From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo.
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, has described the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, as a man of uncommon candour who is religiously devoted and committed to the well being of the people.
Oba Adeyemi stated this during the grand finale of
Oranyan festival held in Oyo town.
The paramount ruler said were it not for the governor’s sense of devotion, the free medical services, including surgeries recently offered about 3,000 residents in Oyo metropolis by some indegenes of the state based in the State of Maryland in the United States of America would not have been possible.
The paramount ruler explained that because of his desire to ensure that the annual festival, which commenced four years ago, was not mere cultural jamboree but has direct impacts on the lives of the people, the idea of free medicare mission was mooted to two indegenes of Oyo town resident in the USA, Honourabie Bode Esuola and his wife, Dr. Anu.
He stated that the initiative was endorsed by the two indigenes who pledged the ccollaboration of their professional colleagues in actualising the programme as a legacy of the Alaafin and to
commemorate the heritage festival.
Alaafin said their company, Community Dentistry on Wheels Incorporated based in Marylan,USA, set the ball rolling with the voluntary donation of $300,000 well-equiped mobile hospital for the people of Oyo metropolis as well as organised a three-day free medical services.
This, he said was in addition to about four cargos of assorted drugs and facilities.
“After a visit to the USA to assess the facilities, I met with the Governor to discuss the matter and solicited his support. What amazed me was the interest not only shown but exhibited with sincerity of purpose by the Governor in providing all the needed logistics, including accommodation, feeding, mobility and security throughout the period the medical team stayed in the State. The Governor was so excited that he not only visited the State of Maryland to see things for himself, but also made available a sum of N4 million to support the Oranyan festival’’.
Oba Adeyemi stated that the people of Oyo, especially those
who benefitted from the free medical service, would continue to be grateful to the governor for his humanitarian gesture and
dedication to the welfare of the downtrodden.
The Alaafin of Oyo pointed out that the celebration of Oranyan “is not only to celebrate and venerate our heroes past, but lubricate the tunnels of harmony, ignite the touch of unity and foster peace among the Yoruba race’’.
In his address, the state governor, represented by his deputy, Moses Adeyemo, said Oranyan is a pride to the whole Yoruba race, an embodiment and platform builder of what makes the Yoruba who they are.
He stated that the annual festival was aimed at showcasing the
culture, heritage, values and resuscitate those norms that continue to make Yoruba race unique.
Co-ordinator of the festival, retired Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu said the festival has not only kept alive the unblemished heritage of the legendary ptogenitor, but it has attracted to Oyo metropolis and Oyo State modern investment and development opportunities in infrastructure, education, healthcare and commerce.
Meanwhile, the Alaafin has said while other great nations celebrate their heroes showcasing their glorious
past, Africans do not give much reference to theirs just because of the super-imposition of the two religions, Islam and Christianity and the etching of their sermons and creeds
The first class monarch noted that the polluted
consciousness of Africans’ psyche have conditioned their sense of appreciation and thinking, thereby making them see and read fetishism and primitivity as the hallmark of their tradition and culture.
“It is within this prism that we used to picture our past heroes and great men of valour and virtues who should be venerated and immortalised while their deeds, acts and wise sayings compiled, documented reserved and preserved for generations yet unborn.”
Oba Adeyemi revealed that the Oranyan Festival is one of the steps being taken by the Alaafin-in-Council at making sure that “the contribution of the Yorubas to the emergence of modern and cosmopolitan world is not relegated into the background ocean of forgetfulness.
The Alaafin of Oyo and the celebrant, pointed out that the
celebration ‘’was not only to celebrate and venerate our heroes past, but lubricate the tunnels of harmony, ignite the touch of unity and foster peace among the Yoruba race’’.
According to Oba Adeyemi ‘’the Oranyan Festival was inaugurated to immortalise and showcase to the whole world the deeds and worth of an enigmatic Oranyan, one of the seven sons of Okanbi, the son of Oduduwa who was the ‘’first Oba in Yoruba-land to establish an enduring empire
which spread beyond its dialectical region and lasted more than 600 uninterrupted years!’’
Oranyan, Alaafin asserted, ‘’is a pride to the whole Yoruba race. He was an embodiment and platform builder of what makes the Yoruba who they are. We are going to showcase the culture, heritage, values and resuscitate those norms that continue to make Yoruba race a unique.”
In a related development, the Alaafin has warned that unless construction firms engaged in roads, mining and building works are mandated, as a matter of utmost concern, by the Federal Government
to employ archaeologists to monitor, excavate, rescue, find and report on exposed or discovered sites, the country is at risks of natural disasters.
Fielding questions from journalists shortly after playing host
to some cultural groups from Osun, Ogun and Ekiti States who were in the palace for the Oranyan festival, Alaafin said road construction firms across the country linked and are still linking towns and villages thereby spearheading encroachments on and destruction of potential sites and monuments with reckless abandon to their implications.
He said no archaeologist or museum specialist is employed by any of the firms, not even the Ministry of Works, to oversee or monitor any possible rescue work.
‘’By this, a lot of possible archaeological sites and surface finds had been lost. How many accidental finds have been reported since the oil boom period of development in the country? Conservation and development of cultural resources does not end with systematic excavation or ethnographic collections. A lot of the archaeological excavation that made the 2000 Years Ancient Art of Nigeria started with accidental finds. Surprisingly, no State or Local Government in
the country can boast of having resident archaeologists, as they do with other professions.’’