Cavista Holdings Ltd, (owners of Agbeyewa) land grabbing accusation by Odo Oro community Ikole Ekiti LGA takes another twist…
At about 8:05am today, 26th Nov 2024, Alhaji Dauda Lawal (ADL) took to engage Mr Abiodun Borisade on Twitter X, claiming: “Until your business reaches a level of undeniable success, where people can’t stop talking about you, you won’t command the respect you deserve.” Adl @abiodunborisade.
Mr Borisade’s response simply centred on a request that the petition submitted by the host community to the company be acclaimed right or wrong by Alhaji Dauda Lawal, the spokesperson for Cavista.
To all amusement, ADL switched to a political blackmail strategy which started by his invoking the name of a well respected Ekiti politician by name Engr Kayode Ojo.
ADL wrote:”Be a gentleman like me, too. Ask Oga Kayode Ojo, I am one of his closest friends ever. I love everyone working to make Ekiti great. Cavista Holding invested over 5 billion Naira to revatilise Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort into a world-class hospitality arena. We have also cultivated the largest cassava farm in Nigeria today. We have employed close to 500 people in all our businesses in Ekiti. We have distributed over 200 laptops in the last one year. We are doing many more. Yet, my Chairman, John Olajide, is not a politician. Why can’t you support what this man is doing to reinvigorate investment opportunities in Ekiti.
The 5,100 hectares of land we are using was well allocated to us by the state government. We paid so much to get the land and the CofO. If you don’t mind, let me take you down to the farm to see things for yourself. We are not in Ekiti to play. We are for the good of everyone.”
Mr Borisade’s response again was as follow: You have spoken well my brother, though I’m honestly amused how the name, #Engr Kayode Ojo is a factor in this matter of dispute over land acquisition, trespassing etc as it merits your employer Cavista Holdings?I’m merely an observer in affairs about Ekiti, I came across a petition that merits highlighting cognisant of how “Big Corporations” attempt to bully host communities (Niger Delta case studies abundant).
Now, you have highlighted how Cavista is investing heavily in Ekiti, that’s good and commendable, but not withstanding, Law & Order must be paramount, equity and equality must also be overriding factors in our dealings. I’m chuffed you didn’t deny the existence of the petition as presented, my professional advise is in two folds…
1. Seek alternative dispute resolution before the matter gets to courts.
2. Reach out to your professional colleagues in order that sensationalism is removed from whatever content your outfit wishes to push. An unacceptable narrative your people attempted to push was that you are providing security for community through your economic activities, that’s story for the dogs, are you in there for charity? The world is fast moving, people know the implications of seizing their land perpetually for another’s generation oh.
Ultimately, ADL’s rigmarole of an explanation ended with him presenting matters that “Ekiti doesn’t want development” etc…Below is his verbatim account of the land debanchle between the company and the Odo Oro community of Ikole LGA Ekiti State:
“The land under dispute has been acquired since 2008 and has been gazetted as Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones. That is the zones where we are operating. If the community has any case at hand, the best place for them is to petition the government and not us that paid heavily to the government to farm on the land.
We have been engaging with the community since 2021, but we are worried about the level of their antagonistic tendencies against our investment. Ekiti doesn’t want development. How many private businesses do we have in Ekiti. Our land system is the poorest in Nigeria. That forest in question has been there for years without being used for anything. Our people should allow for peaceful development.”
In closing the discussion, Mr Borisade wrote:It is now that you have answered my question with a somewhat reasonable response as expected of a company’s spokesperson, not the politicking you first did.đŸ˜‚.Anyway, good luck to both sides, as Ekiti stands to benefit both sides I believe. Cheers.
