For Kwara indigenes, residents and callers who are very familiar with the state, the first port of call when entering the state from Nigeria's South-West is known as Eyenkorin which when translated reads 'bird is singing'. But not many know the compelling story behind the tag. BIOLA AZEEZ writes on the circumstances which gave birth to such appellation.Eyenkorin, a fast growing commercial and residential environment, is on the outskirts of the state capital, located in Asa Local Government Area.The settlement, which is about the first major one that welcomes travellers and vehicles coming from the Southern part of the country to the state capital, has a big roundabout with different roads connecting villages and other areas.Interestingly, Eyenkorin is a rather new name given to the community as the old name used to be 'Eyensunkun', translated for convenience to mean 'bird is crying'. The name change was said to have been done in the 1990s.Various reasons have been given for the emergence of the new name..Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, two members of the union of transporters at Eyenkorin Motor Park, Mr. Abdulazeez Eleminla and Mr. Abdulrahim Olorunda said there used to be many cases of road crashes at the Eyenkorin major roundabout resulting in the loss of lives and property. These transporters, who said the construction of the roundabout was effected about 13 years ago during the administration of Dr. Bukola Saraki as governor of Kwara State and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria's president, added that the project helped to reduce the occurrence of road accidents in the area.Passengers travelling to such places as Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Minna, Bida, Mokwa, Ibadan, and Lagos usually boarded buses to their destinations from Eyenkorin.'We have witnessed many occasions that heavy vehicles veered off into residential houses situated along the road killing people and destroying property. There were so many of such bad happenings. When we noticed these negative happenings, we decided to change the name of the community', he said.Some people in the Yoruba speaking and agrarian community also gave another reason behind the name change, saying the old name was not befitting of a safe and modern environment.'As development and civilisation got into the community, the leaders saw the need to change the name from Eyensunkun to Eyenkorin, probably because the name inspired negative image and sounded unbecoming in a modern society,' Mr. Abdulazeez said.However, the community leader of Eyenkorin, Mallam Abdulwahid Raji, gave reasons behind the name change.'I am the sixth Baale of Eyenkorin community. Mohammad Raji Ayinla was the fifth Baale. There used to be many birds flocking in this community because there were many trees. It was so serious that people from near and far referred to this place as the community where birds cried. As such, the community was tagged Eyensunkun.'So, when my predecessor, Mohammad Raji, got on the throne, he said he would not want the community to continue bearing such ugly name and wanted a change. Many names were suggested. These included Kajola and Temidire. It was until the entire community came together to agree on the name Eyenkorin that it became generally accepted. The leaders in the community went to meet with the Emir of Ilorin to table their displeasure and complaint about the unfriendly name of the community, saying that a place noted for cries of birds portends horror and sadness.'That was when Eyenkorin was seen to be a suitable name and was agreed upon by all members of the community to the extent that when any and every important personality or group visits the state or Ilorin Emirate in particular, the hosts see off their guests to Eyenkorin.'It is important to note here that all prayers offered to God at this settlement get answered by God as all surrounding towns and villages scramble to be recognised as Eyenkorin. It's God's doing and there's nothing else to it,' he said.Talking on the version which attributed the name change of Eyenkorin to the usually high rate of auto crashes in the area in the past, he noted that the community is located at the entry point of the state capital, thereby necessitating many crashes.He said the crashes were due to the recklessness of drivers of heavy vehicles that majorly plied the only road entering the state capital, carrying goods and passengers from the Southern part of the country to Ilorin and to the northern part of the country.'The road was not extended as it is now. It was narrow. And in a bid to overtake each other, both the long and small vehicles usually got involved in accidents. But since the express road was constructed on the other side away from the old road and with a big roundabout, the rate of accidents has reduced from what it used to be in the past. Many of these vehicles do not use the old road any longer. But it's not because of the rate of accidents that necessitated the name change,' he said.The community leader, who ascended the throne some seven years ago also discussed on the development of the mainly agrarian community of Eyenkorin, saying that the area would attract more investors and people when there are basic amenities.He said the people are mostly farmers dealing in cassava, yam, vegetable and pepper cultivation, adding that the market in the community is renowned for such farm produce at affordable prices.'We are in need of many development projects for the community from both the state and the federal government. We will continue to appeal to the government until they come to our rescue. We have suffered a lot resulting from lack of potable water and electricity. If not for few houses blessed with wells and boreholes which provide water for use for some people, many people would have left for other places. The two boreholes provided by the government are spoilt. The one beside the road near this palace has been out of use for over 15 years and another one located in the market for the use of the entire community has stopped functioning for over a year.'A visit to the market would also tell you that we need urgent government attention as there is no refuse disposal system there. This can lead to epidemic. Education is very essential. The government has just provided a secondary school for the community. We also ask for more support from the government because our primary school only has two classes. We tasked ourselves to maintain and do some development work there. We are not expecting government or political office seekers to give us money. It is the future development of our community that we want.'Our community hospital has been there but not completed and the community is large and fast growing. In medical emergency situations at night, many lives have been lost,' he said.He commended the government for bringing a judicial court to the area but lamented that the community lacked all the necessities that would make it function appropriately, just as he insisted that it is disturbing that things are the way they are.'The police station located here is small. We raised funds to roof one of the government buildings erected in the area, but a windstorm blew it off some 20 years ago. However, the population of the area is fast increasing as we have such communities like Apata, Alagbado, Olorunda, Araromi, Budo Oke and Passa under Eyenkorin and with only one police station serving all these communities', he said.The community leader, who said the people are aware of the lean resources of government, but called on all stakeholders to help in the transformation of the area.
Click here to read full news..
