daily commerce that a campus brings, commercial banks will continue to look past Igboho. 

To the elites of Igboho: we cannot continue to export our brightest minds to other towns while our own local economy starves. We must leverage our political capital and communal wealth to advocate for, or privately establish, a higher institution in Igboho. 

The Power Crisis: Over Two Years in Total Darkness

If the lack of a higher institution is a slow economic poison, the epileptic power supply is an immediate chokehold. 

I recently spent almost three weeks in Igboho without a single trace of electricity. But this is not a three-week problem; it is a tragedy that has spanned more than two years. A town that has been disconnected from the national grid for over 24 months is a town that has been functionally cut off from modern Nigeria. 

The most frustrating part of this darkness is the deafening silence of leadership. The citizens are left in a state of agonizing confusion. Who do we hold accountable? Is it the Local Government Chairman whose primary duty is the welfare of his people? 

* Is it the community leaders who are supposed to be our vocal advocates? 

* Is it the State Government in Ibadan, or the Federal Government in Abuja? 

Instead of answers, the town is repeatedly subjected to the insult of empty political promises. Politicians swoop in during election cycles, armed with rehearsed speeches and campaign souvenirs, promising light where there is darkness. Yet, the moment the ballot boxes are sealed, Igboho is forgotten once again. Small businesses—welders, tailors, barbers, and cold-room owners—are folding up because the cost of running fuel generators has completely wiped out their profit margins. 

A Call to Action for the Igboho Elite

A town does not develop by waiting for politicians to suddenly develop a conscience. A town develops when its elites draw a line in the sand and demand what is rightfully theirs. 

To the sons and daughters of Igboho who have found success across Nigeria and the globe: your individual successes, while highly commendable, mean very little if your hometown is returning to the dark ages. It is time to form a united, non-partisan pressure group. 

Here is the Blueprint for Intervention:

1. Demand Accountability on Electricity: The elites must pool resources to hire legal and technical experts to confront the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and the government. If transformers are the issue, we must know. If it is a grid disconnection, we must find out why and force a resolution. We must stop asking questions into the void and start demanding answers from the authorities.

2. Lobby for an Institution: Use your connections in the State and Federal Ministries of Education. Advocate relentlessly. Alternatively, successful Igboho indigenes can form a consortium to establish a world-class private college or polytechnic that will put the town back on the map.

3. Hold Politicians to the Fire: The era of giving free votes to politicians who offer nothing in return must end. The elites must guide the grassroots, ensuring that any political candidate seeking Igboho's massive voting bloc signs a binding, actionable pact regarding electricity and educational development.

Conclusion

We cannot afford to watch in silence as Saki, Iseyin, and Kisi move forward while Igboho goes backward. We have the brains, we have the numbers, and we have the heritage. What we lack is the coordinated will to fight for our town. 

The shadows are getting longer, but the night has not fully fallen. Igboho elites, the time to intervene is now. Let history record that when the town was on the brink of economic and infrastructural collapse, her greatest minds returned home to turn the lights back on.

David Alani Ige (The Scribe) 

Publisher, Ayekooto Media

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David Alani Ige (The Scribe)

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Ayekooto Media

David Alani Ige is a seasoned journalist, strategic analyst, and the visionary publisher of Ayekooto Media. With a relentless commitment to archiving Nigeria's political realities and delivering the unvarnished truth, he has built a formidable platform for deep-dive reportage and editorial excellence. He is widely known by his readers and peers as "The Scribe".