Engineer Abiodun Kehinde Ahmadu, the Chairman of Ahmad Group, a multifaceted company that introduced the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to the Oyo State government during the administration of late Lam Adesina and the developer of the Ibadan Central abattoir speaks with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE on the vision of the project, causes of butcher’s resistance and other issues.

How do you think the Ibadan Central Abattoir project will impact Oyo State?

That place is more or less an economic hub and the advantage of the hub is the centrality because it produces volume which now gives big scale for spin offs. Let me take the issue of waste; if you have an abattoir that is slaughtering 50 herds of cattle, the waste you get there is not of economic value because it is not big enough for you to invest on, what you will do is just dispose the waste. If you know the volume of waste from 500 to 600 and above herds of cattle, it is a business on its own where you can make millions of naira. And you can transfer that to the bones, hides and skin and even the blood, it is a waste that is of high economic value.  A slaughtered cattle gives an average of four gallons of blood, that is 16 litres. Multiply that by 500 to 600 cattle; you can imagine the volume of blood and the money you can make out of blood alone. Blood is food for fish and is used for so many things, even by pharmaceutical companies. Then consider hides and skin; if you are in that business, imagine you having a daily volume of 500 hides and skin, in a month, you can imagine what you have, that’s a factory on its own. The solid waste can be converted to manure, there are plans for biogas from that waste.

Also, it provides a source of livelihood for petty traders; you can see traders selling water, food and others to the population in that place which is in thousands. It is humongous and this is what we saw when we conceptualized the project. It is going to be a major economic hub.

Is it true this is the biggest in Nigeria?

In terms of layout and facility, without any doubt, it is the biggest in West Africa, combined with the market; it is a 15 hectares development. So it is the biggest easily but in terms of volume, Lagos does about nearly 2000 herds of cattle daily from what I’m told while Ibadan does between 500 and 600 daily. I want to believe that Lagos is taking advantage but in this place with all the facilities, all the spin off advantages will be felt by the whole state, not Ibadan alone.  We had visitors who came when they heard about this place, they came from Ghana and they were impressed, it is the biggest by far but not in volume. Ibadan is biggest in size and facilities. In fact, it is second to none but Lagos is bigger in volume and output.

Some have stated that Governor Abiola Ajimobi is interested in the abattoir because he has shares in it. Is this true?

It is not true at all. And for anybody to say that, it is uncharitable. As far as we are concerned, the governor has not approached us in any way. As a matter of fact, he alluded to the fact that people will have that thought but he doesn’t in any form whatsoever.

Will transition in government not affect the present understanding?

Look, the understanding we have now was made by all stakeholders. As a matter of fact, the butchers are co owners of this place. We are just investors and we are to manage that place for 35 years and it will revert to the local government who effectively owns it. The 11 local governments and local council development areas in Ibadan land, even as of today, we are just managing this place on their behalf as developers and so we can recoup our investment. It is their asset, it is valued at four billion naira as of today; that is a huge asset for local government. They were not able to collect revenue from those scattered abattoirs but due to centrality, it will be captured and each will get its due. As of right, they have dues they charge all abattoirs and they put this together for equity and they are the ones coordinating, so at the end, it is reverting fully to the local governments. No government will tamper with the arrangement because it is beyond reproach and this government has been fair to all parties.

You have spent billions on this project, are you likely to recoup your investment in the 35 years you will manage the place?

I will tell you No. No, we cannot recoup all our investment. There is no way we can recoup our investment. I have told you that given the restructuring by the present government, as investors, you will sit down and ask yourself, do I move on?  Do I cut my losses? Do I litigate? And yes, we sat as a company and decided to go on. We may not be able to enjoy as much as possible the fruits of our labour. However, we will make the best of it, that’s business.

What do you think is responsible for butcher’s initial resistance?

The butchers have been cooperative. For selfish interests, some are reluctant because they are kingpins in the environment, make money that should go to government and corner revenues. It’s human nature to resist change but let me say government has tried beyond measure to educate them, interact with them, interface and even give them incentives but among thousands of people, you cannot but have a few. The resistance is mainly due to selfish interests at the expense of the progress of the state. There are just few that are causing trouble but as you can see, they are happy and many attested that they would have moved to the central abattoir a long time ago if they knew.

How much have you lost since this project was on hold for years?

Well, look I won’t want to dwell on loses. As a group, we equally have benefitted from Oyo state over the years, in business you don’t look at one side of the equation. Yes, we have lost some years, it happens like that, this thing was conceded by the last government, this government came in, rightly so, they looked into it and remodeled it and the initial resistance from the butchers did not help matters, this government I can tell you was quite robust in their approach to this project and at the end of the day, all is well that ends well.

What inspires you to spend your money on government projects?

It’s not altruistic. It is a win- win situation, it is not completely altruistic; if you are a developer and you make your money when you render service. It is two way traffic; it is not as if you are doing charity. The vogue then was to get contract but we thought the future was PPP and that is where we carved our niche.

How do you see this place in the next five years?

We are in this initiative not just for the money, a company that can invest billions certainly is not a hungry company and we have alternative investments, our vision is that anything we touch will touch lives and our vision is to make this place a reference place, we have thought it out and feel free to come back in the next six months, there will have been a lot of upgrades and we will go on as we have a five year plan that is to make this place world class. That’s our vision and we intend to keep to it.

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The condition of one of the historic secondary schools in Ikare Akoko, Agbaode/Orimolade Secondary School, Ikare Akoko (established in 1980 by the state’s first civilian governor, Pa Adekunle Ajasin) is begging for attention. Parents, pupils and residents have expressed sadness over the deplorable state of the schools in the town, particularly Agbaode/Orimolade Secondary School. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI after a visit to the school reports the various sides to the decay.

Agbaode/Orimolade Grammar School, in Ikare Akoko in Akoko North East Local Government Area of Ondo State, was one of the schools established in 1980 by the first civilian governor of the state, the late Pa Adekunle Ajasin, during the introduction of free education by the then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

Then, the schools used to be Agbaode Grammar School and Orimolade Grammar School. They were named after two prominent figures who hailed from the ancient town. While Agbaode was the first Owa Ale and said to be the founder of Ikareland in the 13th century, Moses Orimolade was the founder of the Cherubim & Seraphim Church worldwide who also hailed from the town. The schools were however merged in 1990 to become Agbaode/Orimolade Grammar School, in Ikare Akoko.

But the school, which in the past, had produced prominent personalities in the state including the former Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan, who was a former principal of the school, had seen its better days because of its alleged neglect by the state government and other stakeholders.

Nigerian Tribune was attracted to the plight of the students of the school following the alarm raised by parents of the students as well as residents of the community. However, a visit to the school confirmed the fears of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the school and showed dilapidated school building while students were seen learning in ramshackle structures without facilities for effective learning or assimilation.

No doors, no windows; students at the mercy of the elements

Most of the structures within the school compound were begging for attention, the walls bore cracks; a sign they had lived out their days; the floors of several classrooms had dust, while some of the students were covered in dust. The roofs of some classrooms had been blown off; no doors or windows, exposing the students to the elements. The Junior Secondary School block was nothing to write home about as some of the students were seen learning in uncompleted structures.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the school principal had travelled to Akure on an official duty. However, one of the teachers who spoke on a condition of anonymity, lamented the deplorable state of facilities in the school, saying this “has being hindrance to learning.”

Student injured as roof caves in

He recalled that one of the students was rushed to a nearby hospital recently when the roof of one of the buildings caved in on him during class hour, but said luckily, the little boy only suffered a minor injury. He said teachers and students could not exchange knowledge during rainy seasons due to leakages, which, according to him, pose a big risk to students in the school, noting that the state of the school affects students’ health negatively and their ability to assimilate during learning.

The teacher explained further that many letters had been written to the Ministry of Education in Akure and the local government council officials, drawing their attention to the deplorable state of facilities in the school but without any positive response.

He said some parents were forced to take their children to other schools because of the poor state of the school.

He said the Parent-Teacher Association, (PTA) has been the major financier of some projects in the school but also lamented shortage of teachers in the school, saying “except regular payment of staff salary, no standard library and science laboratory in the school.”

‘We take classes under trees’

One of the students, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune, identified himself simply as Sikiru. According to him, “For us, learning has been painful. We do learn under trees sometimes in the afternoons when the classrooms become very hot. We have no ceiling. When it rains, you will feel very sorry for us. How do we cope or learn in such unfriendly conditions? And yet we are expected to do well in our examinations.”

He, however, appealed to the state government to come to their aid and provide a conducive, learning environment, saying “the government should help us to rebuild most of the structures. If urgent attention is not given to the school, it might eventually be abandoned and the name of the school might be forgotten.  Whenever it rains in the morning, students feel discouraged to attend school because the classrooms would have become flooded. Our teachers also work in terrible condition.”

Another teacher who also spoke on the condition of the anonymity said the “The PTA used to be very active. Our school really needs the state government’s attention. How I wish governor Akeredolu would visit us here and observe our plight.”

We need help —Community leader

One of the community leaders, Basiru Adekile, appealed to the state government, old students of Agbaode/Orimolade Grammar School and well-meaning Ikare indigenes and the C&S Church worldwide to come to the aid of the school.

“Our passionate appeal is to the community, leadership of the Cherubim & Seraphim Church worldwide and the Ondo State government to assist in order to bring this school out of the unfortunate condition it has found itself.”

A member of the PTA, Mr Ahmed Ogunsakin said the blame should not be laid at the doorsteps of the present administration in the state. According to him, the immediate past administration failed to renovate existing structures in schools but embarked on the construction of mega schools in places where those schools were not needed.

“The buildings you see at the school came up through our efforts; government built mega schools in the past, abandoning existing schools. But I want to beg the state governor to rescue the school by embarking on urgent renovation and completion of classrooms at the school.

“Look at the state of the road from the heart of Ikare to this school. We have the school, Ikare township stadium and Awara Dam that should be supplying potable water to the entire Akoko but nothing is happening there.”

Apart from the Agbaode Orimolade Grammar School, it was discovered that many other schools in the area suffer the same fate. Other schools visited in Ikare with collapsed structures include: Agolo High School, Osele High School, Ansarudeen (AUD) Grammar school and Ikare Grammar School..

Ololade Ismail, parent to a student, said, “AUD Grammar School used to be our pride in Akoko, especially people from Ikare, Ogbagi, Arigidi, Irun and many other neighbouring communities. The hostels have been converted to classrooms, and even the existing classrooms are no longer conducive for learning.”

A community leader, the Majekobaje of Ikare, Saliu Okoja appealed to the Ondo state government and old students of the affected schools to come to their aid, lamenting that the future of Ikare was in danger if government failed to embark on massive renovation and face-lift of the schools.

“The governor must be interested in the renovation of these schools. A lot of schools in this area are in bad shape. Our governor should look into the renovation of these schools.”

We have commenced renovation of 500 schools—Ondo state government

Speaking on the development, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Yemi Olowolabi said the state government had commenced renovation of about 500 schools in the state, noting that if the previous administration had embarked on similar rescue mission, there would not have been rot and decay of facilities in most of the schools.

Olowolabi said most of the schools were affected by natural disaster but said the Commissioner of Education had briefed the governor about the development and efforts are ongoing to renovate the schools soon and put some of the infrastructural facilities in the affected schools to proper shape.

The post Learning with tears: Ikare Akoko bemoans state of community’s historic school appeared first on Tribune.

Following the recent crisis between some butchers in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital and law enforcement agents in a bid not to relocate to the new abattoir constructed by government, YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, who visited the two facilities reports that many of the butchers have realised that they have a better deal and are now happy to move from their previous unhygienic place of business to the new abattoir where they hope to make more profits.

Change, they say is the only constant thing in life. But to many, change is a scary occurrence. And though most people understand that change is a major key to growth, they fight it; it is a subconscious reaction that may not follow any logic or theory.

Days ago, the ancient city of Ibadan witnessed a crisis as a result of the decision of some butchers not to follow the order of government to relocate to a centralized abattoir constructed by government. Out of resistance to change based on government’s decision to relocate them from the abattoirs scattered around the city to a well-planned modern central abattoir, they went on protest and physically confronted law enforcement officers. In spite of long months of negotiations, orientation and dialogue, some of the butchers put up stiff resistance that led to a crisis and subsequent loss of lives and properties.

The government had gone to court when some butchers, even after their union had signed a memorandum of understanding, refused to keep to the agreement and continued to operate on the abattoirs that had been declared illegal. The court had given ruling and bailiffs from the court had gone to seal up the abattoir, yet, some butchers continued to operate at the abattoir which had no licence of operation since the government revoked its licence in 2014. The process of ensuring that they obey court orders and operate according to laid down rules led to the recent crisis that rocked Bodija market.

The Bodija abattoir

The Bodija abattoir located in one of the biggest food and resource market in Ibadan, was the most popular and most active in the city; popularly called Odo Eran, the abattoir rakes in millions daily and this is not surprising considering the population of the city and the general belief that eating without meat is an obvious sign of poverty.

However, the physical condition of the Bodija abattoir has made it a great threat to the health of people especially considering its location; right in the middle of the city. The abattoir is however in appearance a slum in the midst of a civilized environment. It takes the individual that can persevere and overlook irritating sights to brave the stench of the maggot infested abattoir that has the appearance of a dunghill with dilapidated and dirty structures amidst ramshackle brown counters.

From the entrance of the abattoir, there is the obvious sign of filth as in the direct line of vision is a huge dump of waste with pigs having a field day. All over the slaughtering house, there is no sign of organization and no clear slaughter slab. There are large amounts of blood, animal feces and others that look like body fluids and inedible animal by-products splattered all over, indicating that the herds are slaughtered on any available surface, cleaned and divided on the filth.

The single drainage that runs through the abattoir is filled with waste and has become home to maggots that wriggle around while every available surface is covered with a carpet of cow dung. And when any of the butchers makes the effort to clean up a bit, the waste is still dumped just few feet away and right in the abattoir and this dumpsite also serves as the toilet for butchers who defecate there in the open.

The abattoir established in the early 80’s, is a major source of water and air pollution and home to decaying organs, carcasses and carcass trimmings, blood, hides, horns, hoofs and paunch content which are dumped on site and has become a threat to environmental and public health because of its highly unhygienic condition. It has, from all indications, become aesthetically unappealing, environmentally unsustainable and a haven of unwholesome beef.

Reason for relocation

The situation of the Bodija abattoir had become a source of concern to stakeholders as it had been established that continuous slaughtering of cows at this location, which is the main source in the city, will eventually lead to a health crisis that may not be easy to control. Aside the unsanitary condition of the abattoir, there were allegations of slaughtering sick cows just to make massive profits.

To forestall an epidemic and regulate the operations, the government decided to centralise the abattoir and put in a system that will ensure health standards are maintained and best practices are followed.  Governor Abiola Ajimobi while speaking on the need for relocation had stated that, “we are sure that the crisis between the farmers and herdsmen will not arise again because cows will now be transported here directly instead of our towns and villages where grazing on farmlands had been generating tension. I’m also happy that this arrangement will bring about a change in the way butchers handle meat and it will improve the hygiene of the business. The facility is going to have health and sanitary officers that will ensure strict compliance with the basic hygiene of meat handling.”

Speaking on the relocation on a visit to the Bodija abattoir, Mr Yinka Fatoki, the Executive Secretary of the state Bureau of Public Investment Promotions, stated that, “you can see the premises where cows are being slaughtered in Ibadan over time; this place is very filthy and unhealthy. This is part of the reasons for surge in some diseases. The certificate of this abattoir was revoked in 2014; even the butchers defecate here because there are no toilet facilities and this is an eyesore. It is owned by government and the government has not encroached on any property by pulling down the slab. Only slaughtering activities are stopped, they can still sell meat here at the stalls without fear or apprehension. But this abattoir has been locked and it will remain so for the good of the city.”

Also speaking, Dr Foluke Ibitoye, the Deputy Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture explained that, “the situation of this abattoir is very appalling, it is unsanitary. You can see heap of dung and dumps everywhere and you can see maggots swimming around our legs. It is because of this that the state government decided to construct a modern abattoir that will be central because virtually all abattoirs in Ibadan are like this and their licences, even government and private- owned have been revoked by the Ministry of agriculture since 2014 but the butchers have been recalcitrant though the government had been cooperative and understanding.

“But some of them, especially the leadership of the Bodija abattoir have refused to cooperate with government despite the fact that the main man here at Bodija attended all meetings where all decisions were taken and as their leader, he was part of every decision, yet, he refused to cooperate but now, they have all relocated to the central abattoir at Amosun where we have a sanitary environment and veterinary doctors who inspect the meat,” Dr Ibitoye stated.

Ibadan Central Abattoir, Amosun

The Ibadan central abattoir located at Amosun Village in Akinyele Local Government Area in Ibadan has been adjudged the biggest in West Africa in terms of land mass and layout; built on 15 hectares of land with provisions for manual and mechanical slaughtering of cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. It has a network of road covering about five kilometres within the abattoir, with a parking space that can accommodate more than 200 vehicles and 50 articulated trucks at once.

The multibillion naira abattoir, designed in line with best practices to ensure proper animal slaughtering and handling in the most hygienic environment, has facilities that will ensure that thousands of people work for a livelihood without invading each other’s space and is the response of the Ajimobi led administration to mitigate the unsanitary and dangerous circumstances in which meat is produced across abattoirs in Ibadan; from Bodija to Gege, Alesinloye, Monatan and Onibu Ore.

The central abattoir has two surface and underground tanks that produce 600,000 litres of water daily; there are four extra tanks for emergency situations. It has a holding pen that can accommodate 5000 cows at a time; a lairage; a mechanised slaughter slab; two conventional slabs that can accommodate 2000 cows at once; a goat section with facility to hold 300 goats; separate space for animal burning; intestines and cow head processing; a clinic; a veterinary office; a police post and a site for cow sheathes.

Other facilities at the Central Abattoir includes 32 toilets, bathrooms and changing rooms, a canteen, big cold rooms to keep meat, incinerator, a 1000 meat stalls, shopping complex for other commodities, water storage facilities in excess of 700, 000 litres; three ready water tankers, an in-house security unit in addition to police post, administrative building, information center, solar powered external lighting, connected to power grid and generating sets that can work 24 hours at a stretch.

To ease the means of transporting meat to the town, the abattoir already has six meat vans while government has put in place an arrangement for provision of more vans and credit facility to butchers for expansion of businesses.

At present, the project is not concluded according to the developer, Engr Abiodun Kehinde Ahmadu, who stated that, “this is the first phase of the concept. The second phase is to have meat depots in every local government that will be built to international standards so that once meat is slaughtered, it will be moved to depots and butchers can easily get their meat from there. We are moving towards best practices and the designs are already in place. This took time because government didn’t want crisis, so negotiation was on for years between government and butchers.”

Butchers association

In spite of complaints by some disgruntled butchers, the National Butchers Union of Nigeria (NUBN) headed by Adekunle Agunfon in Oyo state, have pitched their tent solidly behind the government, expressing the belief that the project is for everyone’s good. Speaking on behalf of the chairman, the secretary of the association, Mr Lateef Olagunju, stated that contrary to opinion by few that they are supporting the government, they are actually in support of the truth which is simply that they have a better deal at the central abattoir.

“We are in support of the truth and not government. We will benefit more from this arrangement. We promise that meat will not become expensive and we are ready to train butchers to respect rules and embrace standard practice. We were in agreement with government since the beginning; we were part of every decision and we ensured that the interest of butchers was well represented. Government sacrificed and conceded a lot to us during negotiations that we cannot but commend the manner in which they handled the issue. But you know that we are many and cannot but have people with ulterior motives. You know we have politicians among us and they will play politics with any issue without considering the merits,” he stated.

Unfounded arguments

The first argument of those against the move is that they have to pay N3000 on each cattle slaughtered compared to N1000 at Bodija. But Olagunju punctured holes in this argument, stating that, “Yes, we paid N1000 at Bodija but it had no effect because we were still paying for many things. We bought water, paid for security; paid union; taskforce and other such dues and that ends up being above N3000. The government actually asked for N5000 but after a year of negotiation, we entered an agreement of N3000.

“We were part of the agreement and that N3000 is a good bargain because it is harmonized and we do not have to pay for any other thing. We have adequate security and good facilities. Everybody has come to that understanding and it has been resolved,” he concluded.

On the issue of cost of transportation, the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun, who stated that the cattle market where everyone buys cattle is nearer to Amosun village than Bodija and will actually cut cost, added that mass transit buses had been deployed from all areas to Amosun village. “There are mass transit buses from wherever you are coming from straight to the abattoir at Amosun; from Olode, Alakia, Olodo to as far as Challenge straight to Amosun,” he said.

To reiterate the commitment of government to the welfare of the butchers, it ordered that the mechanised section of the abattoir should only be used for private customers and all meats for commercial purpose be slaughtered manually so that no butcher would lose his source of livelihood.

A butcher, who identified himself as Saheed Omi, told Nigerian tribune that he was forced to come to the central abattoir after the Bodija incident but added that, “If I knew it was like this and would be this comfortable, I would have been here long ago. I was surprised when I saw that many of our people are already enjoying this. I think we need to learn to listen well before taking decisions because this is actually in our favour.”

The post Ibadan Central Abattoir: Uneasy road to change appeared first on Tribune.

The intriguing story of legendary Queen Moremi Ajasoro of the ancient and historical city of Ile-Ife aptly epitomises sacrifice and passion for the survival of the Yoruba race, bearing in mind her invaluable contributions in the 12th Century, which served as the harbinger of hope for the people.

But, the unveiling of a book on the heroine written by the House of Oduduwa Foundation and dedicated to the wife of the Ogun State governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi vividly re-echoed the virtues of Moremi, most especially in saving the people of Ile-Ife from the perennial invasion of Ugbo community.

The launch of the 80-page book, published in both English and Yoruba languages held inside the Oduduwa Hall of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, last Saturday attracted the creme de la creme of the society, including governors, lawmakers, the academia and notable traditional rulers.

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Historically, the interesting story of Queen Moremi, the beautiful wife of Oranmiyan, Ooni of Ife, Obalufon Alayemore encapsulated the heroic deeds of a woman, who dared the odds to save her people from extinction following external invasion of Ile-Ife.

The invaders were said to appear to Ife people as weird on the battlefield that they were thought to be aliens or spirits. The conclusion of the Ife inhabitants was that they were sent by the gods to punish them for some evil deeds they could have committed. Sacrifices were offered to the gods in vain as the invasion persisted and the land was enveloped by perpetual fear.

Moremi, who shared in the worry of Oba Oranmiyan and the discomfort caused by the development to the people made a bold attempt to work out a panacea to the problem by expressing her readiness to offer anything as sacrifice to the goddess of river Esimirin, with a view to discovering the secret and strength of the enemies, killing and maiming her people in thousands.

When the enemies came calling again, she willingly allowed herself to be taken as a slave by the people and due to her beauty, the then invading king married her and she became one of the queens in his palace. Exploring her wit as a woman, she was able to extract the truth about the warriors from her husband who revealed that they were normal human beings, who only adorned  strange mantles of grass and bamboo fibre when they were going to the battlefield to make them look weird. She also discovered that because they were wrapped in dried grass, they dared not go near fire.

After acquainting herself with the secrets of her husband’s army, she escaped to Ile-Ife and revealed this to the people, who were able to subsequently defeat them.

However, speaking during the book launch, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi maintained that the attributes of Moremi, exhibited by the wife of the Ogun State governor, Mrs Amosun compelled him to dedicate the book to her and also proclaimed her as the Moremi of Yorubaland.

In his remarks, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun said religion and  civilisation should not erode African culture, stressing that “our tradition, custom and heritage must not be forgotten. We must not forget our heroes. We have to thank the Ooni of Ife and others involved in this book launch for keeping our culture alive.”

He stated further that “some weeks ago when we were celebrating June 12, we called the Ooni and we were told that he had gone to Brazil. He went there to promote Yoruba as a race and have interface with Yorubas in that country to remind them that we have not lost our culture. On behalf of my wife and all of us, I thank the Ooni.

“I want to assure you all that anything that has to do with our culture, race, you will not find me wanting and you will not find any of our governors in the South West wanting. We will continue to support any move that will promote our culture and who we are as Yoruba race.”

Similarly, the Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu in his address commended what he termed exemplary leadership role in preserving the culture of Yoruba race, noting that “it is a thing of pride that as a woman during her own time, Moremi stood for sacrifice and service to humanity. We as Yorubas should put the legendary Moremi in her befitting position in the history of our race as we have started today.”

While addressing the gathering, the chairman on the occasion, the Olugbon of Ile Igbon, Oba Olusola Alao maintained that “this is the time for women to be actively involved in government as Moremi had set the pace centuries ago,” pointing out that “Moremi, through her historical feat stood for justice and liberty. This is a clarion call that women should be involved in governance in our nation.”

He posited that “women should take over the mantle of leadership. We are preserving our culture and tradition. The calling of traditional rulers is to serve the people. God will give us knowledge and understanding to strengthen the unity of Yorubaland.”

In her speech, the global heritage ambassador for Queen Moremi Ajasoro (QMA) brand, Aderonke Ademiluyi explained that “Queen Moremi Ajasoro initiative was established by the Ooni as part of the House of Oduduwa Foundation. As the custodian of Yoruba culture, Oba Ogunwusi is committed to the promotion of the rich narrative of the legendary Queen Moremi Ajasoro of which he has demonstrated in various ways of keeping alive her rich legacy.”

She further disclosed that “one of the projects in honour of Moremi is the construction of the 42-feet Moremi statue of liberty which is the tallest statue in Nigeria. Also is the cultural pageant which empowers young women and beauty queens into becoming future employers of labour with the sum of N5 million impact investment fund dedicated to this course.”

Other dignitaries at the book launch were the Osile of Oke-Ona, Oba Adedapo Tejuosho, Akarigbo of Ijebu Remo, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, wife of the Osun State governor, Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola, the Vice Chancellor of OAU, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Dayo Adeneye, Olowu of Owu, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, among others.

The post In Ile-Ife, memories of Moremi unite Yoruba stakeholders at book launch appeared first on Tribune.

The palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi  Adeyemi, was the meeting point last Saturday when he received a Yoruba traditional ruler from Benin Republic. TUNDE BUSARI, who was among the gathering, reports the varied emotions that greeted the reception.

With short notice, the expansive frontage of the Alaafin’s palace was besieged by a sizeable crowd of Oyo indigenes, including princes and princess. They had all gathered to welcome the Onisolo of Pobe, Benin Republic, Oba Elechi Adegbola Camile to the ancient town.

Even when it was not clear that Oba Camile would arrive the venue soon, the people, among of whom were traditional chiefs and baales, were not in a haste to leave their seats because, according to them, the Alaafin, Oba Olayiwola Adeyemi, deserves their presence as hosts of shis guest.

The significance of the well-organized reception derived from the revelation that Oba Camile was touching the land of Oyo for the first time after he had ascended to the throne of his forefathers. And when he finally arrived the palace at about 2 pm in company of his traditional and honourary chieftaincy title holders, it was home coming as he was ushered into the hall by the palace drummers and chanter, all of whom demonstrated to him that the palace of Oyo is the heart of Yoruba culture and tradition.

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Though the youthful Onisolo did not respond to the heavy percussion as Oba Adeyemi would with his mastery of right dance steps, his soft smile at the aged drummers was indicative of his joy to have returned to his root and reunited with his kith and kins in Nigeria.

Just before Oba Camile was led into the hall, the Alaafin-In-Council (The Oyomesi) were introduced to the visiting king one after the other in a very relaxed ambience, bringing out the rich Yoruba cultural value.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the legendary Alaafin Oranmiyan, who ruled Oyo with landmark accomplishments and expanded its territory to Kumasi in present day Ghana, had his tomb in Pobe.

A researcher, who had investigated the connection between Pobe and Oyo, Ambassador Kolawole Aderoju pointed out that his visit to Pobe was an eye opener that further expanded his understanding of the strength of Yoruba culture. He confirmed his findings and acknowledged the superior influence of the Alaafin in Yoruba cultural inheritance.

“You have to go to Pobe and see how great Yoruba is. The site where Alaafin Oranyan slept is there, and I was surprised even as a researcher. The people are 100 per cent Yoruba in words and deeds. They are accommodating. You can see that they are all happy being here. Yoruba is a big nation and our culture is second to no other, if we can get our act together as being promoted by baba Alaafin,” he noted.

Oba Adeyemi took his time to put things in order in his private office before he emerged andformally welcomed Oba Camile to his domain. And when Oba Adeyemi  appeared in gold coloured voile lace matched with his traditional simple abetiaja cap, the chorus of K-a-b-i-y-s-i  ooo rented the whole space amidst drumming and chanting of his panegyrics. His trumpeter was not left behind blowing intermittently to spice up the mood.

Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday and drew crème-de-la-crème of the society to Oyo, flagged off the proceedings as the compere of the reception.

 In his characteristic disposition at public event, the retired clericeffectively blended his deep Yoruba Language with English to make a total communication to the large audience from different backgrounds.

Spotting brown flowing agbada guinea brocade, Ladigbolu practically electrified the place with his educative commentaries that earned him applause and also delighted the Alaafin, the Onisolo and his entourage.

The Octogenarian recalled with precision how Oba Adeyemi had sent a delegate, led by her daughter, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Arewa House of Culture, FolasadeAdeyemi,to Pobe as a mark of identifying with them as true blood of Oyo.

“The delegates returned home with good reports on how well they were also received and how revered they held the Alaafin as their father. And since then, there is no Oranyan Festival we host here which they would not attend. So, the Onisolo’s coming to see his father today is a normal visit by son to his father. After this public show, they are going to have father-and-son discussion behind the curtain before the Onisolo returned to his domain in Benin Republic,” he disclosed.

The guests were treated to variety of cultural performances by three groups, which held the audience spell bound with their singing, chanting and dances. The OnaMogba group, which specialized in magical exhibition, pulled some stunts that earned his wild ovation. He effortlessly conjured some objects in a manner that left people stupefied, and called for more as the compere notified him to round off his acts.

When Ladigbolu invited the impressive Oba Camile to deliver his speech, silence pervaded the stage The monarch responded to the call, rising from his seat and walking to the front of the Alaafin. He first paid obeisance which a son is required to pay his father. Though tradition forbids him to prostrate, he put no one in doubt that he was standing before his father.

“I cannot even say much here because father and son discussion is beyond the public glare. But you can all see that I am happy being here and standing before my father. Coming to Oyo here is historic and normal. I thank the Alaafin for this show of love to his son in the diaspora,” he stated.

In his remark to his guest’s brief extemporaneous speech, Oba Adeyemi went down memory lane, regrettably recollecting how the European powers shared African continent among themselves at the Berlin Conference in 1885, the development, he revealed, that separated the Yorubas in Benin Republic from their brothers and sisters in Nigeria.

However, the Alaafin argued that despite the assimilation policy which the France Government adopted to suppress African culture, little did it achieve in making French in African. “You still speak your language, wear your Yoruba dresses,do your traditional festivals and other things as Yoruba people. This is enough to tell them that you cannot totally subjugate people’s culture,” he said.

Beside, Oba Adeyemi reminisced 1989 when the former President of Benin Republic, Matthew Kerekou hosted him with presidential treatment and thereafter assigned him to do a comprehensive report on how to preserve Yoruba culture among the Yoruba-speaking citizens of his country.

The Alaafin noted that the glamour that characterized the visit, which, according to him, had about 30 traditional rulers and drummers in his entourage, is still fresh in his memory till date.

“We were lodged in the best hotel in the country. We had a memorable experience on that trip. Unfortunately, I could not submit the report which President Kerekou asked me to write because his government was ousted. I am doing all my best possible to build strong ties with our people outside Nigeria because we are from one blood and the geographical separation is artificial because it has not really separated us, in terms of our history and culture.

“After the event here, we shall move inside for our private discussion. I will talk to the Onisolo and advise him on how to perform his duties as the royal father to all his subjects. The throne is sensitive and only those with divine support perform the functions successfully. His coming is a welcome development, and we are going to do things together in protecting Yoruba culture and tradition,” he assured.

The post Yoruba tradition takes centre stage as Alaafin of Oyo hosts traditional ruler from Benin Republic appeared first on Tribune.

OLAYINKA OLUKOYA looks at the impacts of the Friday downpour that resulted in a flooded Abeokuta, Ogun State, which led to the loss of lives and properties. She also writes on ongoing efforts by government to address the flood issues.

Although, the 2018 seasonal rainfall prediction of the Nigerian Meteorological  Agency (NIMET), had it that Ogun State, may not experience severe flooding, the reverse was the case last Friday, in Abeokuta  as major parts of the city were swept away following a downpour.

Those affected by the flood are still counting their losses because of the enormity of the damage caused by it. The devastation left many of them in a state of despair and hopelessness. The forlorn look on their faces spoke volume.

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The last time the state capital witnessed such flooding that left many homeless and recorded loss of lives was in 2007. Since then, succeeding governments in the state have had interventionist programmes to address the situation.

Unfortunately, however, the Friday downpour left no fewer than eleven dead victims while the search for missing residents is still ongoing. Many houses and vehicles were badly damaged by the flood. The areas mostly affected by the flood included Ijaiye, Kuto,  Lafenwa, Oke Lantoro, Amolaso, Kobiti,  Ilawo, Ijeun –Titun and Ago -Ijesha. Those affected were seen scampering for safety as they tried to salvage whatever was left of their property and houses. Some residents were of the belief that the rain could not have been the cause of the flood, alleging that the authority of the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Agency (OORDA) could have released water from their dam. However, a senior official of the OORBDA who craved anonymity told the Nigerian Tribune that the Federal Government agency did not release water from its dam.

It was learnt that a food vendor by the name, Halirat Akintobi and her two sons who locked themselves up in a container were washed away by the flood. The trio had since been buried according to Islamic rites. Bodies of two brothers were also recovered at Odedairo Street, Isale Oja Kuto.

It was lamentation galore at Amolaso as shop owners who lost their goods in the flood were still in shock and disbelief.

A woman who identified herself as Bisola Somuyiwa, was in tears while speaking with newsmen following the loss she recorded to the tune of N5 million while Ismot Olayokun said her brother lost two houses to the flood.

Somuyiwa said her warehouse which had goods worth N5m was taken over by the flood and therefore appealed to the state government to assist them.

According to her, “I have been in this area for 10 years, selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. I have two shops. When the rain started, it was not so serious but gradually it became very heavy.”

For Olayokun, “We have lost a lot to the flood and we only hope that the state government will come to our aid. Those that came to help us clear the mess are demanding N50, 000 but we are pleading with them to collect N30, 000. For our shops that were destroyed, they are also demanding N100, 000 but we are still pleading with them to accept N80, 000. Goods worth over N3 million were destroyed in my brother’s blocks of shops.”

It was a hectic day for officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) as they evacuated corpses and subsequently deposited them at the morgue of the state hospital, Ijaiye.

While officers of the Ministry of Environment, Red Cross and security agencies also were engaged in clearing debris from the roads.

The state chairman of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Ogun State, Joseph Obalanlege, described the extent of damage caused by the flood as devastating.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) Ogun State chapter said the effect of the flood would have been minimised if necessary steps had been taken, and local campaigns undertaken to ensure that drains and canals were cleared and clog-free.

NITP, in a statement signed by its chairman, Oladunjoye Arowosegbe, commiserated with those affected by the flood, acknowledging the fact that the state government would have to do a lot in terms of infrastructural development, just as he added that the body was ready to partner with any organisation or professional body to find a lasting solution to the problem.

Arowosegbe added that it was time the state government looked critically into the regional plan of the state, improve on it and begin to implement all strategies proposed in the report for a flood-free sub-region.

The institute further stated that despite the existence of a regional plan there was need to prepare a master plan for the state capital and all the urban settlements in the state, saying it was only this level of plan that would be effective in guiding development at the street level.

“It is not sufficient to prepare regional plans; it is more important to implement them. That is the key to achieving sustainable cities,” he said.

It will be recalled that the state Commissioner for Environment, Bolaji Oyeleye, in a statement noted that there could be flash floods in flood-prone communities, despite the prediction of NIMET which forecasted a normal rainfall season for the state.

Oyeleye who went round the areas affected by the flood on Saturday for an on-the-spot assessment, said the effect of the flood could have been more devastating if not for the construction of standard drainages that accompanied the road infrastructures constructed by government.

The commissioner said the Ministry embarked on the dredging of river/stream courses, as well as de-silting of drainages in major towns in preparation for the rainy season, to prevent flood disasters. He bemoaned the attitude of residents who dump refuse into drainages, along medians and canals and urged them to desist from such.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun also went round the city on Sunday to know the extent of damage and therefore called on the Federal Government to assist the state through provisions of relief materials to the victims of the flood. He said the losses were too much for the state to bear, promising the state government’s intervention as well.

Amosun equally commiserated with the families of those who lost their loved ones while advising residents of the state to build right. “Our people should not build on the waterways. They should also desist from disposing their refuse in drainages and canals. The magnitude effect of last Friday’s flood in some parts of the state is more than what the state can bear. I appeal to the Federal Government to come to our aid,” he added.

Some of the places inspected include Ijeja road, Gbangba bridge, Itoku market, Kuto-Isabo road and lafenwa road, all in Abeokuta the state capital.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was in Abeokuta to assess the situation. Speaking with newsmen, the NEMA Assistant Chief Planning Officer, South West, Babatunde Olowookere, said the agency discovered that many people have built on flood plains and waterways.

“We are here to assess the situation and to see how the Federal Government can render assistance. We have been rendering assistance; this is not the first time. From what we have seen, we have discovered that people have built on flood plains; they built on waterways and the waste management issue too needs to be tackled.

“On our own part, we are going to write our assessment report and send to our headquarters in Abuja for them to give palliative measures in form of relief materials to the victims.”

Assessing the situation, one of the governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Oladipupo Adebutu, blamed the state government for not investing so much in the channelisation of water courses.

Adebutu who visited virtually all the areas hit by the flood promised to discuss the issue with the leadership of the House of Representatives and see what could be done.

“My assessment of the situation is that we are suffering from bad governance. This is not the first this has happened; it is a perennial thing and I believe a responsible government should have invested in the channelisation of water courses, instead of building bridges where there is no water.

“People have lost their homes; people have lost their businesses and most regrettably, people have lost their lives,” he said.

The post Abeokuta flood of fury: It’s lamentation, losses for residents appeared first on Tribune.

The annual celebration of this year’s Ita Osun festival, in Ile-Ife, did not only provide another ample opportunity for the teeming worshippers of the Osun River goddess within and outside the shores of Nigeria to converge on the historical city, it also created another leeway for the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi to promote and export the rich and fascinating heritage of  the Yoruba nation.

This year’s festival was not only unique with aesthetics and glamour that coloured the event, it also boosted the social and economic activities of Ile-Ife as local and international tourists visited strategic places, public facilities and institutions domiciled in Ife.

Oba Ogunwusi, Ojaja II—whose peace advocacy and agenda for unity among the Yorubas of the South West, including the entire nation and the Diaspora have attracted global accolade—emphasised the need for the government to put cultural tourism into priority as a veritable tool for economic growth of South West states.

Speaking during the festival tagged, “Ita Osun 2018” on Saturday at the Osun shrine in Ile-Ife which served as the first settlement of the Osun goddess from where she moved around the world, the monarch maintained that “tradition is the root of Yoruba’s heritage, Nigerian government and all the states in Yoruba land must invest in cultural tourism.”

According to him, “to productively drive economic growth, as this is the case in Isreal, Saudi-Arabia, Brazil and other tourist destinations in the world, we must know that they use pilgrimages which can be said to be a lucrative economic tourism. Public leaders at the helm of affairs should be more committed to fund the tourism sub-sector.”

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Oba Ogunwusi, who also doubles as the co-chairman, National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, used the occasion to preach peaceful co-existence among Nigerians. “Nigeria will survive during challenges only if the people maintain peace with one another irrespective of religion and ethnicity.

“As the custodian of the sacred throne of Oduduwa, the progenitor of Yoruba people worldwide, the Ooni is one of the 401 deities sent by the Almighty God to form the world from Ile-Ife then known as Ife-Oodaye. While Oduduwa, Ogun and Kori were in charge of prayer, iron and children respectively, Osun was made a deity that has to do with water which should always be celebrated as no one can function without water,” he said.

Oba Ogunwusi maintained that Nigerians must uphold their cultural heritage and traditions by showcasing deities like Osun saying “water is an essential commodity that is necessary and compulsory for humanity. No one can be enemies with water. We should therefore celebrate and always remember this deity that has to do with productivity and multiplication.

“We are not Idol worshippers as people think. But we are promoting our cultural heritage as done all over the world. Because any stream that forgets its source will surely dry up.

“I am pleading with our governments at all levels especially in Yoruba land to support prioritising tradition and culture of Yoruba for economic gains because tradition is the root of our heritage.”

Also, Muyiwa Oladipo, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ogun State, commended Ooni Ogunwusi for prioritising tradition and culture of the Yorubas.

“We are celebrating Osun festival by reviving and sustaining our culture. The festival is a good thing to value and embrace because our culture and tradition are dying. We need to proudly acknowledge our own Ooni of Ife who is trying his best to ensure the stability of our cultural heritage. This is why our tourism promoting governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has always taken part in all the cultural events organised by the Arole Oodua represented by me as his commissioner for culture and tourism,” he said.

Oladipo admonished all and sundry to support the royal father in uplifting tradition, saying “culture is different from religion.”

Dr Santos Pedro Bernardo, a Brazilian tourist from Rio De Janerio who was among the several foreigners that came from countries like Cuba, Brazil, Jamaica, Congo Republic, South Africa and the United States of America to witness the Osun festival expressed delight for the cultural reception they enjoyed at Ile-Ife which they described as the ancestral home not only to the Yorubas but also to entire mankind.

Speaking with journalists in company of his co-tourists, Berbardo lauded Ooni Ogunwusi’s commitment to African cultural tourism revolution which has taken him to several countries including Brazil where he met him recently.

“Ooni is undoubtedly the global face of cultural tourism revolution at the moment. I read about him in 2016 when he travelled to America with about 100 chiefs and priests, awesome! I have since then developed interest in him and I went to meet him at a Rio’ Heritage site CRISTO REDENTOR, a giant (98-ft.-tall) mountaintop statue of Jesus Christ, accessed by train & offering city views with its horizontally outstretched arms spanning 92 feet.

“We have been visiting tourist sites in Ile-Ife. I am so amazed to see this land. This place is so culturally blessed especially Nigeria’s tallest statue of liberty built 2 years ago by this Ooni Ogunwusi in honour of Moremi Ajasoro. Nigerian government must really encourage this great traditional ruler,” he said.

The post Ita Osun festival unites indigenes, foreigners in promoting Yoruba heritage appeared first on Tribune.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, led 14 traditional rulers from Yoruba land to Brazil on a tour. The Elerinmo of Erinmo, Oba Michael Odunayo Ajayi was one of the monarchs having made similar trip with the Ooni to the United States of America in the past. In an interview by TUNDE BUSARI, the Elerinmo speaks on the relevance of such outing to the Yoruba nation.

You just returned from Brazil alongside other traditional rulers. What is the importance of that trip?

The trip that we embarked on was spiritually and culturally fulfilling. Why do I say that? If you talk of the United Kingdom, you talk about relationship with our colonial masters. There is no slave in the United States of America. There are many Nigerians who have relocated to the UK. When you talk of the US, you talk of few people who were enslaved and gone into the culture of the new world. That’s what America used to be called. But when you talk of Brazil, apart from Nigeria which has the largest concentration of blacks, Brazil comes next. These are the people who were moved away during the trans-Atlantic slave trade several years ago. In Brazil with a population of over 200 million, we can say there would be at least 100 million black people living there. Most of these people have close affinity with the Yorubas. They bear Yoruba names; they employ Yoruba words while greeting, among other aspects of Yoruba cultural heritage. Some people bear Bamgbose. They call Baba. They call Ase.

There is a particular state in Brazil, Bahia State where we discovered that everybody there originated from Yoruba land. Brazil is one of the places where we see ourselves being replicated. For instance, there was a story they told us that while the slaves were being punished that a certain spirit appeared to them and assisted them to fight the slave masters who were maltreating them. When they wanted to honour the spirit, which they never saw or recognized, the image they put up was called zombie. Zombie means somebody you don’t know. When we visited the statue in Rio de Jenario, we discovered it was exactly Ori Olokun, and Nigerians put it there. You can see the similarity.

One thing which the Oonirisa did was to declare Bahia Yoruba capital of the Americans being the place where there is the largest concentration of blacks. We met with different black communities which had lost hope in any probability of reconnecting with their original place. When they saw Oonirisa, they recognised him as their spiritual father.

What was the mood of your hosts?

The Afro-Brazilians were extremely excited seeing us among them. They had seen themselves as a people who were nobody; who were mere slaves used from the lower class. But seeing those of us they had left behind, they were free, happy and it brought back a better memory to them. The visits were a reminder that they were actually not slaves but were only enslaved. It is high time they got out of the slave mentality. I believe that was a major thing that was obvious. Of course, the kings and the Oonirisa went there with several African herbs given to them to cure ailments they may have. There is an institute interested in researching into traditional healing; we held several meetings with them. Of course we had several meetings with them. We met cultural and religious places in virtually all the three states visited. Essentially the tour renewed their confidence that they have some hope for the future. We prayed for them, we spoke with them and spoke with government officials on how to improve the lives and condition of living of these people. They won’t be the same again after the visit. That reconnection was good. Here are the people who preserve our culture; they still practise everything.  It was like fathers visiting their children. If you look at the map of the world, you see that between Nigeria and Brazil, it is just a short stretch of ocean that separates us.  We told them that the strength of water that divides us is not as strong as the blood we share because we are all the same.

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The synergy between you and the Oonirisa is amazing. What is the common ground?

The Onirisa and I are two young traditional rulers who believe in changing the face of our traditional institution and improving youth development and women empowerment in rural areas so as to eradicate poverty. We share that in common. So it is natural that we must be close.

I have no doubt that my origin is Ile-Ife. It is only natural that I will be close with any Ooni on the throne. I am fortunate that in the Ooni is a listening ear, a compassionate Oba, supportive. The least I can do is to also support him in any advisory capacity and also make myself available whenever the need arises. We are on a mission to move Yoruba race to another level. We all know that everything started in Ile-Ife.  And you know Yoruba people spread across the world; about 600 million people scattered all over the world. It is an opportunity for us to rediscover those people in the diaspora. I can see that his ideas are well articulated. They agree with mine. He is a peacemaker. He has been going round working for peace in Yorubaland. Because of that particular attribute, he is going to achieve it. He is ready to sacrifice to achieve unity of the Yoruba race. Some people think that Yoruba people cannot be united but I am saying it that with the Ooni’s agenda, we are going to achieve it. Here is somebody who does not mind the cost to achieve it in terms of moving around palaces.

So, it is natural we have this kind of relationship because he is accessible. This era is an opportunity for us to build a stronger Yoruba race. And with the Ooni’s efforts so far, there is no doubting the fact that we are going to achieve it, so that the next generation will be proud of their forefathers.

How many foreign trips have you made with the Ooni?

I can say very few because this is just a tip of the iceberg. It is just the beginning. We are still going around the world. But it is really not about how many times. It is about the need to rediscover and reclaim our people in the diaspora who seem to have lost their identity. We have to reach out to our people and identify with them and impress it upon them that they have root and Ile-Ife is the cradle of Yoruba race.

How do you balance your observance of traditional religion with your faith?

My traditional responsibility as an oba does not affect my faith at all in the sense that traditional religion has no negative impact on my Christian background. I was born a Christian but I am a traditional ruler now. I am the head of all religions: Islam, Christianity and traditional religion. The most important thing is that we all worship the same God. There are no two Gods. He is only one, and that one is whom we all direct our prayers to.

What are the changes your town has witnessed since you ascended the throne?

A lot of changes have taken place. Obviously, the town now is under a well-educated, well exposed king. Things are not being done the old ways again. You can see some significant physical changes in the town. A lot of public buildings are being renovated to become more modern. We are working towards a larger infrastructural development that would turn Erinmo to a mega city. It is an all-inclusive rulership. Everybody is involved. There is an open administration. It is not a situation where I will sit here and issue instructions. We set up what we call the elders’ council.

The post Why we are working tirelessly to connect with other Yorubas outside Nigeria— Oba Ajayi appeared first on Tribune.

Four out of the six local government areas in the Ondo South Senatorial District – Irele, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje – have been in darkness for ten years. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, who visited the area, reports the residents’ frustration through the years.

Despite being the goose that lays the golden eggs, the Ondo South senatorial district of Ondo State has suffered neglect in many ramifications. Ironically, the case of the people is like the proverbial son of a meat seller, who was made to eat bones.

This, indeed, is the case of residents of four of the six local government areas in the Ondo South Senatorial district: Okitipupa, Ilaje, Ese-Odo and Irele LGAs.

Responding to the challenges faced by the area, youths, community leaders, student bodies, women associations, traders and other residents in Ondo South have protested the state of the communities.

Taking the lead among the people’s agitations is the power outage in the area, which has lasted almost ten years. Aside this, there are also complaints about non provision of potable water supply and the dearth of standard schools and quality healthcare.

The belief by the communities is that if the availability of power supply is addressed, other improvements will follow. Power outage has greatly affected social and economic activities in the area, just as people of the area have resigned their fate to living without electricity.

A visit to some of the areas such as Okitipupa, Ilu Tuntun, Igbotako, Ikoya, Igbokoda, Aboto, Ode-Aye, Igodanisa, Irele, among other towns within the district, revealed that they have been experiencing power outage for almost a decade.

‘Darkness has become a lifestyle’

A resident of Okitipupa, Temisan Inuwadun, said the people of the community have become used to darkness, noting that darkness had become more or less a lifestyle. He also stated that men of the underworld had taken the advance of the darkness in the area to perpetrate crimes, even though they had expressed their grievances to various administrations.

A community leader in Igbotako, Ayeleso Job, said the disconnection of the area from the grid had afforded some elements the sad opportunity to vandalise transformers and cable wires in the area, noting that the cables along the bush had been destroyed, while many of the transformers were just empty boxes, because many of their contents had been stolen.

It was same story in Okitipupa and Igbokoda, the commercial heart of the district, as it was gathered that many artisans had left the town because of the power outage, while some had retired to become commercial motorcyclists. Efforts to speak with the traditional ruler of the town, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, were not successful, as he was said to have travelled out of town. However, a palace worker said the power outage has been a source of concern to the monarch, and that several efforts had been made to restore electricity in the area.

According to him, traditional rulers from the area had met severally and sent appeal letters to subsequent governments, but it yielded no positive result.

He said: “We have been using generating set in the palace and this costs a lot of money. We have discussed with officials of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), but not much has been forthcoming in that regard.”

Investigations by Nigerian Tribune revealed that many residents of the area pay to charge their mobile phones and rechargeable lamps at a generating set powered centre. Operator of the centre, Akinluwa Peter, explained that he decided to float the business “to keep body and soul together.”

He said: “Non-availability of power supply has been a major problem here and I designed this to feed my family. Most of the industries in this area have gone moribund because of the power outage. The Okitipupa oil palm industry and the Oluwa glass have gone into extinction and it does not seem like there are plans to revive it because of this electricity challenges in this area. Our social life is zero here.”

•  Ondo to link coastal communities with roads

Bring-Back-Our-Light organisation laments electricity challenges

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, the Coordinator of the Bring Back Our Light organisation in Ondo State, Pastor Olumide Akinrinlola, said various efforts had been made to ensure that electricity was restored in the area. He accused the BEDC of contributing to the people’s predicament, noting that “this problem of electricity has crippled many businesses here.”

He said: “BEDC is an organisation whose presence is more of social media than physical within the coverage area. BEDC is well known for mass disconnection without prior notices or due process. The company is renowned for plunging communities and several local governments into darkness, so as to compel the people to pay whatever amount levied against them, without justification for such indebtedness.

“Disconnecting a whole community or local government from the national grid, instead of electricity consumers who are owing, is not only illegal but inhuman, manipulative, and wicked. Since BEDC took over from PHCN in their coverage areas, they do not have any official obligations. No single transformer has been given to any community by them. Rather, individuals are donating transformers to communities when needed.

“Cost of replacement of damaged electricity facilities in many communities is incurred by electricity consumers in affected communities. BEDC doesn’t care about procurement of new facilities to replace faulty facilities where necessary. They have shifted some of their responsibilities to electricity consumers. All they care about is mass disconnection of electricity consumers with the aim to maximising profit at the detriment of electricity users.”

Recently, youths of the communities from the coastal area took to the streets to protest against power outage in the area and lamenting utter marginalisation of the riverine area.

The youths, under the aegis of the Ilaje Advancement Forum (IAF), gathered at Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area, chanting various anti-government songs including ‘ko sina, ko sibo’, meaning, ‘no light, no election.’ They blocked major roads in the area and paralysed economic activities for several hours, as the youths, armed with placards embarked on peaceful procession.

Inscriptions on some of the placards read: Ilaje: Enough is Enough; What Offence Has Ilaje People Committed; Ondo State Government Has Failed Us; OSOPADEC is Fake; NDDC is Fraud; The Federal Government Has Failed in Service Delivery; No Light, No Election, among others.

Speaking during the protest, co-convener of the forum, Tokunbo Ehinmowo, decried the deplorable state of the riverine area, declaring that the Ilaje area, despite its huge natural resources and contribution to the country’s GDP, was suffering neglect.

According to her, the protest became imperative “to resist all retrogressive changes that are socio-political and economically created as a result of bad leadership. Ilaje people must intervene in the process of Ilaje development, rather than remain spectators or passive participants in the ebb and failure of governance in the state.”

She lamented the dearth of industries, factories, prevalence of infrastructural decay, environmental degradation, poor empowerment programmes, attributing it to failure of representatives at all levels.

According to her, “For the past ten years, there has not been electricity in all our communities, and this has meted untold hardship on us. The artisans can no longer work, businesses are collapsing and life has become so unbearable for us.”

Apart from the issue of power outage, one of the youths from the area, Oluwajuwon Ogunbiyi, stressed the need for “renegotiation of social contract between the government and the people of the area.”

According to him, “We are the local government producing the largest chunk of money to the Federal Government through our oil resources. We surrender everything we have for the government under social contract to take care of us.”

Ogunbiyi, who spoke on the recent amnesty programme by the Federal Government, noted that most projects initiated by Ondo State Oil Producing Development Commission (OSOPADEC) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) were abandoned, while the N6 billion Ayetoro Shoreline Protection project and other intervention funds by government agencies had not provided the expected results.

Aside abandoned projects and underdevelopment, he noted the high rate of crime, insecurity and maternal mortality due to acute shortage of basic social amenities and infrastructure, especially, power, stating that “governments at all levels have not provided the necessary facilities to ensure development in the area. What we have seen is flag-off of various projects across the state but not much has been done on execution.

“However, if our light is not restored, government should forget 2019 elections. None of the leaders in Ilaje communities will be allowed to campaign. INEC should forget elections in the riverine areas.”

We have been marginalised –Egbe Omo Ilaje

Also speaking on the infrastructural challenges affecting the area, the national president of the Egbe Omo Ilaje, Prince Iwamitigha Rapheal lrowainu, said: “We have been politically marginalised; we are much aware that we are economically marginalized; we are very much aware that we are infrastructurally marginalised.”

He said it was regrettable that the area which made the state qualify as the fifth oil-producing state in the country was suffering despite being the “hen that lays the golden eggs.”

“For more than 10 years, Ilaje has been in total darkness. Ilaje as a local government doesn’t have general hospital. Quality of education is another matter. If you go to the riverine area, the schools have no teachers, no facilities. We are going to ensure that these things are addressed.

“There are a lot of factors that are responsible for the insecurity in this area. The political leaders are involved, as well as traditional institutions and corporate individuals. They engage these guys as bodyguards, and even engage them during elections to cause problems.”

Our people trek long distances to get water –Community leader

A community leader, Thomas Ajaka, who lamented that there was no government presence, stated that “we learnt that we will continue to live in darkness and this is caused by the inability to reconcile accounts between our people and the BEDC. The state government has been promising to intervene, but we still live in darkness.

“The quality of education has gone down tremendously over the years. There are no teachers and this is affecting our children here. If you visit the riverine area, you will pity our children. There is no government presence here at all. This has very much affected the quality of education in this area and has placed our children in serious disadvantage as they cannot compete with their counterparts both within and outside the state.

“Our people still depend on unhygienic sources of water for their daily domestic needs. They trek long distances to get water. The Aboto water they promised us is there wasting and uncompleted. The effect of this on the health and well-being of our people is serious as water-borne disease is imminent.”

He called on the state and Federal Government to appropriately compensate people of the area by providing and making available infrastructural facilities.

We are working hard to find lasting solution –OSOPADEC

Efforts to speak with the Public Relations Officer of the BEDC in Akure were not successful as he was said to be out of the state. However, it will be recalled that as part of efforts to restore electricity in the Ondo South Senatorial district, the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the management of the BEDC.

At the time, the BEDC Chief State Head in Ekiti and Ondo states, Mr Edgar Ernest, estimated the debt of the communities in the area to about N1.9b, and assured that the management of the BEDC will soon restore electricity to the area.

However, the Chairman of OSOPADEC, Honourable Gbenga Edema, said efforts were in top gear by the state government to ensure that electricity is restored to the whole district. He also noted that he had been at the forefront of the vanguard to decry the outright marginalisation of the riverine communities.

Edema said: “I sympathise with them and also feel their pains because an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. We agree that electricity is key to development. A lot of our youths who have trained as artisans need energy. The government of the day has been trying so hard to see how it can restore electricity in that area. We were in a meeting with the Executive Director of NDPHC and he briefed us what is being done to solve the problem.

“We have been collaborating with the BEDC too and other stakeholders, and the government will soon find lasting solution to this. I also sympathise with them because for some of those things they were protesting about, some of us had also raised the alarm in the past.”

He disclosed that the delays were due to the huge challenges the present administration met on board in solving the problems, and restated the commitment of the state government to developing the riverine communities.

Edema, who said “the progress made might be slow but steady,” appealed to the people of the riverine area to be patient, assuring them that “the whole world will soon see the good things we are doing at OSOPADEC and as the government.”

The post For Irele, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo, Ilaje, it’s been a decade of darkness, neglect appeared first on Tribune.

The Olugbon of Ile Igbon, Oyo State, Oba Olusola Alao is a first-class monarch and member of Oyo State Council of Obas. In this interview by TUNDE BUSARI, he speaks on various issues concerning his domain and the state. Excerpts:

Your ascendancy to the throne last year followed the usual contest with others, how have you calmed  frayed nerves?

I am happy to inform you, based on this question, that I have, in the past one years, stretched my hand of love to other contestants and the entire people of Ile-Igbon. I have made them to realise that the throne is a divine call and nothing more than that. It is not a position which money can buy, in the true sense of it. It is more than that. God must have destined the occupier of the throne even before he was born. This is an aspect of life which I want people to think about and understand. Nothing can and will happen to anyone without prior knowledge of God, who, of course, created the person.

You sound somehow philosophical with this question. Have you mended fence with your co-contestants?

I have done my best in reaching out to them. And I am happy to say that I have achieved so such. But I am positive that we are working towards achieving total reconciliation, after all, everything is all about development of our town and making it a town of our collective dream. Ile-Igbon, I must remind you, is an ancient town with a very rich history in gallantry and industry. We were not a pushover among other Yoruba towns.  Go and check Yoruba history and confirm my claim. That is why I am one of the first class traditional rulers in Oyo State Council of Obas under the chairmanship of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi.

You just reminded me of that council, how can you describe the leadership of your chairman?

My experience so far in the council has taught me some lessons in leadership. I am specifically making reference to the Alaafin. He is an epitome of traditional authority, either in his words   or his actions on issues. I think, this accounts for his influence that cuts across and even spreads beyond here. I also think his long years on the throne since 1971 has impacted so much on him that when he talks, he does with strong messages. There is no doubt that we are fast learning the rope.

Can you update the public on the state of the palace you promised last year that you would build?

I am pleased to inform you that the project is ongoing, and a part of it will soon be ready for commissioning by Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The master plan comprises 10 buildings but one is near completion now with four big living rooms and 10 rooms. Grass planting is already done. It is a huge project on eight acres of land. I know where I am coming from. So, I know the palace that will complement the status. My town, as a matter of fact, deserves a befitting palace that will, on its own be a tourists’ attraction to visitors. We are on course.

Aside the palace you are constructing, what are other new things your last one year on the throne has witnessed?

It may interest you to know that the C&S (Cherubim and Seraphim) Church is relocating its world headquarters to my town. This is a giant stride, as far as development is concerned. I have given them more land to make this good news a reality as soon as possible. Work is ongoing. You need to visit the place and see the level of construction works going on there. I am happy that this is happening to me barely one year on the throne. And it is just a tip of the iceberg on the physical transformation coming to Ile-igbon during my reign.

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You just returned from a trip, led by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to Brazil. Could you do a brief review of that trip?

By all standards of assessment, it was a successful trip because we met the people, the Afro-Brazilians who cherish and value Yoruba culture even more than we do back home. It was interesting to witness these very enthusiastic people. We went to a place ‘Aye’ in Salvador, Bahia State. That site has a strong connection with slavery. We had lunch with the people there and they were touched. The Oonirisa, leader of the team, signed a pact making Salvador an extension of Ile-Ife part of Oodua nation. It was an historic moment when the Oonirisa was putting pen on paper. We were able to showcase our culture through our dresses and total comportment which earned us a lot of respect at public places including airports. All of us on that trip had one or two things to say, as regards the benefits derived from it. Yoruba is indeed blessed with rich heritage, only that we seem to undermine it. But with that tour, there is no going back, as charged by the Oonirisa, in our efforts to revive our culture and market it to the larger world. We have it, and we are not going to allow foreigners to come and teach us our language.

The Oyo State Governor,  Abiola Ajimobi recently distributed 36 cars to some traditional rulers in the state. How significant is that presentation?

I guess you saw me at the event in Ibadan to understand how I was able to feel the mood of the traditional rulers who went home with these automobiles. They were visibly happy to be beneficiaries of the gesture. The importance of it is that the vehicles will aid their movements from their towns to different places they want to go. Another importance is that it showed the kind of leader Governor Ajimobi is and also the type of administration he is running in the state. The governor knows some of the challenges faced by these traditional rulers and came to their aid at the appropriate time. You needed to be at the ceremony to appreciate what I am talking about better. Everybody was happy. How would you react to the fact that some traditional rulers travel on motorcycles to visit neighbouring towns? That is the picture. It is not all traditional rulers that can afford latest automobile because fingers are not equal just as towns are not also of the same size and population and opportunities.

Do you like the one given to you?

I was not one of the beneficiaries because of my status in the council. The Alaafin of Oyo was also not given and other first class Obas. But I must tell you that ours are coming. Governor Ajimobi is a fair governor who does things in a way you cannot quickly understand unless one thinks deeply. He is a great thinker. I think, his previous experience in the corporate world really helped him. But in this life, it is difficult to satisfy everybody. One should not even try it because it is going to be exercise in futility. I don’t think God created the world for such to happen. But what is most important is the best you do according to your conviction. Once this is done, you are okay. Leave the rest for God. That is my principle of living my life even before I became the Olugbon.

At a book launch at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife last week, you expressed a soft spot for womanhood. What informed this?

My remark was not accidental. It wasn’t made because that event was in honour of the heroine ‘Moremi’. The remark represented my natural mindset for womanhood. We should stop deceiving ourselves, God endows our women with special attributes, which we should better accept and appreciate. I am an advocate of giving women opportunity to express themselves in higher capacities. There are evidence here in Nigeria and in other countries where they do far better, both in private and public service. All we need to do in this country is to encourage them with sincere support. They can move mountains. They can restore the lost glory for Nigeria. Again, I am saying it with all emphasis that our women are capable to take Nigeria to where it ought to be.

The post My town deserves a palace that will be tourists’ attraction —Olugbon appeared first on Tribune.

Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, the Onpetu of Ijeru land was a banker before ascending the throne of his forefathers. In this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, he speaks on Christianity, polygamy, challenges of development, perceived distortion of Yoruba history, development in Yoruba land, his vision for Ijeru and sundry issues.

What was your growing up like?

Just like that of any other person, just that though I came from a royal family, I was not born with a silver spoon, I must confess to you, I was born in a village, I grew up in a village called Idi Opele in Surulere Local Government of Oyo State, I attended my primary school in that village, I left the village at the age of 12, I came back to Ogbomoso where I stayed for a while before I left for Igbeti where I went to secondary school, you can see that I moved from one end of the village to another end of the village but don’t call Igbeti a village, it is no longer a village because by the time that I was leaving in 1980, they brought pipe borne water and electricity. So my five years in that place, we were using ‘generating sets’ powered by kerosene

As a born again Christian, how do you balance your faith with tradition?

Very simple; there is no conflict; it’s just like any other occupation. They way you balance your journalism with your faith is the same way we balance our traditional institution with our faith. You see we are always making the mistake that traditional institution is synonymous to idolatry, it is not so, yes there is traditional religious belief just the way we have Christianity and Islam. You may decide to choose which one you want to follow. If you decide to be a traditionalist, there is no problem; if it’s Christianity, no problem. But as for me, I choose to be a Christian.

Why?

One, I was born into it but that is not enough, I encountered Christ myself and I got to know the truth. So, having known the truth, I saw that there’s no contradiction between your role as a traditional ruler and a Christian but we often make the mistake of trying to mix traditional institution with traditional religion and belief. They are two different things, therefore being a Christian and being a traditional ruler; none can obstruct the other. When it is time for me to perform the duty of an Oba, I know when to do it and when it is time excuse myself, I tell my people, look, it is time for me to go for my religious activities, they understand me and release me to go. And I thank God, few of my chiefs are getting to know the truth, some of them are joining me to pray because they see that there is power in prayers and there’s nothing secret in Christianity. I left it open for them to see and they see that my belief does not affect my duty as a traditional ruler, when it’s time for traditional festivals, I do it and when it’s time to go for any activity like state functions, I attend. It doesn’t affect my faith just like any other occupation.

Does your duty as a king restrict your activities as a man of God?

I think I explained that earlier, it does not because the Bible says in Ecclesiastes Chapter three that for everything there’s a season, so there’s time as a man of God, there is time as a king even if you are not a man of God and you are a king, you have your own leisure time. You can decide to use your leisure time to evangelise, take your holiday or go for mission assignments. You have to plan your schedule so that one will not affect the other and as a man of God, every opportunity calls for preaching even while you are performing your traditional assignments, you can still preach to the people. There is no limit to when and where you can preach the word of God.

•  Defection: Supporters hold solidarity rally for Saraki

Some claim that the history of the Yoruba race has been distorted; is this correct?

It is difficult to ascertain which Yoruba history is authentic or which is not because in the early days, there were no written documents, history was passed from mouth to mouth and anything passed in this fashion is subject to modification because each person will narrate it the way it suits his own purpose. So it is possible that from one generation to the other, people have been polishing the history to suit their own ethnic within the Yoruba race. History itself is not stagnant, it is dynamic, that is why one cannot really say much about distortion unless you narrow it down to which aspects they think has been distorted or which is not distorted.

What are your thoughts on the unity, progress and development of the Yoruba race?

Unity within the Yoruba race is a necessity if we want to forge ahead and have an impact in the nation’s political terrain but we are not conscious of our neighbors, because they know that in our unity lays our strength, they don’t want us to unite and will do everything to ensure we do not have unity. Unfortunately, the politicians who we think should be the rallying point are not interested in the unity of the Yoruba race. Rather, they are interested in their own political identity, once they can identify with the winning political party, they are contented. And anybody who wants to volunteer or champion the cause of this unification of the race must be a person of means, even if you are a traditional ruler, if you don’t have the means, people will not believe or support you, they will think you are a rabble rouser that just wants to be noticed. If the Yoruba race does not unite, we cannot have an impact in the nation.

Forget about what people have been saying; that Yoruba people are well educated, they are industrious, they control the financial sector, they say that when they want to deceive us, other races are coming up; some have even overtaken the Yoruba race. When you look at the government structure now, you can easily list the Yorubas occupying any significant position of authority, whereas, in almost every sector of the economy, you will find other tribes there competing favourably and even beating the Yorubas to it. So we need divine intervention. Unfortunately, we are even further being divided by religion but I believe in one thing, if you are a believer in one type of religion and I am a believer in another type of religion, if we have the same focus, we can come together, pray together and we will achieve what we want.

What are your thoughts on recession?

The recession that we are passing through is not limited to Nigeria but I have my personal perspective to recession and the approach of getting out of it. How did we find ourselves here? Has God not been faithful as a nation? God has been good to us, that is why we are endowed with so many mineral, human and material resources. In the early days, we grew up to know every region in this country as specialized farmers; groundnut in the north, cocoa in the south and the revenue from this was used to develop the nation in all spheres but what was our population? Very few, that is why we could embark on development and free education with cocoa proceeds, but when God discovered that our population was increasing, he gave us crude oil and we became self sufficient and believed we had arrived, the giant of Africa and father Xmas, we even went ahead to pay civil servants salaries in Trinidad and Tobago for eighteen months. We forgot that when you have today, you plan for tomorrow but we refused to plan, our population was increasing, yet we continued living large like when our population was few, that’s why we found ourselves in recession. One other factor is politics of hatred, we are not involved in politics of development and until we dispense with this, we cannot go forward. For example, there is no continuity in projects by successive administration, this is a waste of resources, wasteful spending. We do not have a joint focus as a country; our focus is being dictated by the political parties we belong. Until we dispense with this, we will not go far or move out of recession. We are putting our hope of getting out of recession on increasing price of oil, if oil price is going up, is exchange rate going down? We allowed our economy to be destroyed by our economists who will be propounding theories. America did not allow her currency to be rubbished but we allow our own currency to be rubbished under the name of being tagged a developing nation. No country that leaves her economy to be manipulated by international agencies can survive. My position is the moment we allow our currency to be floating and subjected to market forces, we are deceiving ourselves about being ready to go out of recession. We missed it because Buhari allowed himself to be bamboozled by economists.

The post Unity within the Yoruba race is a necessity —Onpetu appeared first on Tribune.

Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos and Kwara states share something in common, which is an assemblage of Owu sub-ethnic group towns and communities. What do the Owus have which is lacking in other Yorubas? TUNDE BUSARI digs further into these unique people.

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Olugbode compound is prominent among ruling houses that has produced the Olubadan in person of Oyesile Olugbode who reigned between 1851 and 1864. Olugbode is said to have migrated from Owu just as other people, who are Ibadan indigenes today, also have their roots in other Yoruba towns and communities.

Significantly, a striking feature of the Owus in Yoruba nation is found in their occupation of about four states in Southwest and North central zone of the federation. There are about 37 towns in Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Kwara States who share one origin in Orile-Owu (Osun State). In other words, all the Owu towns are children from one household but separated following a war that ravaged and eventually dismembered Orile Owu in 1420.

Some of the towns include: Orile Owu, Owu Kuta, Owu Isin, Owu Ijebu, Owu Ikosi, Telemu, Erunmu, Owu Epe,Obaloyan, Ilemowu, Gbawojo, Olowu Iji, Owu Ile, Owu Mushin, Owu Igboye, Owu Oke Ode, Owu Ajaawa, Owu Ifo,Owu Ogbaagbaa among others.

Very Important Personalities, who have over the years distinguished themselves in their respective callings, are indigenes of Owu Kingdome; among of whom are the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola, former Minister of Finance, Dr Onaolapo Soleye, former Governor of Ondo State, Brigadier-General Ekundayo Opaleye, the late Chief Akin Olugbade.

ALSO READ: Buhari receives Akpabio in London

To assert their distinctness among other Yoruba towns, the Owus organized themselves under an umbrella which was set up in 1986 by the initiative of the late Olugbade who was the Balogun of Owu Kingdom. Registered as the Royal Union of Owu People (RUOWP, the body has served a veritable rallying point for Owu sons and daughters with its annual meetings rotated among towns.
Aside the RUOWP, there is also the Supreme Council of Owu Obas under the current chairman, Oba Adekunle Oyelude, the Olowu of Owu Kuta.

A few weeks ago, the sleepy domain of Oba Oyelude was electrified by the arrival of some traditional rulers for the 13th edition of the council meeting held inside the newly upgraded palace of the Olowu.  After the very engaging deliberation characterized by robust debate among the monarchs, a communiqué was issued with the traditional rulers urging the federal government to restructure security apparatus of the country to effectively confront the crime challenges plaguing the nation.

Specifically, the incessant killings, kidnappings and other criminalities in the country gave the royal fathers a serious concerned of which they told President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet to speed up response just as they commended the president on boosting agriculture sector with a view to make Nigeria a food sufficient nation.

They also charged the politicians to play the game strictly according to the rules, declaring that politics should not be a do-or-die battle but patriotic service to the generality of the society regardless of party affiliations.

Owu

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The post Owu: One kingdom scattered among five states appeared first on Tribune.

The Olowu Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude, speaks with TUNDE BUSARI on the meeting of the council and the significance of that meeting to the Owus. Excerpts

Can you shed light on what the Supreme Council of Owu Obas sybolises?

The council, as the name implies, is the assemblage of all traditional rulers of Owu descendants. We meet twice in a year at approved venue, and I am the chairman of the council.

Doesn’t the council mean a subtle attempt to separate the Owus from other Yoruba people?

Is that possible? How would that possible? What is the origin of the Owu? Owu is not a sub-ethnic group of Igbo or Hausa or Fulani or Nupe. Owu is Yoruba with origin in Ile-Ife, a place we all acknowledged and revered as the cradle of Yoruba race either in Nigeria, Benin Republic or in the Diaspora. Owu is an indigenous Yoruba town which suffered a war that led to its people moving to different places in Yorubaland. We are not trying to carve out another Yoruba from the Yoruba. What we do is to reawake our identity with a view to doing things in common for the benefit of the Yoruba nation as a whole. How can anybody refer to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo without mentioning his Yoruba race? Do Fulani, Hausa or Nupe bear Obasanjo or Bola Ajibola or the late Tayo Aderinokun? No. And these are Yorubas but of Owu extraction. We are trying to foster unity among ourselves.

What are the key points you arrived at after your meeting?

We commended the federal government for its diversification of the economy policy. We have realized that the era of relying only crude oil to power the economy is gone. Then what do we do in that circumstance other than looking elsewhere for alternative means of survival? That where President Muhammadu Buhari has scored a good point. Agriculture is being expanded now. You must be aware of the Lagos-Kebbi partnership on rice production. I am saying it to you that sooner, this country will not need to spend our foreign exchange on importation of items which we have natural and human resources to produce here. I see Nigeria exporting these items to other countries. It is a good development which we should not sweep under the carpet. We also charged the president to accelerate action on security issue in the country. Peace is the bedrock to any development any administration intends to achieve. All the killings here and there are not good for the image of the country. Prospective investors will not be willing to put their money where security is not guaranteed. So, we urged the government to restructure security apparatus to make it easier to confront the situation. Government should see objective criticism from right perspective to encourage the public to offer suggestion. Objective criticism must be seen a check and balance principle of Democratic government. Government of change must be all-inclusive because nobody has monopoly of knowledge in bringing change to society.

You must have been disappointed in the government approach so far?

It is not about being disappointed. It is rather about urging the government to do more. As you too can observe the Boko Haram issue is not as pronounced, meaning the government is achieving remarkable success in that area. The National Security Adviser is doing a great job. As a traditional, a royal father to all, must speak encouraging words because peace is paramount to development.

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Having mixed with all major ethnic groups in the country, do you see a more united Nigeria in face of regular threats?

That is why we urged the government to be more proactive on security. We believe that unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable. My experience across the country has taught me this. There is unequalled strength in our diversities.

I observe that your town, Owu-Kuta is somehow strategic to other Owu towns. Can you expatiate on this?

Some Yoruba History books, especially the History of Yoruba by Samuel Johnson, will guide you better on the place of Owu-Kuta among other Owu towns and communities. After the war that disrupted Orile Owu, Owu Kuta was the first settlement. It was later others then moved to different locations. To that extent, Owu Kuta is central to them. Here in this palace, I host meetings of Owu sons and daughters because they see Owu Kuta as their home.

How has life been on the throne since you became the Olowu?

Life on the throne is a different life by all standards. The throne is a sacred place where the occupier is expected to observe all the righteousness. Being a Muslim or Christian does not remove the fact that you are a traditional ruler who passed through some traditional rites before you are given the crow. What I am saying in essence is that the throne is different from the life one was living as a prince. But I can tell you with all honesty that I have adjusted myself to the throne, and I am happy with what we have achieved so far. As I have said earlier, I am the chairman of the Owu Obas today, and the council is progressing in its duties. Our sons and daughters out there are very proud of us. They share ideas with us, and we look at those ideas and find ways of implementing them.

The road leading to your town is not in a good state considering that you host important dignitaries. How do you feel, and what have you done about it?

Of course, there is no traditional ruler that will not want basic amenities for his town. This is telling you that I am not comfortable with the state of that road. But my closeness to the government is an opportunity for me to know the size of the workload carried by the government. I trained myself to be fair in my judgment on issues. Give this fact, it will be unfair for me to castigate the government when I know as you and others do that paucity of fund is the problem faced by government at all level. I have made some efforts but they have not yielded result. But I am sure that the efforts will yield fruit one day. If the road is not fixed before the tenure ends, it would be done when another government comes to power. So far, government is a continuum, I have no doubt in my mind that the road and other amenities we need in the town would be given unto us.

The post ‘We are an assemblage of traditional rulers of Owu descent’ appeared first on Tribune.

The 2018 edition of the Odun Oba Festival in Ikere-Ekiti was another epoch in the community, with the annual celebration fast becoming a festival to reckon with among the people. Odun Oba Festival was designed as an annual event to mark the coming out of new yams, and a time to pay homage to the paramount ruler of the town, the Ogoga, Oba Samuel Adejimi Adu Alagbado.

At Odun Oba Festival, the various groups and organisations, in their revelry, sang praises of the Ogoga, danced to dexterous drumming and prayed for the monarch. In the process, they also prayed for the prosperity of Ikere as well as a long reign for the reigning Ogoga.

The various dignitaries at the ceremony were not left out of the joyful occasion as they gave their time and talent to the success of the 2018 edition of the Odun Oba Festival. The ceremony was not one for speeches, but the chairman of the Odun Oba 2018 Planning Committee, Otunba Sola Adewumi, while welcoming the people to the ceremony, said the event was meant to showcase the greatness of Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State and indeed, Yoruba land.

Otunba Adewumi said the Odun Oba was “the grand finale of all Ikere-Ekiti festivals.”

Oba Adejimi Adu, at the 2018 Odun Oba Festival commended indigenes of the community at home and in the Diaspora for their cooperation with him to give the town an uplift, saying this had resulted in positive changes that could be seen by all and sundry.

The monarch noted particularly that in 2018 alone, not a few sons and daughters of Ikere-Ekiti had achieved remarkable milestones in their various successful careers in law, academics politics and in business. He noted with delight the inauguration of the first gas plant in the town, which he said had served as an avenue to provide jobs for more of the young people of the community.

The traditional ruler also used the occasion of the large assembly of the people to call for peace and calm among the people, particularly following the loss of an indigene of the town in the recent governorship election in the state. He appealed across political divides not to allow the governorship election to divide them, saying the interest of Ikere should always be topmost in their priorities.

Particularly alluding to the circumstances surrounding the loss of Prof. Olusola, an indigene, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Oba Alagbado stressed that elections were over, and that those aggrieved by its outcome should forget the past and move on.

In his speech on the occasion, the Sapetu of Ikere-Ekiti  Professor Olufemi Babatola, highlighted the importance of Odun Oba festival to the life of Ikere community, pointing out that the ceremonies which start in July were “a celebration of agriculture heritage and fertility of the land” and that nothing fetish was associated with it.

He said: “This is the conclusion of the festivity, it is the “idupe” (thanksgiving) but now the Ogoga rechristened it as “Odun Oba” to make it more comprehensive. This is harvesting period, even the pastor in the church will ask for “akoso” (first fruit) from you. It is a thanksgiving period to thank God that last year, we planted and we are now harvesting.”

The Sapetu said the Odun Oba Festival has nothing to do with anything fetish or worship of idols as he said was the contention in some quarters, pointing out that “it is a celebration of agriculture heritage and fertility of the land.”

He said: “This is the time that yam, which is the major food here, is matured and we are starting to harvest. Before this ceremony, the Ogoga or the Sapetu will not eat the yam until the celebration.

“We started eating since last Saturday because the “idasu Sapetu” was on Friday, then the second day, the “idasu Ogoga” the night of on Friday to the early morning of Saturday then the second day we eat the yam.

He urged the people of the town to go back to land and engage in agriculture not just to ensure food security in Ikere-Ekiti and Ekiti State, but also for economic prosperity.

The post Ogoga charges on peace as Ikere celebrates Odun Oba Festival appeared first on Tribune.

Adeyipo village is set to mark another landmark as the home to a research institute. The village which is the location of great films; Mainframe’s White handkerchief, The narrow path, The wind of change and Eru Amukun amongst many others is more importantly, the home of the largest African studies library in Africa with over 100, 000 volumes, the African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Center (AHRLC). The management and Board of Advisors of the Research Library, located at Adeyipo village in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo state, have concluded arrangements to immortalize the name of Governor Rauf Aregbesola with the building of a Yoruba Studies Centre at the village.

The library is second only to the North Western University in the United States which has 250, 000 volumes and is the largest African studies collection and the School of Oriental affairs in the University of London that has 200, 000 volumes.

Now, it is setting another landmark to further entrench Yoruba culture and language and create a platform for the sustenance of the Yoruba heritage.

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The centre, named Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Yoruba Studies Centre is in recognition of the governor’s effort as a formidable exponent of Yoruba language and a reputable advocate of Yoruba traditional values worldwide.

The Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Yoruba Studies Centre, identified as first of its kind in Africa, is to initiate intensive research activities on the language, history, arts and culture of the Yoruba, among scholars, researchers, archivists and documentalists; and also to take Yoruba to the enviable position of a World Language.

The Centre in addition, is established to foster unity and harmony between the Yoruba Race and all ethnic groups in the country, as well as in the entire African Continent and its Diaspora.

When completed, the Centre will boast of a well-equipped library; talking drum museum; a language and culture studies school; a Conference hall, a board room; and an administrative wing.

An advance team of the African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre, comprising Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade (Chief Librarian) and Gbemisola Edun (Secretary), both representing the Director/ Founder, Dr. Bayo Adebowale (Associate Professor of Creative Writing in English), met with Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who gladly endorsed the project and promised to see to its early completion and eventual commissioning, in no distant a time.

The post Adeyipo village to get Yoruba studies centre in honour of Aregbesola appeared first on Tribune.

Yam, which is one the staple food items in Nigeria and Africa as a continent is unique and popular among the major crops cultivated by farmers in small scale and commercial quantities over centuries. Its harvest during the months of July and August every year often attracts wide range of celebrations and festivals within the population of ethnic nationalities constituting Nigeria.
In Yorubaland, pomp and thrills associated with new yam festival have not only added colour and great expectation the celebrations have also gone a long way in re-awakening the cultural significance of yam and creating ample opportunities to underscore the need to embrace agriculture as means of shoring up the nation’s revenues.  As parts of the fulfilment of his cultural tourism agenda, the Ooni of Ife,  Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi last Wednesday led a multitude of indigenes, tourists and invited guests to celebrate the New Yam Festival which had not been so elaborately celebrated in the last 120 years.

But, the celebration of this year’s new yam festival by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in the historical town, further lent credence to the critical need for the protection and sustenance of African cultural heritage and promotion of the agriculture sub-sector as a veritable means of creating employment and generation of more revenue to cater to the socioeconomic expenditures of the nation.

Historically, the new yam festival is an interesting occasion commemorated annually by almost all of the ethnic groups in Nigeria. It usually takes place around the end of July, while some people still consider it taboo to eat the newly harvested yam before this date. The community’s high priest sacrifices a goat and pours its blood over a symbol representing the god of the harvest. Then the carcass is cooked and a soup is made from it, while the tubers of yam are boiled and pounded.

After the priest or the traditional ruler must have offered prayers for a better and bountiful harvest in the coming year, the New Yam Festival feast would be declared open by eating the pounded yam and soup. Then everyone partakes in the merriment that accompanies the New Yam Festival after which the people are now traditionally permitted to begin the consumption of new yam.

A highlight of the New Yam Festival, particularly among the Yoruba people, is the divination rite that determines the destiny of the community and the likelihood of an abundant harvest. One of the recently harvested tubers of yam is taken and divided in two. The two parts are thrown up in the air, and if one part lands face up and the other face down, it is considered a very promising sign. If both fall either face up or face down, it is taken as a bad omen

The newly repackaged festival known as “Odun Isu” in Yorubaland held at the Ile-Oodua palace, Ile-Ife, drew citizens from other Yoruba towns in large numbers, who thronged the ancient and historical town to celebrate with him amid colourful display of culture and traditions.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the festival, Ooni Ogunwusi narrated that a deity called “Oreluere” who was one of the 401 deities sent by God (Olodumare) to establish the world was the first hunter on the planet earth that planted yam before Oduduwa supported him in making it a success.

While acknowledging that God had provided different kinds of necessary foods for sustainability of humanity, the traditional ruler observed that the process of originality of yam production emanated from the cradle of the Yorubas (Ile-Ife), emphasising that yam is one of the foods with high carbohydrate that gives energy to the generality.

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Oba Ogunwusi recalled that Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yorubas collaborated with other deities on how yearly plantation would be guaranteed, stressing that “Owo dynasty also value the celebration yearly because yam festival is a very big event across yam belt in the world. Yoruba cultural heritage is very keen on it.”

According to him, “I charge all other neighbouring towns especially Yorubas to emulate the ancient city of Ile-Ife in making the event a continuous exercise. Our youths must go into huge commercial farming as Yoruba communities are known as producers of yam for the entire world. This would not only create employment for our teeming youths, it would also enhance the economic growth of our country.”

He continued, “this belt is called yam belt and these yam belts produce 70 per cent yam for national consumption, while others shared the remaining 30 per cent. The plantation started from the kingdom of Ife to the Middle Belt of Nigeria straight to Central African Republic and other West African countries down to Southern Africa. Individuals have their own capabilities and strength for production and Yorubas have mastered this and become the experts in yam production.”

Ooni Ogunwsui at the celebration of the New Yam Festival, however, who is also the co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers, noted that the past heroes of the nation and its founding fathers had suffered for the social and economic sustainability of Nigeria, emphasising the need for the people, most especially youths “to crown their efforts in appreciating them by embracing farming.”

Earlier in his remark, the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, congratulated Ooni Ogunwusi on the 2018 yam festival, commending him for promoting culture and tradition of Yoruba race globally.

Ogunbodede maintained that the New Yam Festival had further promoted the rich cultural exports of the Yorubas to the global  community, with attraction of not only local and international tourists to Ile-Ife, but also to other Yoruba communities, pointing out that celebration of the New Yam Festival greatly added values to economic benefits of the nation as it would encourage farming and community development.

He appealed to the three tiers of government to ensure the improvement of storage facilities of agricultural produce for adequate safety for human consumption, just as he tasked government to provide infrastructures such as electricity, potable water and good roads for smooth transportation of farm produce from farms to the cities for more patronage.

Ogunbodede, who lauded the Ooni for his sustained efforts in maintaining peaceful coexistence on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University and Ile-Ife in general, said “the relative peace we are enjoying in Obafemi Awolowo University community is the handiwork of God who used Ooni Ogunwusi. As we are enjoying him in Ife and Yoruba land at large, the entire nation is also enjoying him because of his peace mantra.

“He has severally organised for people from Brazil, Portugal, and Cuba to come to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to learn African languages. I here pledge that the school management would not disappoint him.”

Also, the Olopo of Ilode, Oba Oyedotun Akintibubo, commended the Ooni for the celebration of New Yam Festival, first in the history of Ife kingdom, assuring that the community, state and Nigeria at large would experience surplus over the years, for the farm produce especially yam and corn, which he said would be maximally grown extensively.

“With this year celebration of New Yam Festival, people will not experience hunger and hardship again, for the land will strongly produce seeds for the satisfaction of human race,” he said.

The post Boost for agriculture as indigenes, tourists celebrate New Yam Festival in Ife appeared first on Tribune.

In the history of Iwo, the ancient town never witnessed an Egungun Festival during which a masquerade would present a pressing iron gift to the Oluwo of Iwo.

Last Saturday, a masquerade, which goes by the name, Ajofeebo, stunned the teeming crowd inside the palace of Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi when he stepped forward and handed a brand new pressing iron to the Oluwo.

The odd spectacle literally caught the traditional rulers unawares watching the masquerade with amazement as it walked towards him on his seat. The apparently elated Oluwo rose from his seat, collected the iron and raised it up to the ovation by the large spectators who filled every available space in the palace.

He prayed for the masquerade and explored the opportunity to appraise his campaign for repackaged cultural festival.

“The pressing iron presented to me is not as important as the way the masquerade presented it. That is my message. That is what I am telling the Yoruba nation about our cultural heritage. Our festivals should be meant to show love, exchange of gifts and sportsmanship,” he sermonised.

Also decked in a colourful costume made from blue and red Ofi fabrics, the Oluwo blended well with over 100 masquerades who performed before him one after the other in amidst of wild applause by their followers and guests who complimented the traditional ruler at the occasion.

Significantly, all the masquerades appeared in what looked like new costumes, a sharp departure from their regular old, scary dresses.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the new outlook of the masquerade followed the strict directives from the Oluwo before the Egungun Festival, insisting that he would only welcome into the palace premises well-dressed masquerade who put on attires that match modern fashion trend.

It was learnt that the monarch had earlier sent messages to all masquerade families to sew new costumes for their masquerades in line with his efforts to change the face of cultural festivals in the town. Oba Akanbi, it was also learnt, even gave money to some of the masquerades to ensure compliance to new dress code.

An indigene of Iwo, who watched the performance, Biola Alarape, expressed his satisfaction at the outlook of the masquerades, commending the families for their cooperation with the directives from the Oluwo.

“I can say that we are seeing is good for our eyes. We can easily present his show to outside world. This life is not static; we live in a dynamic world in which things change quickly. There is no reason we should not upgrade our culture to follow the acceptable trend,” Alarape, who claimed to have also watched last year edition, said shortly before the show was rounded off.

Commercial activities at the surrounding streets witnessed a boom as sachet water and soft drinks hawkers did not subject themselves to much stress to sell to willing buyers who thronged the palace and filled the entrance to catch the fun of this year’s Egungun Festival in Iwo land.

Law enforcement operatives drawn from the regular police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) made their presence known amidst the crowd at this year’s Egungun Festival. Guided by reports of usual breakdown of law and order at performance involving many masquerades, the security agents lived up to expectations and provided check on would-be troublemakers.

Oba Akanbi justified their presence and summed it up thus: “There was always annual crisis during Egungun Festival before my enthronement. I brought sanctity and orderliness in. Since my reign, no single case of mayhem is recorded.

“And this is going to be the standard in every year. This Egungun Festival is supposed to be for catching fun; not making trouble. I am happy that we are walking away from that ugly past when tales of sorrow followed the Egungun Festival.”

Surrounded by about 20 traditional rulers from Iwo Kingdom, the Oluwo urged other towns to borrow a leaf from his innovation and upgrade Yoruba festival to the status of Christmas and others which are observed with fun and pageantry devoid of attacks and attendant violence.

The Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Information and Strategy, Alhaji Semiu Okanlawon was no less impressed by the glamour and excitement that characterized the festival, pointing out that Yoruba is blessed with rich cultural value and Iwo people with spirit of tolerating different religions.

Okanlawon, an indigene, who spotted a casual T-shirt, noted that the state government realized the significance of culture in general development, hence Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s special interest in giving equal opportunity to all faiths including officially recognizing a day known as Isese Day since the administration was inaugurated in 2010.

“What we saw today is evidence of enabling environment for each religion to express itself. That is the policy of the government into which the people of the state have keyed. You can see excitement in the people. You can see the large turnout. That goes to tell you that despite the fact that Iwo is Muslim dominated town, the people don’t forget their cultural heritage passed on to them,” he said.

Among the guests of the Oluwo was the Director of Museum and History of the Obafemi Awolwowo University, Professor Adisa Ogunfolakan, who also expressed his enthusiasm at the vision of Oba Akanbi to make Yoruba festival more attractive to the Non-Yorubas at home and in the diaspora.

With the donation and dress improvement, it is clear my message is yielding. I’m hopeful next year will be more enthusiastic. The Ludo game which we introduced this year also excited the people to identify with the Egungun Festival,” he revealed.

The post Egungun festival lights up Iwo appeared first on Tribune.

The preparations towards this year’s Owe Festival in Ile Oluji were hysterical! It reached fever pitch on the eve of the annual traditional Owe Festival, when the only market in the town was relocated to the centre of the community.

Relocating the community’s market is always done once in a year, and according to tradition, it is a way of announcing to the whole world that the new yam festival, called Owe Festival, by indigenes, is about holding in another 24 hours.

Owe Festival holds huge significance to indigenes and residents of Ile Oluji, a serene community in Ile Oluji Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State. Besides being an annual traditional event, meant to lift the ‘traditional embargo’ placed on consumption of fresh tubers of yam on indigenes of the town, it also provides the opportunity for those indigenes to offer prayers for their wellbeing and that of the community.

For instance, tales had it that in the days of yore, residents and indigenes, especially farmers in this largely agrarian community, saw the Owe Festival as a major factor that determined how bountiful the community’s next farm harvests would be.

It was therefore a common spectacle, then, seeing such farmers come from different villages, within the town to actively participate in the Owe Festival.

They lined up the streets, where the Owe priests would move on their way to the city square  to meet the chief celebrant, the Jegun of Ile Oluji, the community’s traditional ruler, and throw kolanuts on the way of those priests.

“Such kolanuts were later picked and planted by those farmers and the harvests were always bountiful,” stated one of the traditional leaders in the town, Chief  Yeghengha Henry Akinsuroju.

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Akinsuroju described the event as a way of invoking good harvests, apart from offering supplications to the forebears of the community.

“After the cycle of parliamentary meetings of traditional chiefs held every nine days in the community has been completed, the town is in some form of a recess. The Owe Festival, held every July, therefore signifies the end of such meetings.

“Besides, it also signifies the beginning of a series of cultural festivals, on the community’s calendar. Owe Festival usually opens the floodgate of cultural events in the town. For instance, other festivals in the town such as the Ogun festival, Obalufon and even the Lijebu Festival, considered to be the monarch’s traditional event, are expected to follow suit,” he stated.

Akinsuroju also expressed delight that waning interests, in the festival  are  being rekindled by the new traditional ruler of the community, Oba Olu Adetimehin, through different innovations he had introduced since ascending the throne few years ago.

According to him, prior Oba Adetimehin’s ascension of the throne, the advent of Christianity and Islamic religions had begun to take its toll on the once vibrant cultural festival, as evidenced in the increasingly-shrinking number of attendees, in the past.

Describing the Owe Festival as a way of giving thanks to God for his blessings to farmers and indigenes of the town, Oba Adetimehin stated that one of the key agenda of the palace on ascending the throne was to repackage cultural festivals in the town in a way that they would serve as tourists’ attractions.

“We believe one of the ways we can enhance and grow the economy of the town is to reposition its cultural festivals so as to attract people both within and outside the town. I think that is being gradually achieved now, as evidenced in the growing interest that we’ve recorded in the past few years,” he stated.

According to the community’s traditional ruler, the palace decided to create more publicity for the event, enhance security arrangements before, during and after the event and embark on some social  services, such as the general cleaning of the town, in order to create publicity for the event and properly bond it with the people.

Interestingly,  not a few  are of the opinion that the palace and the indigenes  of the town would not need to wait for long before seeing their dream, of a more improved and better packaged Owe Festival, come into fruition.

For instance, US-based Gbolagun, despite being a distance away from the town,  was part and parcel of this year’s festivities, describing the event as ‘a true way of enjoying a one-month vacation’, in the country.

“This is the type of festival people in other climes especially those in the developed economies spend money to ensure they are a part of. I think with gradual re-packaging, as we are currently witnessing, it’s a matter of time before the town begins to be a tourist’s delight,” he stated.

For Madam Ajoke, who operates a modest restaurant in the town, the festival did not only celebrate the culture of the people, it was also fulfilling, economically, especially for entrepreneurs in the town.

“How I wish we had this type of festival very often, because it boosts our economy,” she stated.

The post Owe festival: Celebrating tradition, community’s rich heritage appeared first on Tribune.

Last week, the Olugbo of Ugboland in Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, brought back the legendary Moremi Ajasoro whom he declared as ‘his wife’, to Ugboland. MONICA TAIWO, who was at the event, reports the relevance of the occasion.

There are certainly two sides to a coin; this could be said of the story of Moremi Ajasoro, who, to the Ugbos, will forever remain a treacherous wife who betrayed the trust her husband, the Olugbo, had in her by selling out to her people (Ile-Ife) the war secret of the Ugbos, thereby putting an end to the war supremacy of Ugbo over the people of Ile- Ife.

To the people of Ile-Ife, the treacherous Moremi of Ugboland remained a heroine, a saviour who sacrificed a lot to liberate her people from the Ugbo warriors.

A lot of controversies however surround her story and history, which is why according to the Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, he decided to set the record straight by bringing his “wife” Moremi back home where she belongs. Not literarily though, but by unveiling a massive effigy of a kneeling and submissive Moremi at the palace of the Olugbo, which signifies a posture of plea and appeal to be forgiven of her treachery and betrayal.

Oba Akinruntan in his opening remark at the event, which took place last week at the Obamakin Osangangan hall, Olugbo Palace, which had in attendance sons and daughters of Ugboland from far and near, professors of History from remarkable institutions of higher learning, students of History from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile –Ife and the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and many royal fathers, stated that a traditional ruler does not leave his wife, no matter what she did. Although Moremi betrayed the trust and love of her husband by selling out to the people of Ile –Ife, but she remained the wife of the Olugbo and no one else.

The Olugbo went further to say that he had heard a lot of other accounts regarding the story of Moremi, but history should be set straight and corrected because of generations unborn especially documentation.

The traditional ruler said the fact that Moremi was captured with other slaves during one of the Ugbo warriors’ raid at the Ile-Ife market is undeniable and of course her presence at the market during the time was according to the dictates of Ifa.

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“The people of Ife were tired of the incessant Ugbo warriors’ raid which rendered them hopeless. At the consultation of Ifa, they were instructed to leave a fair pretty virgin at the market for the Ugbo warriors to capture, which they did. On arrival at the Ugbo Oke-Mafurangan transit camp, the Olugbo, Obamakin Osangangan sighted the beautiful damsel and asked that she should be brought to him and not taken to the slave quarters. Moremi became the beloved wife of Olugbo and took advantage of his love and affection for her to find out the secret behind the Ugbo warriors’ gallantry. Without thinking twice as a result of the trust he had in her, the Olugbo told Moremi that the supposed spirits who raided Ife market were mere mortals; he went further to disclose how they could be disarmed.

“On hearing these, Moremi took to her heels, running away with the child she had for the Olugbo, Obamakin Osangangan. On her arrival at Ife, she disclosed what she learnt from her husband and as a result, the Ugbo warriors were demystified as a result of which seven of the 16 warriors stayed back in Ife and nine resolved to return back to Ugbo,” he said.

Oba Akinruntan said that some accounts stated that Moremi remarried, “this is not true, Moremi did not remarry and she remains Olugbo’s wife till date.”

According to him, “today’s event has become history and Moremi will be celebrated in Ugbo every eighth day of the eighth month, because on this day years ago, she betrayed the trust her husband had in her.”

The Olugbo went further to state that, a lot has been distorted, omitted and twisted in the pre-Oduduwa history, not only the story of Moremi alone. He however, reiterated his commitment to correcting these facts when he said, “I stand by the truth, and I am ready to prove these to all truth lovers. We must correct these for the sake of generations unborn.

“A lot of people will however, believe that the Olugbo and Ugbo people should be hostile towards her, but this is not the case. There is no event without its own lesson. Moremi has taught the Ugbos a lesson and to date one of such is the fact that Ugbos do not marry fair women because she was very fair.”

In his remark at the occasion, Professor Akin Alao of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, stated that he had carried out some research into the Ugbo/Ife history, saying that he discovered that a lot remained untold. He urged students present at the occasion to take advantage of this and go deep into research to unfold the truth.

Professor Olukoya Ogen, Provost, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, stated that he did a research on the Ugbo Ilaje history and discovered that they occupied the pre-Oduduwa history of Ile – Ife. He corroborated the account of the Olugbo and urged students present at the occasion to take up the challenge to correct history.

Dr. Ajayi, Head of the Department of History at the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, was not left out. He stated that the trend of research from his senior colleagues on the history of the Ugbo/Ilajes and the pre-Oduduwa period of Ile-Ife opened a new trend in research. He urged all students of history to tap into this as he has personally learnt a lot.

In his own word, Oba Sunday Adejinmola, Amuseghan, Lawe 11, Kalasuwe of Apoiland, said he had always been of the opinion that “there should be a pre- Oduduwa history of the Yorubas, since Oduduwa, we learnt, came in from the east.” He added that he was happy that history was being put through with the event and other facts unfolding.

Guests at the event were entertained with various cultural displays by the Ugbo Ilaje people.

The post Moremi remains my wife forever — Oba Akinruntan appeared first on Tribune.

Residents and people of Akoko in the northern senatorial district of Ondo State, drivers and commuters have decried the socioeconomic hardship brought on them by the condition of the Owo-Ikare road. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, after a visit to the four local government areas within the senatorial district, reports the frustration of the people and efforts to stem the tide of robbery, kidnapping and other security concerns along that axis.

The deplorable state of the roads within the four local government areas in Akoko land of Ondo State has been a source of concern to both residents and commuters within those communities. Apart from residents of these communities, travelling particularly on Owo-Ikare road has become a misadventure that many often regret venturing into while some commuters described their experience as harrowing and a persistent nightmare in the last few years.

The ever busy Owo-Ikare road which serves as the only connecting route for motorists and commuters from Lagos and other South West states to Abuja and other northern parts of the country has been described as a death trap by the people of Akoko communities, while the deplorable state of the Owo-Ikare road  reportedly contributes to the high rate of kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes in the area as criminals had turned the area to their permanent abode, becoming threat to security of lives and property.

Apart from the Owo-Akungba-Ikare road, the Ikare-Arigidi-Ajowa road, Ikaram-Akunnu road, Akungba-Oka-Isua road, Isua-Ipesi road, Ikare-Ogbagi-Oke-Agbe road among other roads in Akoko area of the northern senatorial districts are nothing to write home about while motorists and commuters suffer untold hardship as greater portions of the road network are in a deplorable condition ridden with potholes and gullies.

Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, a resident of Oba Akoko, Sola Williams said the people of the area heaved a sigh of relief when the immediate past administration in the state commenced the rehabilitation of the Owo-Ikare road at the end of its tenure but said the rehabilitation was abruptly stopped.

According to him, the deplorable state of the Owo /Akungba/ Ikare road federal road has contributed to multiple deaths, unending traffic jams with many motorists sleeping on roads while armed robbers and kidnappers operated on this road unhindered.

He disclosed that apart from accident caused by the bad portions on the road, no fewer than 25 people including traditional rulers, regents, high chiefs, clerics, politicians, students, and many others have been kidnapped along the Owo-Ikare road while nothing has been done to rehabilitate the Owo-Ikare road or find a lasting solution to the insecurity.

Williams noted that the state of the road has also created negative impact on the socioeconomic condition of the people of the area, disclosing that the development has led to high cost of transportation and food items, thereby leaving the people at the mercy of traders.

He said apart from this “policemen on the highway are not even helping. They have turned most of the bad spots to their checking points collecting money from commercial drivers while people are being kidnapped on daily basis.”

He said further “our political office holders from this land are not helping matters.  They should see this as a shame. We voted for them to improve our lives but the reverse is the case. The governor is from this senatorial district; we have a senator, honourables, commissioners and different influential people from Akoko.

“They promised us better life and change but almost two years we have not felt the presence of democracy. We demand for a responsive government; the people are suffering. The governor of the state should take up the challenge and it should stop shifting blame game.”

A trader, Risikat Olawale, attributed the high cost of food items to the deplorable situation of the road. She lamented that the market for the farm produce had been greatly affected, as customers who travelled from other places to patronise the traders were no longer coming, owing to the poor state of the roads.

“Due to the terrible state of our rural roads, we usually find it difficult to convey our farm produce to the market, leading to the destruction of some perishable produce. Our customers have stopped coming because of the bad road,” she said.

She however called on the state and federal governments and agencies responsible for the fixing of the road to quickly come to their aid by giving priority to the rehabilitation of the road to facilitate movement of rural dwellers from their various localities to the state capital.

Commercial drivers are not left out in the lamentation over the state of the road. One of them, Akinola  Balogun said they recorded huge cost on the maintenance of their vehicles everyday as a result of the poor condition of the road, saying this has led to increase in the fare.

Balogun said apart from the maintenance of their vehicles,  several lives have been lost to the bad portions of the road, saying the leadership of the union had met with the state government to find a lasting solution but noted that the state government’s hands are tied on the matter because the about 100km road is owned by the Federal Government.

“The government should focus on massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of this road rehabilitation and they should stop the pushing game of who is responsible for the rehabilitation of the road,” he said.

Another commercial driver, Moses Awubare, said “we spent over ten hours on a journey of less than six hours from Abuja to Akure; we were in Oba Akoko for more than four hours, we didn’t get to Akure until 6 pm. It was horrible. Some drivers plying the route now prefer to take a longer decoy.”

Students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), are not left out, as many of them have been guests to kidnappers while some of them lost their lives in car accidents along the Owo-Ikare road.

According to one of the students, Yewande Busari, “we have been living with this menace of poor roads for a very long time and more worrisome is not the very poor state of the roads, but the fact that kidnappers now feast on travellers on these routes. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business around here.”

Nigerian Tribune however noted that farmers within the Akoko area are worst hit by the deplorable state of the road. Some of the farmers who spoke to our reporter lamented that market for their farm produce had been greatly affected.

Yesufu from Ipesi Akoko said “as a result of the terrible state of our roads in Akoko, we usually find it difficult to convey our farm produce from the farm to our homes and to Akure, the state capital, leading to the destruction of some of the perishable produce before being conveyed to their destination.”

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Another farmer, Lateef Adeogba, appealed to both the federal and state governments to rehabilitate all the roads in the area so as to enable farmers to transport their produce easily to the market.

“The deplorable state of roads in this area is seriously impacting negatively on our means of livelihood. Even customers who travel from other places to patronise us are no longer doing so, owing to the poor state of the roads,” he said.

A community leader, Lasisi Ogunmola-Muhammed also identified the state of infrastructural facilities and the bad shape of road as reasons he opted to participate in the next election to ameliorate the plight of the people of the area, lamenting that the people of the area had been marginalised in the past.

He called on community leaders and people of the area to choose rightly during the next election and vote for leaders who will bring developmental projects to Akoko land.

Speaking on the state of the road, the Oliku of Iku-Ikare, High Chief Mukaila Bello, said apart from the federal road leading to Akoko, many roads within the communities were nothing to write home about.

According to him, some of the bad roads within the towns include: Okoja-Iku-Awara dam road, Okorun-Okoja road, Iku-Okegbe road, Agbo Okela road and Iku/New Okorun road which play host to the popular Awara dam.

He listed other inter roads to include: Saint Moses Orimolade Mercyland, Ikare Township Stadium among others, noting that “most of these roads have been in deplorable conditions since the administration of the late governor Olusegun Agagu.”

He said the people of the area have made several appeals to subsequent governments on the need to rehabilitate the roads.

Also speaking, Olokoja of Okoja-Ikare, High Chief Idowu Ogunyemi, noted that though the Federal Government had advertised some federal roads for reconstruction in Akoko area but called on the Ondo State government to place more emphasis on the construction and rehabilitation of township roads.

He recalled that traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the area had petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari seeking his intervention on the bad state of the Owo-Ikare road and the high rate of crime.

An official in the state who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, expressed the willingness of the state government to rehabilitate the Owo-Ikare road despite being owned by the Federal Government road, but lamented the inability of the Federal Government to refund about N11 billion the state used to rehabilitate, maintain and reconstruct some federal roads within the state.

He said the present administration in the state resolved not renovate any federal road until the outstanding amount was settled.

The state Commissioner of Works, Taofeek Abdulsalam expressed the willingness of the state government to rehabilitate the Owo-Ikare road so as to reduce carnage on the road but said the federal government had asked the state to stay action on the project.

Abdulsalam however said the state government had embarked on massive construction of roads in and around Akoko. “We have commenced and completed the 2.5km to Supare Akoko from Akungba. We have constructed another 2.5km Ikare /Ugbe road.

We will soon mobilise contractors to start work on the 35km Oba Akoko – Ikun – Ido Ani to Iwaro Oka. We have also mobilised contractors back to site to complete the ongoing construction work of Ifira Akoko – Ipesi Akoko road. The dualisation of Ikare will soon commence.

We are seriously working on the designs. The Akungba road construction is also on line. It’s a step at a time because all these are not something we can do within a year but I am assuring you that this government gives priority to road construction,” he said.

But Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, while on a courtesy visit to the state earlier this year has assured the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu that the Federal Government was working towards rehabilitation of the Owo-Akungba road and other federal roads in the state begging for attention.

Speaking on the efforts of the state police command to arrest the state of insecurity on the axis,  the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph said the “command is aware of the happenings within the axis” and had deployed its men to the area to curb kidnapping.

He however said “this is one of the reasons why you find our men not too far from this spot. We have noticed that if the vehicles are on top speed it is not possible for these criminals to operate and they only operate at the bad spots because vehicles need to slow than in those places.

“But we want to call on our people not to see the presence of these security operatives as a means of extorting from the people but our men are there to provide adequate security and wade off these criminals from this Owo-Ikare road completely.

“We are not resting on our oars to rid these criminals and perpetrators of these crimes. We also have some plain cloth men monitoring activities on this Owo-Ikare road.”

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