A Concerned Citizen of Ifo Local Government (Matogun Area)
To the Editor, New Dawn Nigeria
I write with a heavy heart, having just read the piece on Senator Yayi and the so-called “burden of equity and border development.” Sir, with respect, in Matogun area of Ifo Local Government, we do not even know what “development” feels like—let alone “border development.”
We are Nigerians. We have voted in every civilian administration since 1999. Yet today, Matogun remains a shadow of what a community should be. There is no single paved road connecting us to neighboring towns. During the rainy season, our children cannot get to school, and pregnant women have been rushed on motorcycle tyres through muddy pits because an ambulance would never reach us.
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No hospital. When someone falls sick after 6 p.m., the choice is either to pray or to risk death on the journey to Ota or Abeokuta.
No public school worthy of the name; only dilapidated buildings where teachers sometimes don’t show up because they, too, cannot access the area.
No elderly care center. Our aged parents sit under mango trees with no support, no social safety net.
No recreational facility; no field for children to play football safely, no community hall for meetings.
Senator Yayi speaks of equity. But equity begins where government presence is completely absent. We are not asking for a city. We are asking for one clinic. One kilometre of graded, drainaged road. One primary school with a desk for every child. A small space where our elders can gather with dignity.
The border may need development, but Matogun is inside Nigeria, inside Ifo LG, and we have been invisible since 1999. Let the burden of equity land here first.
Yours in hope and frustration,
Concerned Citizen, Matogun, Ifo LGA
