DEEPENING OUR COMMITMENT TO ONDO KINGDOM, ITS PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT
Address by the Osemawe and Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Dr Victor Adesimbo Ademefun Kiladejo, CFR, Jilo III,
at the 35th edition of Ekimogun Day Festival, December 2, 2023.
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1. I use this opportunity to welcome all Ondo sons and daughters, and our guests from across the world, to this year’s Ekimogun Day, the 35th edition to be celebrated by Ondo Kingdom, since it debuted in 1988!
2. I am particularly enthused by the impressive turn out at this year’s celebrations. For this, I want to specially thank the Ondo Development Committee (ODC), under the chairmanship of Chief Oluwasijibomi Akinwande, the Tadese of Ondo Kingdom, whose duty it is to superintend the festival. Through the Chairman, I thank also the organizing committees, at both the national and local levels, for the hard work that went into this.
3. Let me also use this opportunity to thank, most profusely, the people of Ondo Kingdom, for the impressive manner in which you all turned out to celebrate the Osemawe on his 70th birthday and 17th coronation anniversary, a few weeks ago. Without mincing words, that was indeed a great outing! I thank the community for the initiative; and the Planning Committee, under Chief Steve Akinretoye, the Baba-Ijo of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Oke-Aluko, Ondo, which put everything together. I pray that love shall never be in short supply in our community. May we continually get ahead at all times, and in all good things.
4. Your Excellencies, the High Chiefs, chiefs, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. You will agree with me that a lot has happened between the last Ekimogun Day festival and this year’s edition – locally, nationally, and indeed, globally. I am aware that all of these changes are being tracked and analyzed at different levels and fora, as appropriate. But grant me the indulgence to note, in relation to our own jurisdiction, and with so much excitement, the consummation of the transition of the former Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, to Adeyemi Federal University of Education (AFUED), the first federal university of education in the entire country!
5. I thank the good Lord for making this possible. I appreciate all the relevant agencies of the Federal Government for their efforts in this regard; and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu too, for being a vector in the conclusion of a tortuous process that started a long time ago.
6. I thank all Ondo sons and daughters, and our friends, who put in one effort or the other, at several levels, and in all these years in which our community had desired this transition, to bring it about. I congratulate all the people of Ondo Kingdom on this very epochal development.
7. Now that we have obtained what we had long wanted, we must buckle up and ensure that, in that profoundly beneficial spirit of community development, for which we are noted, we extend to AFUED, all the support befitting a Federal University associated with Ondo Kingdom. It should not be said of us that having now gotten what we angled for, for so long, we have suddenly chosen to be lackadaisical about its development. As the holy book admonishes us, having laid our hands on the plough, there is no looking back – in ensuring that Adeyemi Federal University of Education rapidly attains the status of one of the best of its kind in Africa. I count on the support of all of you in this regard.
8. In the same vein, I recall with much pride all of the efforts the Palace led in the outgoing year, to ensure that the plans to relocate the National Institute for Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) were frustrated. It would have been such a big shame to see an institution that has existed in our community for more than 30 years taken away to another city. When the information broke that this was indeed the intention of some forces arrayed against our interest, Ondo sons and daughters and our friends all over the world were mobilized, and led along the paths we needed to take to nip the ugly development in the bud. I use this opportunity to thank all those who responded to our summon in those critical and tasking times.
9. Let me also use this opportunity to express my appreciation to the new leadership of NIEPA for the emerging pattern of robust collaboration between it and the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED). It is good enough that these two institutions are neighbours; but it is exciting to see the very important flagships of our educational outlook in Ondo Kingdom entering into an era of rewarding cooperation. I cannot thank the leadership of the two institutions enough.
10. We have all this while focused on how to enhance the value of the youths of the Kingdom. In this regard, we facilitated the emergence of the Osemawe Kiladejo Youth Foundation, with a clear vision of positively impacting the lives of the youths of this Kingdom. Quite a lot still requires to be done for the full manifestation of the vision; but I am assured that the distinguished men and women appointed to drive the vision are unrelenting in their efforts.
11. We recorded some successes in relation to the curtailment of the menace of gangsterism, and cultism among the youths. These and the associated vices have been reduced considerably. But we need to go beyond these initial steps. As the maxim goes, the devil finds work for the idle hand. This is why I seize this opportunity to call on well to do sons and daughters of the Kingdom, at home and in the Diaspora to lend support to this initiative. It is a vision anchored on the need to empower the youths of Ondo Kingdom substantially, by getting them gainfully engaged. I should thank in this regard the facilitator of what has become like a template of the support scheme we require to drive this vision. An Ondo son decided to donate a vast farmland to the community, for the use of our youths who are interested in agriculture; with the promise of assistance to as many of them as are keen on this business. His name is Mr. Hakeem Oyeneyin (Jejenuwa). On behalf of the youths of the Kingdom that are embracing this one in a lifetime opportunity, and indeed, the entirety of Ondo Kingdom, I say, thank you to Mr. Oyeneyin.
12. It is also apposite to extend to Prince Adewole Adebayo, another distinguished Ondo son, for his yeoman effort at improving the life of the children of this Kingdom. For their usage, and at no cost to their parents, Prince Adebayo made available two big buses to ferry students back and forth school, on daily basis.
13. I am sure that commuters in and out of Ondo through the Brigadier Ademulegun Roundabout would notice the redevelopment, which the environment there is receiving. By the time it is fully done, that section of our community is going to come out more beautifully, and make the physical presentation of Ondo City more impressive. I use this opportunity to express our appreciation to Otunba Felix Oladunjoye, the Bobagbimo of Ondo Kingdom, who is singlehandedly undertaking this project.
14. The Chairman of ODC has assured the Palace that all arrangements had been put in place for us, and our guests, to enjoy this year’s Ekimogun Day festival. I invite you to do just that, confident that as we celebrate, the Almighty God in His infinite mercy, shall watch over us all.
15. May He continue to deepen the peace, harmony and development of this our Ondo Kingdom.
16. Once again, I wish you all, Happy celebrations!
His Imperial Majesty,
Oba Dr. Victor Adesimbo Ademefun Kiladejo, CFR, Jilo III,
B.Sc. Hons.; MB.ChB; PGDRH; Hon. D.Sc; Hon. LLD.
The Òsemàwé and Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom.