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Tag: Ife

  • Ethnic clash: Osun declares curfew in Ife

    Ethnic clash: Osun declares curfew in Ife

    The Osun state government has declared a two day curfew in Ile-Ife over alleged clashes between Hausa and Yoruba communities in the state.

    In a statement signed by Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the Director of Communications and Strategy, office of the Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, it said “the curfew, which will be between 6pm to 7am, takes effect from today Wednesday March, 8th, 2017 and will be in force till Friday.”

    The government said the curfew was necessitated by the breach of the peace in the area which has led to avoidable destruction of lives and properties.

    Five persons have been reported killed and many others injured in the clash.

  • Photos: Lives, properties destroyed in Osun crisis

    Photos: Lives, properties destroyed in Osun crisis

    Osun crisis (4)

     

    Osun crisis (1)

     

    Osun crisis (2)

     

    Osun crisis (3)

     

  • Oluwo of Iwo traces roots to Ife

    The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi has come  to Lafogido Ruling House of Okerewe in Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba race, to re-establish his roots in the ancient town.

    The Oluwo, who was accompanied by prominent indigenes of Iwo, including Chjef Abiola Ogundokun, was received by the head of the ruling house, Sooko of Obaraso of Ife, Babatunde Adediwura Omolaso.

    Omolaso, who described the visit as important, maintained that it would remain a significant trend in the annals of Ile-Ife in particular and the Yoruba people in general.

    Omolaso further explained that Lafogido Ruling House produced the 16th Ooni and the only female king that ever reigned in Ile-Ife, Luwo  Gbagida, whom he said gave birth to Adekola Telu, the founder of Iwo town.

    According to him, in his bid to expand and acquire more territories, Telu moved to Ogungbaro, and later to Igbo-Orita, and eventually settled at the present day Iwo.

    Omolaso said Iwo was a contraction from the “expression of the adventurers, (Ewooo) when parrots were sighted as the sign of appropriate location of settlement.

    “We welcome Oluwo to his ancestral home. This is his roots, his forebears left this place to establish Iwo town. The heir of Ooni Luwo,  Adekola Telu, founded the town,” he said.

    Responding, the Oluwo said the royal family in Ile-Ife today is one, describing the Osinkola, Ogboru, Giesis and Lafogido ruling houses as one and from the same father, same source.

    He maintained that Iwo is from the same source as “these ruling houses.”

    He said: “Iwo has a ruling house here in Ile-Ife. So, this means that an Ife Prince can come to Iwo to be on the stool just as an Iwo Prince too can come to Ile-Ife and still want to do the same.

    “The last time a historical event such as this happened was about 1,500 years ago when Oranmiyan came back to his father’s house. Although he became a king, by the grace of God, we will see what the future holds for us. This is for the future of our great land. The mother of Iwo is Luwo Gbagida. I want you to know that Ife and Iwo are from the same father,” he said.

  • OAU External members Governing Council letter to President

    OAU External members Governing Council letter to President

     

    8th July, 2016

    HIS EXCELLENCY,
    PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
    PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,
    COMMANDER IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES,
    VISITOR TO OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE
    OSUN STATE.

    Through:
    The Honourable Minister of Education
    office of the Honourable Minister
    Phase III, Federal Secretariat
    Shehu Shagari Way
    Abuja.

    Through:
    The Executive Secretary
    National Universities Commission
    Maitama
    Abuja.

    Your Excellency Sir,

    IN THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY

    I write on behalf of the “External members” of the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State consisting of the following:

    Professor Rowland Ndoma-Egba Chairman
    Arc Omoyele Daniel Member
    Chief Moses Otazi Member
    Hon. Tijjani Goni M. Guzamala Member
    Barrister S. I. Ameh, SAN Member
    Ms Ann Ebun Haruna Rep of Fed Min of Education

    Mr President, the most important reason for this write-up is, to express our profound gratitude to the government for giving us the privileged opportunity to serve our great country as Council members of one of the top four first generation universities in this country. We feel privileged and greatly favoured when we consider that to select 5 members to join a Council from a population of over 170 million could not have been an easy task. Once more, our profound gratitude.
    Your Excellency, running a university in a manner to achieve set objectives has never been easy anywhere in the world. This is understandably more so in our environment plagued with various challenges including poor financial resources, trades union matters, poor, decayed or decaying infrastructure, inadequate power and water supply, social maladies like cultism, tribalism and unemployment. In spite of all these challenges, the External members of Council working in close harmony with Internal members and Administration have been able since inauguration in February, 2013 to score tangible, verifiable achievements. The opportunities to achieve more have been identified and Council has been working assiduously to achieve them. The achievements of our Council will come as a separate report at the appropriate time. We were however, astonished when we heard over mass media including advertorial in print media that our Council, together with that of the University of Port Harcourt have been dissolved with immediate effect on July, 1, 2016.
    We are not in a position to say why University of Port Harcourt Council was dissolved.

    We are also, unfortunately, unable to say why our Council – Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was also dissolved since the advertorial did not say so. We feel obliged however, that it is in the interest of our integrity given the high confidence reposed in us by government to adduce the possible reasons for this action and perhaps present our side of the story. Your Excellency, it is an act of wisdom to appreciated that they are two sides to a story. We are left with no other option than this since we were not queried or given the opportunity to defend ourselves before the punishment was meted out. Perhaps as free citizens saddled with such high social responsibility, we deserved more. The second part of this communication is an attempt to explain our own side of events. Our objective is not to challenge government action but to leave a written permanent record of events that probably led to the dissolution of OAU Council.

    The immediate cause of the dissolution of the OAU Governing Council (OAUGC) must be the appointment of the 11th Vice-Chancellor(VC) of OAU. The term of the incumbent was to end on 23, June, 2016.

    DUE PROCESS FOR APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHANCELLOR:
    Your Excellency, the appointment of VCs in any Federal University ought not to be “rocket science” because the Federal Ministry of Education(FME) has produced in conjunction with the National Universities Commission(NUC) a complete, detailed directory on how it should be done! Called “APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHANCELLORS, RECTORS AND PROVOSTS”……..”WE CAN”.

    Using this FME guide, Council set out a due process that will ensure that a VC elect emerges by April,12, 2016. That will allow the VC elect to understudy the incumbent VC for a period of approximately 2 months before taking over. This is again aimed at a seamless and effective transition with good governance. Based on this philosophy, the following time-table evolved:
    1.Dec15-17, 2015: Advertisement of vacancy with clearly spelt out criteria/template for the candidate that befits the status, age and international standing of OAU. This will ensure a transparent, verifiable, just and fair process. * While the template recommended 2 national dailies, we advertised in6 national dailies.

    2.Jan 28, 2016: Special Council meeting to select Chairman of “The search Team” who must be an external member of Council. *Chief Moses Otazi was unanimously elected. Other members of the team as provided by the FME guide: two members of Senate who are not members of Council, one of whom must be a Professor; two members of Congregation who are not members of the Council, one of whom shall be a Professor

    3.Jan 28,2016. Closure of Application for post of VC

    4.Feb 1, 2016. Search team commences activities

    5.March, 7 2016. Search team concludes its activities. * Over 10 universities visited and over 90 Professors head-hunted. No external applicant in spite of search!

    6.March, 8, 2016. Council to consider and short-list applications already submitted by interested candidates. Advert used as template for the short-listing process. Before opening the boxes containing applications, Council debated the criteria and decided on the weighting of each of the criteria.*Curriculum vitae and submission of referees were used for the short listing. Before the scoring began, the cut-off point for short-listing was also agreed upon! * At the end of the short-listing exercise, 6 candidates were short-listed – IN ALPHABETAICAL ORDER AND WITHOUT SCORES IN THE RECOMMENDATION TO THE SELECTION BOARD!

    7. March, 18, 2016. Invitation to short-listed candidates to attend Interaction/Interview with Joint Council and Senate Selection Board.

    8.April, 6, 2016: Selection of Joint Council and Senate Selection Board according to FME guide:
    Pro-Chancellor (Chairman)
    Two members of Council who are not members of Senate (Members)
    Two member of the Senate who are Professors but not members of Search Team (Members)
    National Character Commission (Observers)
    Rep of FME (Observer)

    9.April 7-8, 2016: Formal Interaction between candidates and the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board. *On 7th April, 2016, while waiting to commence the interaction/interview, two unions SSANU and NASU who had been on strike for some “allowances and palliatives” from the outgoing administration, turned their vengeance towards the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board. It would seem at this point, that all efforts were being harnessed to frustrate the Selection Board. It would seem that the strike action was hijacked and further sponsored by some vested interests who did not want the due process to continue. It would also seem that the delay tactics were aimed at enabling SSANU and NASU to get a COURT INJUNCTION to stop the process. On persuasion by administration, we called a meeting of Council at the International Conference Centre to consider the aborted Interaction process at 11.30pm. It is amazing that the SSANU and NASU strikers became severely violent and restive. When I called out to the incumbent VC to call the Police, he said the Police Commissioner REFUSED TO ANSWER! It even became more serious when I asked him to call the SSS and the VC said THE SSS FEARED THAT THE WORKERS COULD BE ARMED AND SO WILL NOT COME!!!! At this point (12.30am), I had to call Ooni of Ife, His Royal Majesty Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja 11

    Your Excellency, that the External members are alive to tell this story owes everything to the concern and bravery of the Ooni of Ife. THAT THE SECURITY SERVICES ABANDONED US TO THE WHIMS AND CAPRICES OF AN IRATE, WILD AND VIOLENT WORKERS CANNOT BE ACCEPTABLE. The Council then took the decision on advice to hold future meetings of the Selection board in Abuja. The Administration informed Council that there is a purported injunction and that same was purportedly served on the University restraining Council from continuing with the exercise. To this, I am glad to report that the University has not been served with any injunction until date.

    10.May 31, 2016. Emergency Meeting of Council in Abuja:

    Following the severe violence by SSANU and NASU who ordinarily have no role in the selection of a VC, compounded by the failure of the Security services to protect us, we held our Council meeting in Abuja. This had 3 purposes:

    1.The state of the legal process
    2.The need of the Selection Board to hold the interaction
    3.The need to prevent a vacuum in Ife following the expiration of the term of the incumbent VC on 23/6/16.

    At the end of the Council meeting, the evaluation of the situation showed the following:
    1. After 2 months, there is no documentation to show that there is any court injunction preventing Council from carrying on its legitimate functions.

    2. The Department of Tertiary Education had written dated 18/5/16 with ref FME/HE/CU/3A/T/128; wrote and advised the Council to continue.

    3.The Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) who is member of Council was of the opinion that legally we had no legal encumbrance restraining Council from its normal activities although the matter could be classified as “Les Pendens”!

    Based on above considerations, Council directed the Joint Selection Board to go on and conduct the interaction with short-listed candidates.

    11. June,6, 2016:
    INTERACTION/INTERVIEW BY JOINT SELECTION BOARD

    Following adequate evidence that all short-listed candidates were duly informed, the interaction was held at the Committee of Vice-Chancellors(CVC) building at 10 am. Three (3) short-listed candidates showed up for the interaction and were duly accredited. Two candidates withdrew from the interview; one for personal health reasons and the other candidate withdrew in protest for the change of interview venue from Ife. The interview followed the template of the FME/NUC guide. The Federal Character Commission and the FME representative were in attendance as observers.

    Modus Operandi: This followed the guideline strictly in a transparent verifiable and fair manner. Each candidate had an IT exercise (same for all) for 5minutes, then made an oral presentation for a minimum of 30 minutes to sell his vision, mission and objectives. Scoring was individual. Candidates then had a final 10-20 minutes interaction. Final scores was by fining the mean of all scores.

    12.June, 6, 2016
    EMERGENCY MEETING OF COUNCIL TO RECEIVE RESULT OF JOINT COUNCIL AND SENATE SELECTION BOARD
    Following conclusion of the interview/interaction of the Joint Council Senate Selection Board, the result of the exercise was presented to the full Council. Council accepted the report which was then adopted for discussion The full Council after consideration of the report, approved that Professor Ayobami Taofeek Salami as the 11th Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University having performed best at the interaction/interview.

    At this Juncture, it is pertinent to draw your attention to the obvious fact that Prof. Ayobami Taofeek Salami after his selection, confirmation by Council, clearance by the Federal Character Commission and subsequent appointment has taken over as the 11th Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University and has been serving in that capacity without any impediments whatsoever since the 24th day of June, 2016.

    13. MATTERS ARISING:
    A. EVENTS OF 7/4/16:
    While performing our legitimate functions as the Governing Council of OAU, we were held hostage by violent NASU and SSANU members. These are people whose “industrial actions are really feared because of their violence which include a prominent use of juju”…Prof Roger Makanjuola (former VC, OAU. Is somebody saying that having faced this ordeal as hostages, and having been abandoned by the Security services, we deserve to be dissolved as a reward? Our witness is His Royal Majesty, the Ooni of Ife who deserves a special national honours for saving our lives.

    B.COURT MATTERS:
    Up to this point of writing, the Council has not sighted a Court order of any form not to talk of an injunction. The Council is therefore not in contempt of any court process. Even if the Council is in contempt, does the court need any external agency to hold its brief?

    CUNIVERSITY AUTONOMY:
    As a Council, we have never been able to understand the real meaning of “University Autonomy”. We find it hard to understand how running the affairs of the University within its Statutes and laws calls for sanctions. Even so, does the Council not deserve a right of fair hearing? How do others learn to perform better?

    D.SSANU, NASU & POST OF VC
    It is unbelievable that strike action by NASU and SSANU is being used to determine who becomes VC. In pidgin English they ask “wetin concern fowl with who chop kola?” It would seem that these are paid mercenaries! What remains frightening to this moment is why the Security services have tolerated the continued disobedience of the law with impunity. They have occupied the Administrative building since April. Although the police asked that we evacuate students, and the University was promptly closed, the Police are still to take action!

    It is however to our chagrin, that until this moment neither SSANU, NASU nor any other union whatsoever within the University, has written a petition to the Council or the joint Committee expressing their grievances with the process of the selection of the 11th Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

    E.CONCLUSION:
    In an article titled “Stigmatizing President Buhari”, Prof Olusola Adeyeye puts it aptly: “The toxicity of half-truths rarely emanates from the profligacy of falsehood but rather from the subtle distortion of truth! Blatant falsehood is intuitively obvious and as such easy to reject. By contrast, when truth is softly bent, it takes great discernment to perceive its toxicity”!

    The Governing Council of OAU stands by its honour and integrity and is willing to appear before anybody to defend itself! In the interest of our country we will act the same way without consideration for whose horse is gored. If this is aimed at securing power through the backdoor for any person, it is most unfortunate at this time of the CHANGE!!!!

    Please see the following annexures
    (a)The Letter of Clearance by the Federal Character Commission

    (b)Letter from Director Tertiary Education had written dated 18/5/16 with ref FME/HE/CU/3A/T/128

    I thank you for your patience, your Excellency

    Prof. Rowland Ndoma-Egba

    CC.
    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation
    OSGF
    Three Arm Zone
    Abuja.

  • Ooni of Ife, Ayade, Spike Lee, others for NAFCA honours

    Ooni of Ife, Ayade, Spike Lee, others for NAFCA honours

    His Imperial Majesty, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II (Ooni of Ife), Governor Benedict Ayade,  Richard Mofe Damijo, Spike Lee, Dionne Warwick, Dr. Alexander Cummings, and Floyd Mayweather Jr, are among personalities to be honoured by The Nollywood & African Film Critics’ Awards (NAFCA)

    Founder and the CEO of Nollywood & African film Critics’ Awards, Victor O. Olatoye, said that over 100 films have been received from filmmakers across Africa and the Diaspora.

    “We are very proud of our filmmakers for the significant improvements we continue to see as we review these films. NAFCA 2016 is going to be our biggest award to date since we moved the award to Hollywood in 2014 and we are partnering with Hollywood producers including over 400 members of the press to spread the word.

    “We also have some dignitaries who will be honored at NAFCA 2015 His Imperial Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II(Ooni of Ife) , President Ali Bongo and Governor Benedict Ayade of Cross River State. Nollywood will also be represented and so far over 100 A-listers from the African film industry have requested invitations and hundreds from Hollywood,” he said.

    Dry, Boxing Day, Tribe, Mud, Return of the Don and Oxford Garden run away with this year’s nominations as the show holds on Saturday, Sept 17, at the Legendary Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, California USA.

    NAFCA is an accolade bestowed by the Nollywood Film Critics, USA, a movie review organization for Nollywood and African films to recognize excellence of professionals in the African film industry. The annual formal ceremony started September 16, 2011 in North Carolina, USA.

  • Ife markets to be shut for two days

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has ordered markets in the town to be shut for two days.

    The monarch sent a message round the town yesterday through a town crier that the market should be locked between 7am and 9am each day.

    According to the message, the closure of the markets would be observed today and tomorrow.

    In the two days, prayers would be offered to address issues of battered national economy, spate of kidnapping and some other social vices that “have retarded the progress of the country”.

    However, the message did not mention if the prayers would be offered by traditionalists, Christians or Moslems.

  • Protest in Ife over murder of septuagenarian

    Members of the Ife Zonal Contractors and Sawmiller Association  will today protest the murder of their 75-year-old trustee, High Chief Moses Elutilo.

    He was hacked to death by an armed group of hoodlums last Monday.

    It was gathered that the deceased reportedly received a message to come to a meeting at Atagilere Plank Hall, Ita -Osa,  Ondo Road, Ile-Ife at 8am.

    Elutilo, the Akannare of Ile-Ido Ife, was said to be at the meeting with Sarun, Chief Yemi Oriowo, a traditional aide of the Ooni, when the assailants attacked him and others.

    The chairman of the association, Babatunde Eluyera aka Theory, who was also marked to be killed, escaped by the whiskers.

    Eluyera linked the attacks to their stand against abuse of the Shasha Government Forest Reserves in Ife.

    An eye witness said when the deceased got to the meeting at 10 am, he was asked to lead the opening prayer but in the middle of the prayer, the hoodlums invaded the meeting and attacked those in attendance.

    The source, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “As soon as he stood up, he was attacked by armed men who hacked him. They used axes and matchets on everyone.”

    Elutilo, who died before getting to the hospital, was the star witness in a land dispute before Justice A. A. Onibokun of the State High Court, Ile-Ife.

    Two suspects- Adekunle Azeez and Ogunjimi Gbenga- have been arrested.

    The investigation is being handled by the state Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo.

  • Ooni opens up on mysteries of Ife

    Ooni opens up on mysteries of Ife

    It was all glitz, drumming and singing at the Palace of the Ooni of Ife in Enuwa, Ile-Ife. It was a special day that transformed the status of Ile Ife.  For the first time, a city in Nigeria has been declared as a Tourism Zone. The aim is to make the city a  tourism friendly city aimed at welcoming tourists on she discovery and adventure. The status was achieved with a declaration by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.

    The tourism zone declaration also saw a display of the rich culture of Ile-Ife with different gaily dressed cultural troupes, performing for the appreciative guests who had trooped to the palace to witness the declaration.

    Oba Ogunwusi talked about the rich culture of Ile-Ife and its mystery. He said: “We have Yoruba all over the world. We want to bring out the mysteries of this land, and we want to connect all the dotted lines.  Although a committed son of Ife, I know the history and mystery, right from my childhood that whoever you’ve been married to, your first wife in this palace, you need to go and pay her the honour.

    “ I was wondering, my wife in the palace?  Are they going to give me another wife? But when I went further, it was actually true. I went to see my wife in the palace. Guess who I saw? I saw one of the mysteries of creator, the King of Kings. A typical queen was in this palace many years ago.

    “ She never had a child and said: ‘God, I cried unto you and you never gave me a child. I will convert to become a martyr that would be useful to the entire mankind’. She prayed to God and God answered her prayers. She became a living well in this palace. That is my first wife in this palace. There is nothing you ask from Yeye Molu that she will not give you. What do we not have in Ile Ife? God blessed us with these mysteriess.

    “ We need to bless the entire world with it. There is nobody that takes that water and ask God for anything that it will happen. It is the mysteries of Ile Ife. The mysteries of water go on and on. I will encourage each and every visitor here today to go and have a look at one of the mysteries of God.

    “If you dare the water, and you fall into it, as small as it is, you will never come back. But, if you get into the water by mistake, she will protect you and take you to the nearest bank of any river or sea that your family members will find you. All these things have been established in the history of Ile Ife. The water is so jealous that she wants to be in this palace alone and no other well, but it is full of life.  This and so many other mysteries are what we want to turn into tourist attractions together with Motherland Beckons for all of us to trace our roots back to Africa.

    “ In North America, you have a lot of descendants of Yoruba race. If you go to South America, more than half of the entire major countries of South America will tell you categorically that they are Yoruba and they keep the culture intact, but we that are custodians, we don’t even appreciate what we have. That why we are putting together, with Motherland Beckons, to call on people of this world, to come and establish their roots and their origin.

    “The mysteries in Ife land keeps growing. We are discovering several mysteries. I mentioned to the entire world that he Tower of Babel is in Ile Ife. Some said it cannot be so, it is in the land of Egypt. It is not in the land of Egypt. We are proud to say that it is indeed in Ife land. The story of the Ark of Noah, the entire world have been looking for it.

    “The truth is, the Ark of Noah, is still alive in Ife land. It is one of our pride; it is one of our heritage. It has been in existence for millions of years.  The pre-Genesis world happened in Ife land . There was a life before Genesis. There was a life before mankind, the spirit life, which actually existed before mankind came into existence. The western people will call it esoteric world. All these facts are there, and by the grace of God, we are working towards putting them together. We urge each one of you to keep following us as we are progressing.”

    The oba continued: “There are too many mysteries. You know God thrives on mysteries, not even one.  Ife has so many mysteries and we will be given some of these mysteries to companies, corporate organisations to brand them and people will be coming to see them, starting from the palace and so many other places. That is the essence of tourism, so everybody in the world will come and see mysteries.

    “ You know tourism is movement, so when people move, tourism is moving. So they will take you there, they will explain the Imole to you, she is alive and am proud to be associated with her. She doesn’t like to be covered, she want to have the nature and the world directly, the more you cover it, the more she gets annoyed and breaks it before the next day morning, if you put bulldozer there, she breaks it. You cannot take the water out, but you can drink it, wash your hands and it will cleanse your spirit. Since all of you are tourism Journalists, all of you will go and see it.

    “What is driving Ife is very simple, too many mysteries in this land, and I tell people, we are not talking about supremacy here.  Ife in the English language means land of expansion. There is no land that has that name in the world. The meaning of Ile-Ife is the land of expansion. And I will tell the journalists to watch a very powerful documentary being put together by the western world.

    “It is called the story of oracles, very powerful. When you watch it, you will be very proud to be an African man. Everything started from here. There was another world that was pre Genesis world. I will give you the documentary to watch.

    “It is a fantastic documentary and today, the fastest growing religion in the world is the African religion, faster than Christianity, faster than Islam, all over the world. Why, because everybody is realizing that is from tropical Africa and we have been trying to pinpoint it from the source in Ile Ife. And as God will have it, God left mysteries for us to see those landmarks.

    “The landmarks are there, they have been here for millions of years and we still have them and I am glad to showcase it to you, the tourism journalists and the resort, what is driving it is bigger than what we have in Lagos, like I told you last year in Lagos, am like a visionary.

    “I foresee things and I like to project in a very strategic manner, the resort in Ife is very strategic because people will come from all over the world to see the mysteries, they will ask questions, what’s happening, I granted an interview recently where I just mentioned two of the mysteries and everybody said no, it is impossible, it can never be here, but the truth is that is here.

    “I mentioned the story of the tower of Babel in the Bible. It is in Ife land, the second one I mentioned is the Art of Noah. It is here, but people say no way, but the truth is it is here, the tower of Babel they said it is in Egypt, no is not in Egypt, it is here because the two stories are very synonymous.

    “God created the world and destroyed it with the great flood, you all know the story of the great flood and the art of Noah story, the ark built to save some souls, plants,  animals etcetera, but the Art of Noah is here, is a mystery place, is along Okeora, the entire Okeora is more than 1000 miles in stretch, if you are not careful you will get lost, it is there, it along the belt of Okeora, it runs all the way from Ife to Ondo State, Edo State, it gets to Benin, it is a mystery mountain all the way, all the mountain till the end of Benin, Edo state is full of mystery. “

    The new status of Ile-Ife was brought about by Motherland Beckons, a project initiated by Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, aimed at creating a platform that would open up the continent of Africa to the Africans in the Diaspora and help them to reconnect to their roots where their forefathers were taken from to the New World, the present day America.

  • Ife becomes Tourism Zone today

    The ancient city of Ile Ife will welcome hundreds of dignitaries today as it becomes a tourism zone.

    The event is holding today at the Palace Ground, Enuwa Square, Ile-Ife.

    The programme lined up  for the official declaration of Ile Ife as a tourism zone  started yesterday with a play titled Odigbose (An African account of Slave Trade).

  • Ooni partners Techo-Quip to industrialise Ife

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, is partnering Techo-Quip Ltd on the creation of an industrial pack in Ile-Ife in Osun State.

    When completed, the pack is expected to house various equipment to process raw materials, such as cassava, palm kernel, rice, yam and plantain.

    Others include fruits juice, paints production, soap and other detergents.

    The monarch has met with the officials of the firm and signed a contract for the supply of the equipment.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Samson Makinwa, quoted the monarch as saying that the company’s products would assist in the quick industrialisation of the ancient town, adding that there would be regular power, water supplies and access roads to the industrial pack.

    Makinwa said: “The purpose is to help people in the processing and preservation of different agricultural products and other raw materials into finished and semi-finished products in the centre. This will create employment, empowerment and development.’’

    He added that Techo-Quip will supply the equipment and train participants on vocations while the Ife Business School will train them on entrepreneurships.

    Noting that Oba Ogunwusi is a monarch with a difference, Makinwa described him as “transformational, modest and philanthropist’ whom God installed to help his people out of poverty and unemployment.”