Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, will, tomorrow, inaugurate a building project, christened Mini Mapo Hall, built by the Ibadan South-West Local Government Traditional Council, led by Senator Rashidi Ladoja.
The hall, which cost about N135m, is to serve as the venue of the meeting of the council, under the leadership of the former governor of the state who is also the Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland, and for other purposes.
Speaking on the facility, Project Manager and member of the Council, Chief Taiwo Oyekan, who did the design of the building and supervised its construction free of charge, commended Ladoja for the vision of the project.
Oyekan, a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (FNSE) and consultant to the Federal Government and the World Bank, said the project was built largely with the savings of the traditional council members’ stipends and allowances.
On the challenges faced during on the project, the senior chief said a combination of Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and paucity of funds affected the duration of the project which foundation was laid on 28 January, 2020.
“Ladoja felt where we were holding our council meeting at Town Planning on Ring Road in a rented space was not ideal for us. He said we needed a place of our own.
“And you know he is a very intelligent man. I call him our quintessential intellectual. When you are talking to him, he is 10 steps ahead of you and so you have to be thinking fast as he is asking you questions.
“He even gave it the name mini Mapo, that we should build something that is a replica of the historic Mapo Hall. We welcomed it and all members of the council keyed into the vision.
“Initially, we didn’t have enough money to finance the project. He charged us to start it first and he asked me to be the project manager and I took it up free of charge because it is our project.
“You can see that what we have here is a mini version of Mapo Hall. If you know the history of Mapo, you will know it was a place where the administrators of Ibadan used to hold meetings and take decisions about the development of the city. They would come together and talk about progress and development of Ibadanland.
“This is exactly what we have done in Ibadan South-West Local Government Traditional Council and I guess that is part of what Ladoja was looking at.
“Mapo is an organic structure that can be replicated anywhere. And that is exactly what we have done. We have come up with a mini Mapo Hall in Ibadan South-West with some modernity into it,” he said.
Also expected at the ceremony are the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba (Dr) Lekan Balogun, members of the Olubadan-in-Council, chairmen of the 11 local government in Ibadan and other guests.
