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Tag: Yoruba elders

  • Yoruba elders hail Fayemi for naming schools after four personalities

    The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has hailed Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi for naming four newly established secondary schools after four prominent citizens.

    The elders, in a letter signed by its Secretary-General, Dr. Kunle Olajide, said the gesture was a pointer to Fayemi’s “commitment to entrench the enduring values of service, patriotism and diligence for which Ekiti people were known for in the past.

    Commending the Fayemi-led administration’s decision to name the new institutions after Prof. David Oke, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, Prof. Banji Akintoye and Chief Deji Fasuan, the YCE stated that Fayemi’s “second coming is indeed the dawn of a new and glorious era for Ekiti State”.

    The council assured Fayemi of their support in the “arduous task of restoring our values and piloting our state for progress and development”.

    “I recall with nostalgia the day in Adetiloye Hall during your first coming when your excellency, for the first time since the creation of Ekiti State, publicly recognised and acknowledged the efforts of the few of us under the leadership of Chief Fasuan, whom God used with our traditional rulers to achieve the creation of our dear state. Your sense of history is highly commendable”, the letter reads.

    Similarly, the Afao Development Council in their letter co-signed by the Alafao of Afao, HRM Oba Joseph Ademilua and the union’s president, Chief Laolu Omosilade, also lauded Fayemi for naming one of the newly established schools after Chief Fasuan, who is an indigene of the town.

    The community union said the action is not just a honour but “merit justified by posterity” because of the role played by Fasuan in the struggle for the creation of Ekiti State.

  • Yoruba elders warn against hate speech

    Leaders of Yoruba descent have urged politicians to do away with hate speeches ahead of the general elections.

    They spoke at a roundtable of Yoruba civic and self-determination groups, including Yoruba Koya, Builders of New Nigeria, Voice of Reason, Agbe Koya, Oodua Peoples Congress, Atayese, Yoruba Unity Forum, and Afenifere.

    The summit was organised by Yoruba Summit Group (YSG), with the theme: “The status and future of Yoruba in a restructured Nigerian federation”, in Lagos.

    Leading the discussions, Prof Banji Akintoye said the Yoruba nation should be security conscious.

    He recalled that Yoruba lived in an orderly political system before the coming of British rule and the country’s amalgamation.

    “Let us know that our Yoruba nation is respected for our culture of religious tolerance and accommodation, our political orderliness and democracy, and for our hospitality to strangers and foreigners in our homeland,” he said.

    Akogun Tola Adeniyi, who is a member of the summit, supported Akintoye’s call while Otunba Deji Osibogun spoke on vote buying, using the Ekiti and Osun elections as examples. He called on Nigerians to shun financial inducement.

    He said: “The Yoruba Summit Group is concerned about the growing trend of vote-buying by political parties and contestants in elections. This practice is becoming the norm with political parties trying to outwit each other, but it is a bad omen for the country’s democracy.”

  • Yoruba elders seek adoption of Omoluabi principles

    Yoruba elders have called for the adoption of omoluabi values by their people to enable them excel in their endeavours.

    They spoke at the first summit of  the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, The Omoluabi group held at the MITROS Events Centre, Ibara Housing Estate, the Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

    They said: ‘’Only a return to time- tested Omoluabi principles of probity, honesty, temperance and commitment to community goals rather than that of self will make Nigeria great again.”

    The event had as theme, Omoluabi principles: A call to return.

    It was attended by many prominent Yoruba leaders, including  Emeritus Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, who opened the summit with a thought-provoking perspective on the omoluabi, ethos while Prof Banji Akintoye presented the lead paper.

    The retired cleric said: “As parents and leaders, we must always think of the legacy we wish to bequeath our children and country.”

    Akintoye  praised the choice of Abeokuta as host city and the Premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    He, however, did not support the present system of government. He claimed that Nigeria stopped developing 54 years ago when the system of government was changed from federalism to the unitarism. He emphasised the need for Yoruba to be bold again and take their place of leadership in the country.

    He said: “The fact that the Yorubas belong to Nigeria does not mean we should forget our destiny of global leadership.”

    Other distinguished speakers included Senators Mojisoluwa Akinfemiwa and Femi Okunrounmu.

    He said youths should be value- driven at an early age similar to the likes of the late Chief  Awolowo and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.

    ”It is lack of omoluabi values that has led to the current reign of low integrity, dishonesty and bad governance being experienced generally across the length and breadth of Nigeria,” he said.

    He added that the Yoruba should express their faith in associations, such as the Omoluabi Group. According to him, “with initiatives and groups like this Nigeria will no doubt reach her desired destination”.

    Senator Akinfemiwa stressed the need for senators, governors, ministers and presidents to be first Omoluabis before vying for any political office, adding that it is only an Omoluabi who would not abuse or steal while in office.

    The event ended with a question and answer session anchored by the chairman of the group, Mr. Ladi Smith, who reiterated that Omoluabi Group aims to inculcate and incorporate Omoluabi principles in all  endeavours across the Southwest.

  • ACF to Yoruba Elders: Don’t give ethnic coloration to Ile-ife crisis

    ACF to Yoruba Elders: Don’t give ethnic coloration to Ile-ife crisis

    Mouthpiece of Northern Nigeria, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has appealed to Yoruba elders to in the interest of national unity restrain from giving ethnic coloration to the unfortunate crisis that erupted in Ile-ife, Osun State recently.

    ACF said, described the clash between some Yoruba and Hausa traders as criminality, which it said does not know ethnicity or religion.

    The Northern socio-cultural group in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Muhammadu Ibrahim noted with dismay, accusations by some Yoruba leaders that the Police report on the clash was biased, as the suspects paraded by the police were alleged to be mainly Yoruba.

    It therefore cautioned that, disagreement between individuals or groups of persons that are regarded as ethnic or religious tend to deepen hatred and division among Nigerians, therefore, elders known for their wisdom in settling disputes should not fan embers of divisions among their followers.

    According to the statement, “after the unfortunate clash that happened two weeks ago at Ile-Ife, Osun State between some Yoruba and Hausa traders, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in our reaction condemned the killings and called on all and sundry involved to eschew bitterness and imbibe the spirit of accommodation and tolerance.

    “ACF commended the prompt action taken by the Security Agencies, the Osun State Government and Community leaders to restore peace and normalcy in Ile-Ife.

    “ACF also called on the various communities that have lived together in peace and harmony over the years to always exercise restraints in their utterances on such sensitive issues that might snowball into crises with reprisal consequences. Our position was widely published in both print and electronic media.

    “Unfortunately, subsequent events after the preliminary investigation report of the Police into the Ile-Ife crisis, there have been accusations by some Yoruba leaders that the Police report was biased, as the suspects paraded by the police were alleged to be mainly Yoruba.

    “ACF’s position in this regard is to appeal to the respected Elders of Yoruba not to give unnecessary ethnic coloration to the unfortunate Ile-Ife clash as criminality knows no ethnicity or religion.

    “Any slightest disagreements between individuals or groups of persons that are regarded as ethnic or religious tend to deepen hatred and division among Nigerians. Elders are known for their wisdom in settling disputes and not to fan embers of divisions among their followers.

    “ACF therefore, once more calls for restraints among the various community leaders and urge them to document their grievances and channel same through our known legal process of addressing such grievances, rather than making provocative and inciting statement capable of creating disunity”, the statement read.

     

  • Yoruba elders advocate true federalism

    The yoruba Council of Elders, also known as Igbimo Agba Yoruba, has called for the adoption of fiscal federalism, allowing federating units to generate resources in their domains.

    In a communique by its Secretary-General, Chief Idowu Sofola, after a deliberation in Ibadan presided over by the President-General, Gen Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd), the group raised concerns about the economy, which has not responded to the efforts of the economic team.

    The council said “fiscal federalism, which will allow federating units to generate resources in their domains, pay taxes and royalty to the Federal Government will promote economic growth and take the country out of recession”.

    On various threats to national security, the group urged the “government to begin constitutional amendments to decentralise the police and other security agencies”.

    The elders praised the “Federal Government on the progress made in securing peace in the Northeast”, and congratulated “Mr. President on the return of some kidnapped Chibok girls”.

    They encouraged him “to intensify action on release of the remaining Chibok girls and full restoration of peace in the Northeast”.

    The council also congratulated “all Southwest governors for the outcome of their meeting in Ibadan”, and was “impressed with their determination to collaborate within the ambit of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) for economic activities for the progress of the zone”.

     The YCE added that it was happy that the “governors have chosen to come together despite political divisions and in the interest of the people”.