The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Gani Adams, on Friday urged South-West governors to collaborate for the promotion of sports and agriculture, to further project the region.
Adams made the plea in a statement he signed after the grand finale of the 8th edition of the Eledumare Festival in Lagos.
The Aare also advised governments of the region to establish Southwest Agric Commission (SWAC) for the promotion of agricultural activities.
“By this, we can leverage on the agriculture potential in the west.
“I have it on good authority that Lagos state alone consumes between 13,000 and 15,000 cows daily, totalling about 3 billion naira, other states in the South-West also consume about 10,000 cows totalling 2 billion naira daily.
“These are huge investments that we can leverage on.
‘’We can develop our tourism and sports by establishing tourist centres like the cinemas and stadia with over 7, 000 capacities in our local governments across the states.
“This is a strong mechanism for grassroots sports development which can also help in reducing the crime rate in the country,” he said.
Adams stressed the need to promote Yoruba Language and identity, saying about 28 universities in the world study Yoruba language.
On the Eledumare Festival, Adams said that the celebration of the festival was to worship God in order to open doors for breakthroughs.
He also said that there was a need for the Yorubas to celebrate God by organising the festival, solely for the Supreme Being.
According to him, the festival began some 21 days ago with series of activities, including Harvest of Praise, Football Competition and Fashion Show, among others.
Adams said: “God is worthy of worship, praise is the only key that opens all doors.
“Our organisation, the Oodua People’s Congress, (OPC) and the Olokun Festival Foundation,( OFF), are the only groups that celebrate Eledumare Festival.
‘’I am indeed very grateful to God that we are alive to witness this glorious day.
‘’I am pleased to tell you that our best is yet to come, considering the tremendous growth in our group, especially its strength in the Diaspora.’’
According to him, Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) has strength in 79 countries in the world.
The Aare quoted Prof. Oguntola Laguda, the guest lecturer from the Lagos State University (LASU), who spoke at the occasion, having described the Yorubas as the most cultured people.
Laguda said that the Yorubas had a better understanding of God as the creator of heaven and earth, long before the introduction of Islam and Christian religions into the country.
“In the past and up to the present, the Yorubas have a way of communicating with God who they call by different names; such as Eledumare, Olu Orun, Eleda and Aseda.
“There are other names too numerous to mention. These names simply tell us the various attributes of God as the supreme being,” Laguda said.
The Professor urged the Yoruba leaders, including teachers in all the schools in the South-West, to join the Aare in his bid to promote the unique identities of the race.
All members of the National Coordinating Council of OPC and other prominent dignitaries attended the occasion.
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