Ooni of Ife
The
Arole Oodua & Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II
has described the disunity among Nigerias as a bane of the country's
development, saying the people must love one another and be ready to
live in peace and harmony as one family if Nigeria must succeed.
The
African foremost monarch expressed this in Dublin on Monday during
his courtesy call on the embassy of Nigeria in Ireland as part of his
one week royal visit to the European country..
The
CEO of TellAfrica Ms Gbemisola Bisi-Taiwo who Introduced the visiting
Ooni and his entourage said the king was on Ireland for 2019. TAIF
African International Art & Craft Festival and other events in
fulfillment of his commitment to the global promotion of the African
culture.
Welcoming
the Natural Head of the Yoruba race worldwide to her office in
Dublin, the Nigeria ambassador to Ireland & Iceland, Dr Mrs Uzoma
Emenike described the royal visit of the Ooni as very timely and
special one that would remain indelible in the minds of Nigerians in
Ireland.
"Your
majesty, since your arrival here, we have been having positive
feedback on the efforts of the embassy from Nigerians saying we
should keep up the good work.
"We
are grateful to have you here. When I heard the noise this morning, I
looked through my window and I saw that big royal umbrella and I
watched the OYINBO people(as we call them) looking at your majesty
with excitement, Wow! I felt so proud of our culture and tradition.
You are indeed a great icon of the rich African culture.
“Let
me also tell you kabiyesi that my colleagues who were at the
airport on Saturday to recieve you and your team couldn't
be more proud being Africans from Nigerians. Thank you for adding
colour to us by your royal visit", Amb. Emenike said.
The
Ooni of Ife who is also a co-chairman of National Council of
Traditional Rulers of Nigeria(NCTRN) praised the ambassador for her
commitment to national service in which she has recorded tremendous
success, charging her to work more and always bring Nigerians in
Ireland together in unity.
"Your
Excellency, I commend your energy and passion with which you are
serving our dear country ss the representative of the president of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Ireland and Iceland.Keep the good
work, the Nigerians here in Dublin have telling me positively about
you.
"I
want you to ensure unity among our people. Meet with them, attend
their events, dont be too far from them physically and always
organize events that will bring them together. You can tag one of the
events as 'MEET YOUR AMBASSADOR' and I assure you of very cordial
relationship between you and them",Ooni Ogunwusi said.
Also
speaking, Councillor Yemi Adenuga, first black woman elected into a
county council in the history of Ireland accompanied by her famous
Nollywood actor husband Deji Adenuga lauded the efforts of Ooni
Ogunwusi towards the unification of the Nigerians both at home and in
diaspora. She urged him to join hands with fellow traditional rulers
and government to find lasting solution to the insecurity menace in
Nigeria.
"Kabiyesi,
we are so glad to have you with us, we love you for what you have
been doing by preaching love and peace among our people. This your
visit is not ordinary, you have come with blessings and I know that
as you have stepped your spiritual feet into Ireland, the blessings
have begun to trickle for us. Things are changing back home in
Nigeria. What we now here everyday is frightening. Nigerians in
diaspora want to come home but the level of the insecurity is
discouraging and we beg you to rally your fellow kings to solve this
problem for us.”
The
Ooni of Ife had earlier on Sunday worshiped at the RCCG Jesus Center
in Dublin where he called on the Christians to take Godliness beyond
church going.
He
said afterwards, “I feel so good being with you my people here
today. I delibrately came here this morning because I wanted to join
my fellow Nigerians to worship together which to me is a show of
love. Always remember the leader of the church Pastor Oke and family
in your prayers. They carry all the spiritual burden for the church.
The joy of origination flows whenever you see your people you have
not seen for a long time, that is love in its natural form.
“I
am part of the Redeem church. I was in Brazil last year and I saw a
large numbers of Yoruba people and other Africans but no Redeem
church there. We did what we needed to do and Redeem church is now
starting in Brazil. This is love. This year marks the 400 years of
the arrival of the blacks in the US from the various African
kingdoms. Please remember them in prayers. That is love.
"Godliness
is beyond church going. Its more about love because God himself is
love and Jesus Christ too is love. Love is the only thing that can
make us function in togetherness. Let us always keep our focus on
positive side of life by telling the stories that bind us together
not the senseless stories that devide us". Ooni said.
Pastor
Tunde Adebayo-Oke thanked Ooni for the show of love by worshiping at
the church. He described the king as special gift to humanity.
"Kabiyesi
is one of the biggest kings Africa and he is a father to all of us.
We
have seen, heard and read about his efforts to help the poor, the
youth and the nations with his peace and unity agenda. He is truly a
man of love". Pastor Oke said.
The
Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, HRM Oba Joseph Adewole and Asoya of Isoya-Ife,
Oba Muraina Adedini were among the Ooni's entourage.
No comments:
Post a Comment