The Ira Descendants Union (IDU) in Kwara state has said the people of the area has concluded arrangement to immortalise the late Nigerian international football star, Rashidi Yekini who was an indigene of the area.
Speaking during the Ira summit held at Ahmadu Bello stadium Gymnasium, Kaduna at the weekend, the chairman of IDU, Kaduna branch, Yunus Abdulwaheed Oyeleke remarked that it was unfortunate that the soccer legend was not celebrated by his people when he was alive.
“Infact, it was Ibadan people that celebrated Yekini but we his people never saw the good in him (Yekini) until after his demise.”
Oyeleke noted that Yekini was not only a national pride but international figure known everywhere, saying, “It was after he was no more that it dawn on us that we have really missed a son of the soil.
According to him, it was for this reason that “We will institutionalise his name by naming some important places in the town after the soccer legend.
“And also try to develop sports in the town as a way of remembering the footballer as well as identifying young talents that will continue to uplift the name of our town,” he remarked.
On the summit, he said he said it was intended to draw the attention of people of Ira to go back home and develop the town.
“About 70 percent of the people of the area live outside the town. But with the recent court judgment which gave us the ownership a vast land about 270 hectares after four decades of legal tussle, we want our elites, market men and women to brainstorm and think on how we can develop this untouched and untapped land.
In addition, he said, “We have the richest cashew in South Western Nigeria and abundant, Kolanuts, cassava and yam,” he stressed.