Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, has urged Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, to designate August 20 of every year as Yoruba Heritage Day.
The monarch also called for the teaching of Yoruba History and Culture in schools across the state, according recognition to Yoruba religion and recognizing Yoruba traditions during State functions and programmes.
These propositions, if seriously considered, Oba Adeyemi said, are appropriate steps in collective efforts to re-invent the state.
According to the Alaafin, “As Africans, we should be creative and think outside the box to reposition our values and use our cultural heritage to our best advantage in a competitive world. A properly packaged Yoruba cultural celebration will no doubt call the attention of the world to Oyo State as the home of culture and in no time will be a Mecca of Yoruba Religion which is being widely accepted and practiced in the African Diaspora’’.
Oba Adeyemi stressed that Yoruba Civilisation is one of the enduring legacies in the world today and the most suited African Culture to arrest the attention of the world in this era of globalisation.
He added that the Yoruba civilization unlike others has Ifa as its system of knowledge and areligion that is today widely accepted and practiced in other parts of the world, especially in the African Diaspora despite the fact that unlike other religions, it does not proselytize.’’
“The state stands to benefit from the goodwill and interests of an expanding population of practitioners of Yoruba religion who are today rejecting other faithfuls and are in dire need of a religion with which they could connect in their search for identity and spiritual development” , Alaafin asserted.
The Alaafin also described the late Professor Ade Ajayi as renowned for being prolific, deep and trenchant in analysis whose career as pioneer African scholar in History at the premier Department of History, University of Ibadan afforded him a great opportunity to re-define the nature and character of African history, including the development of essentially African methodological approach to historical scholarship.
In a letter of condolence to wife of the deceased, Oba Adeyemi said the credit for the emergence of the world acclaimed Ibadan School of History has reflected in the production and publication of full length texts and materials on the history of Africa by Africanists in relation to the colonial episode could go in part to his commitment to Africa centred historiography.
The letter reads in parts :
‘’His Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Lagos, Akoka was remarkable for physical and intellectual transformation of that society despite the obstructive interference of the military in the internal affairs of UNILAG. He devoted his tenure to building enduring or legacy structures to provide ample opportunities for enhanced teaching, learning and research.
Professor JFA Ajayi has a wonderful relationship with his society, making his scholarship to bear on the society through cutting edge research into otherwise neglected themes in Yoruba History. His collaborative works with Michael Crowther will for a long time remain major reference materials on 19th century Yoruba land. Christians missions and missionaries were carefully studied by Professor Ajayi to provide monumental texts on the activities of the apostles of new faith and how they intersected witj culture and society in Yoruba land.
His love for and commitment to knowledge production about Yoruba land was never in doubt and unlike other scholars, Ajayi cherished and celebrated his title of Bobapitan of Ikole-Ekiti.
“The Alaafin and people of Yoruba land will no doubt miss the charm, charisma, erudition, scholarship and leadership of our man of letters, an Iroko of African History, a rail Blazer and quintessential family man. We will all die, we will all leave our father’s legacies unattended to. May the the soul of our departed patriot continue to rest in peace’’.
