cultural renaissance and development in ondo kingdom - ODC

CULTURAL RENAISSANCE AND
DEVELOPMENT IN ONDO KINGDOM
An Ekimogun Day Silver Jubilee Lecture
Presented By
Engr. Professor Adeyemi Adegbemisipo
Aderoba
BEng (Hons), MEng, PhD, CEng, MIMechE,
MIProdE, MNSE, MBIM, FNIEM
THE LOTUJAMA OF ONDO KINGDOM
PRELUDE
Holden on 28 th November, 2012
We wish to congratulate His Royal Majesty
Oba Dr. Victor Adesimbo Ademefun
Adenrele Kiladejo, Jilo III, The Osemawe and
Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom on this
occasion of the silver jubilee celebration of
Ekimogun festival. Through His Royal
Majesty, we are also rejoicing with the high
chiefs, chiefs, chairman and members of
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Ondo Development Committee and the
entire citizenry of Ondo Kingdom on this
25 th celebration of Ekimogun day.
When I was asked to deliver the silver
Jubilee Ekimogun Lecture and choose my
own topic, I was a bit at a loss as to what
topic to really choose. I know however my
two areas of passion in relation to Ondo, my
father land – development and promotion
of culture. These two areas may seem to be
different, unrelated and incompatible. It is
however my intention in this discourse to
show that cultural renaissance has a very
strong influence on the development of any
national grouping.
For the sake of clarity, we need to define
certain terms that will help us put my ideas
in the proper perspective. The terms are:
tradition, culture and development. Oxford
Advanced Learners’ dictionary (6 th Edition)
defines these terms as follows:
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Tradition –beliefs, customs, or way of life of
a particular group of people that have not
changed for a long time
Culture –the customs and beliefs, art, way
of life and social organization of a particular
country or group.
Development –the process of producing or
creating new or more advanced systems,
structures, societies or products.
The Oxford dictionary does not make any
distinction between Tradition and Culture.
The difference is that while tradition may be
static, culture is dynamic. Culture may
benefit from the influence of other cultures
but a progressive culture, though
benefitting from other cultures, will not be
submerged by them.
Ondo culture has many facets: historical
antecedents, traditional modes of
governance, religious tenets, social and
ethical norms, economic and technological
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system, education, entertainment and
sports, medical and health services, urban
and rural planning, tourism, etc. We shall
examine each of these facets to see how
our culture in this kingdom can
progressively evolve to transform this
kingdom into a modern and virile society.
1.0 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS
Oral history has it that the Ondos originally
came from Oyo Alafin. The progenitor of the
Ondos was a female Pupupu who was the
daughter of Oba Oluaso of Oyo Empire.
Pupupu being a twin child had to be exiled
with his twin brother and their mother Olu
because giving birth to twins was an
abomination in those days. Being royals
however, they were spared the mandatory
death penalty and had to be exiled in a royal
manner out of Oyo to establish their own
kingdom elsewhere.
The journey of Pupupu , her twin brother
and mother passed through Ile-Ife. History
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has it that Pupupu and her entourage finally
settled at Idi –Edo. Idi –edo was later
corrupted to Ode Ondo and subsequently
assumes the present name of Ondo. Her
twin brother and the mother Olu were said
to have terminated their journey at a place
now known as Ile-Oluji. There are quite a
few versions of this history but what is
absolutely clear in all the versions is that the
Ondos are blood related to the Ile-Olujis
either maternally, paternally or both. In the
same vein, Idanre and may be the Ikales
may have some sort of relationship with the
Ondos. The similarity of their dialects and
their traditions with the Ondos tend to
suggest this.
It is inconceivable to think that there were
no aborigines or even nomadic settlers in
this area now known as Ondo Kingdom
before and after Pupupu came to settle
here over 500 years ago. The people known
as Udokos, Ifores, Oka seem to belong to
this category but are believed to have either
submitted willing to the supremacy of
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Pupupu, the descendant of the Alafin or
were conquered and assimilated and
integrated into one Ondo people. Later
there were also other groups from Ijebu,
Ilesha, Igbomina, Tapa (Nupe) that also
migrated into Ondo and have become
Ondos in the process.
The boundaries of Ondo became extended
as far as Odigbo, Agbabu, Onisere , Araromi
Obu. Traditionally the people in all these
areas are Ondos but Local Government
creation of 1976 has bifurcated (or is it
trifurcated) the old kingdom into the
present Ondo West Local Government,
Ondo East Local Government and Odigbo
Local Government. Presently, the Ondo
kingdom presently refers to ondo West and
East Local Government areas although it still
has linguistic, cultural and descendancy
relationships with its kins in Odigbo Local
Government area.
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Posers for development
1.1 If Ondos and Ile-Oluji people are so
closely related, why is the relationship
not so cordial. What can we do to
bridge this gap that seems to be
widening everyday?
1.2 Why do the Udokos and Ifores seem to
now clamour for self determination as
separate kingdoms after they have
existed as Ondos for over 500 years.
1.3 Why do Ondos in Odigbo Local
Government seem to claim separate
identities from Ondos after the creation
of local Governments in 1976
2.0 TRADITIONAL MODES OF
GOVERNANCE
The Osemawe from time immemorial had
always been the paramount ruler of Ondo
kingdom. There have been 44 Osemawes up
till the present time. The first Osemawe,
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Pupupu was a female and was succeded by
his son Aio who is regarded as the real
founder of Ondo kingdom (Aio O dudo).
While Pupupu was on the throne, she was
adjudged by her people not to show enough
interest in matters of state and was too
preoccupied with domestic issues. She was
more or less dethroned and replaced with
his eldest son Aio. Oba Aio was too young at
the time and arrangements were made for
him to undergo tutelage at the court of the
then Oba of Benin. This explains why the
traditional system of administration of Ondo
Kingdom is closer to that of Benin than to
Oyo or Ile-Ife. After Aio, other Osemawes
that reigned include Luju, Okuta, Luyare,
Foyi, Leyo, Gbaji, Liyen, Bajumu, Aperuwa,
Gbedegbede, Lamale, Aganmude,
Olowolaye, Jogunde, Terere, Ajisowo,
Arobiere, Ayanlola, Odunola, Jilu,
Olowolakun, Jiwomo, Jilalu, Jisomosun I,
Afunbiiye, Arilekolasi, Totemolejoye,
Osungbedelola I, Ayibirikitiwodi,
Afaidunjoye, Jimekun, Jilo I, Fidipote I,
Aroworayi, Tewogboye I, Jisomosun II,
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Arojojoye, Fidipote II, Tewogboye II,
Jisomosun III, Osungbedelola, II and the
incumbent Osemawe Oba Dr. Kiladejo , Jilo
III.
It is noteworthy that until recently,
Osemawes were known by their knicknames
derived from their circumstances of reign or
behavioural patterns. Regrettably, the
installation of many Osemawes had often
caused a lot of acrimony as a result of
intrigues from their fellow contestants to
the throne. This had often resulted in short
reigns in the earlier times and more recently
in prolonged legal tussles. The legal tussles
have often led to some form of
destabilization.
Traditionally, The Osemawe is assisted in
the administration of the Kingdom by his
High Chiefs, Chiefs, Olojas and Baales. The
present High Chiefs are Lisa, Jomu, Odunwo,
Sasere, Adaja and lately Odofin. These high
chiefs controlled different parts of the
kingdom including the rural areas in which
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the Olojas were the traditional
administrators. Under the Olojas were
Baales who also controlled various villages
and hamlets. In the urban areas, Chiefs
controlled areas known as quarters. Until
about fifteen years ago, there were two
groups of chiefs, The Ukules and the
Elegbes. The Ijamas were created about
fifteen years ago to cover new quarters that
now exist as a result of the expansion in
Ondo metropolis. There are seven Ukule
quarters headed by Orunto, Arogbo,
Logbosere, Odofindi, Sagwe, Sara,
LotuOmoba in order of seniority. There are
fifteen Elegbe quarters headed by Ayadi,
Orunbato, Legiri, Aruwa, Luogho, Losare,
Sokoti, Gbogi, Losunla, Lodasa, Lijoka, Lijofi,
Loyinmi, Odole, Sarowo. There are also
fifteen Ijama quarters headed by Lotujama,
Liyemaja, Lusen, Laogo, Limode, Saluwa,
Lotogbe, Lagbogbo, Ijamona, Itagbuyi,
Okenla, Ladeigbo, Lojojo, Gbose, Lisegede.
It would appear that every Oloja now seeks
to become an Oba. While this may be
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adjudged desirable in some quarters, there
is a complication in the line of authority,
responsibility and territorial jurisdiction. The
High Chiefs may not be comfortable that an
Oloja that was formally under their control
may now supersede them in status. Also,
some Olojas who have become Obas are
now beginning to see themselves as equal
to the Osemawe. To hard core
traditionalists, this is heresy that must be
purged. If we borrowed a substantial degree
of our traditional governance from the Edo
people, why did we not adopt the system
where the Oba of Benin is in his class of his
own and lesser Obas in Benin Kingdom are
referred to as Enogies.
The establishment of the Ijamas was a good
development because it enables the new
areas after the Yara to be properly
governed. Now, a situation that has arisen is
that the parity between the existing Ukules,
Elegbes and the Ijamas have not been
properly addressed. Also, no specific
traditional rites have been assigned to the
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Ijamas as a group. This needs to be
addressed.
Another group of chiefs is the female group
known as Opojis. This group was a carryover
from the Pupupu era where it was
necessary to assuage the female folks and
give them their own chieftaincy rights and
titles. The group is headed by Olobun with a
total of about 18 female chiefs.
Interestingly, one needs to attend their
gathering to cherish how they have
maintained the richness of our culture for
hundreds of years through their
ceremonies, mode of dressing and lyrical
songs. They are also traditionally in charge
of the markets.
Posers
2.1 How can we eliminate or reduce the
acrimony that follows the installation of an
Osemawe?
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2.2 How can we satisfy the yearnings of the
Olojas for upgrading without damaging the
structure and unity of Ondo Kingdom?
2.3 How can we resolve the issue of Oke
Otunba chiefs who seem not to accept that
they are Ukule chiefs and continually see
themselves as a separate entity from other
chiefs thereby generating unnecessary
ripples in the chieftaincy system?
2.4 How can we establish parity between
the Ijamas and the other chieftaincy groups
including their being assigned traditional
roles.
3.0 RELIGIOUS TENETS AND TRADITIONAL
FESTIVALS
It has been said in some quarters that
Ondos do not worship any idols but their
Oba. This assertion is often supported by
reference to the lyrical song “Oba meso ro
ghu o, Oba o koko”. This assertion is far
from being true. Indigenous worship of
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Olodumare and other lesser gods
personified in deities is an integral part of
Ondo culture like other Yoruba people. The
worship of such deities are manifested in
festivals such as Ogun, Ibo Orile, Ibo Orisa
Oba, Ibo Oluwa, Agemo, Oramfe, Osanyin
Oba, Odun Moko. Even the famous Odun
Oba is devoted to the worship of past and
present Osemawes who are regarded in
their own rights as deities. Some of these
religious worships such as Agemo came into
the land through various mothers of past
Obas who were non-Ondos.
The Ondos also have traditional
masquerades known as Egunguns. They
include Odokoro for the Osemawe, Amomo
N’Epe, Sebe,Badunine, etc. It is part of our
belief system. Some fraternities also exist
such as the Ogbonis, Aboba and many
others which some religious organizations
have labeled as secret cults. These
fraternities are not secret to their members
but may be to non-initiates. It is totally
erroneous to equate them to terrorist
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student groups in higher institutions known
as secret cults. In the days of yore, they
serve to advise our leaders and to dispense
justice without fear or favour. Whether
people believe it or not, these fraternities
are still very much in existence, have their
code of conduct and draw members from
different sections of the society. The Iledi
(House of Worship) is very much visible in
Ondo. They also have their own hierarchy of
chiefs – Oluwo, Apena, Araba, etc.
Though Ondos worship their own traditional
Gods through various festivals, they have
often shown religious tolerance to other
imported religious such as Islam and
Christianity. Indeed, the Osemawe is
regarded as the head of all religions in the
kingdom. This cooperation amongst the
various religious groups has existed for
hundreds of years.
Recently however, some religious fanatics
have tended to undermine Ondo culture by
referring to all traditional festivals as fetish
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and devil’s work. They have attempted
vigorously to bastardise and condemn the
chieftaincy institution, destroy our shrines,
condemn our various festivals, bastardize
our traditional marriage systems as if it is
only the white people who have the
inalienable rights to determine concepts of
what God is and should be.
Some have attempted to re-label Ogun
festival as Jesus Day. Some see the wise
sayings in Odu Ifa as heresy. While the Ondo
community welcome them and gave them
land to settle amongst us, they are now
beginning to bite the fingers that fed them.
No one questions their right to win converts
but they must be very careful not to destroy
or bastardise our culture. Imagine now
giving names such as Joy, Patience, Faith,
Sunday, Monday, Jesuseun, Jesumodede,
etc to their children. Years ago, we used to
laugh at our friends across the Niger who
gave their children such names. A nation
without culture is a dying nation.
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Posers
3.1 How can we package and repackage our
traditional festivals to promote tourism
3.2 How can we protect our religious tenets
and worship from this aggressive attitudes
of foreign religions
3.3 How can we continue to engender
religious harmony in our Kingdom without
torpedoing our right to religious worship
and cultural practices
4.0 SOCIAL AND ETHICAL NORMS
Social and ethical norms form the bedrock
of our culture. The various social norms
include respect for elders and protection of
the family name. The lyrical song “Eesi,
Eesio, Eeso nuya nomo ‘Ndo e” summarises
it all. In the past, before a man or woman
gets married, his or her parents will
thoroughly investigate the family
background of the proposed spouse.
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In those days, present day crimes like
stealing, armed robberies, kidnapping,
murder were minimal. I could recollect
when I was very young, serious cases of
murder and kidnapping (kodokodo) must be
determined and purged by the Elegbe Ayadi
chiefs who would perform the Egunmo
ritual to apprehend the culprit and cleanse
the land. In the same vein, suicide cases
were handled by Udoko chiefs. Parents gave
strong moral lessons to their children and
every person endeavours to protect his or
her family name. These days, the reverse is
the case. Every one runs after money and
undeserved fame so much that traditional
social and ethical norms have been
jettisoned.
The Ondo culture also prescribed checks
and balances for the leaders to prevent
abuse. For example, The Oramfe festival
(Opepee exposes wrong doers) through
their yearly night parades; singing lyrical
songs to expose evil doers and to praise
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good leaders. No one was spared. We now
know that these days such festivals are
occasionally corrupted through the offer of
Greek gifts to the festival organizers.
We also know that some of the Obas and
High Chiefs have their own praise singers
(Asunrara) akin to those from Oyo Kingdom.
These asunraras praise their masters when
they deserve it and caution them over their
excesses or advise them in case of danger. A
case in point is that of Ogbojamukan, the
Asunrara of Jomu nla when he sang –
Jomu o Jomu, A Jomu tarako
Ma ma ya be o
A Jomu tarako
Pa ja sibe o
A Jomu tarako
Ju yan sibe o
A Jomu tarako
Loyalty and dedication to family and duty
was highly cherished. Virginity was highly
prized and cherished. These were all
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cherished norms and ethics of our cultural
heritage.
Posers
4.1 Have we not completely derailed from
our cultural norms and ethics?
4.2 How can we re-inculcate the virtues of
our social norms particularly on our youths?
4.3 How can we begin to reverse the trend
when our youths who have gone away from
the land either within Nigeria or abroad
tend to loose their culture?
4.4 How can we encourage our youths to
visit the land and also speak the language?
5.0 ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL
SYSTEM
Our economy was originally largely agrarian.
A few people were hunters and blacksmiths
fabricating simple farm tools. Later in our
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history, a lot of our citizens engaged in
trading in places as far as Agbabu and Lagos.
There was also timber work. Within the last
40 or so years however, many youths
abandoned the farms either because it was
full of drudgery, unprofitable or not
befitting their educational or professional
status. They settled in urban cities like
Lagos, Ibadan and in far away Kano, Kaduna
and Portharcourt. Going to settle abroad
became the fashion amongst our people.
This trend has prevented the community
from having the deserved growth and
sustainable development. We need to
reserve this trend through mechanization of
our agriculture and through the creation of
an industrial base. It is therefore welcoming
that the Ondo Development Committee has
taken the bull by the horn through the
establishment of an industrial estate at
Okegun and another at Igbado in
collaboration with other stake holders
(Ondo West Local Government, Osemawe
Vision 2015, and some private investors) to
float an investment company known as
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WESTOVIS FIP Ltd for the Igbado project.
We appreciate the Igbado Community
under Oba Asafunren for donating a piece
of land for the industrial project at Igbado.
Allocation of industrial plots in these estates
will commence towards the end of January
2013.
Posers
5.1 Is it not incredible that there are just a
handful of tractors and agricultural
equipment in Ondo Kingdom compared to
thousands of pleasure cars?
5.2 Is it not a time bomb that many Ondo
farm lands have been sold to non
indigenes?
5.3 Is it not frightening that Ondos abhor
skilled labour work like carpentry, welding,
bricklaying and other artisan jobs in
preference to the elusive white collar jobs?
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5.4 Is it not worrisome that many Ondo
youths prefer quickie jobs such as Okada,
yahoo-yahoo, briefcase business to long
suffering but stable endeavours?
5.5 Will it not be a future problem that our
trades and many commercial activities have
been taken over by non indigenes?
6.0 EDUCATION
Ondo community has always being a leader
in educational pursuits over the last 100
years. Ondo Boys High School was
established in 1919. St Stephen’s primary
School was established much earlier. In later
years, many more schools were established
by religious organizations for which we are
eternally grateful. We also have Adeyemi
College of Education as well as Wesley
University of Science and Technology, a
Methodist institution.
We must also not fail to recognize Don
Bosco Technical College although Ondos
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have not fully patronized the institution
because of their mentality of abhorring
vocational programmes. It is regrettable
though that a School of Nursing was once
established here but was later moved to
Akure. We are hopeful that in not too
distant future, this deprivation will be
redeemed with a teaching hospital. We are
also hopeful that Adeyemi College of
Education will be upgraded to a university in
not too distant future.
The above has covered the formal
educational status of Ondo kingdom. The
informal is not as impressive. Home training
for our children is far from being adequate.
People of my age group not to talk of older
age groups are often shocked with the bad
and uncultured manners of our youths, their
mode of dressing, their insatiable lust for
quick money and their moral values. Many
of our girls cannot even cook let alone the
boys. A causal survey will show that a good
number of girls between the ages of 17 and
29 already have one or two kids outside
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matrimony. When they eventually want to
hook a man, they pretend that such children
born outside wedlock are the last off springs
of their parents!
Posers
6.1 How can we improve the moral values
of our youths?
6.2 How can we encourage our youths to
learn trades and vocational skills?
6.3 How can Ondo parents be made to
return to their old priorities of educating
their children at all costs?
6.4 How can we encourage good home
training?
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7.0 MODES OF DRESSING,
ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS
In all of Yorubaland, there is almost no
other group that has made the local Aso
Oke more popular. Ondos have taste and
hold their Alaari, Sanyan, Etu and their
variants in high esteem. They are also not
behind at all in other areas of fashion - both
male and female. Indeed Ondos would say:
E e se Uun Loogun je yugha e biee
Aso yi Loogun wo yugha e biee.
Surprisingly though, even though we use a
lot of aso oke here, we continue to buy
them from places like Iseyin, Iwo, Ibadan,
etc. There is no single viable local textile
industry here! This is food for thought.
Our traditional mode of entertainment is
through parties organized in festivals,
marriages, chieftaincy celebrations, burial
ceremonies of aged people, naming
ceremonies, etc. Of course, our main menu
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is pounded yam although rice has assumed
a lot of importance over the years. We
know also that festive meals are incomplete
without our traditional Asun. We need to
reintroduce our other traditional meals like
Obe fifun, Eepo Loogu, Gbanonnon, etc.
Luckily, one of the activities of Ekimogun
day celebration over the years is to
showcase our foods and dresses. This silver
jubilee edition of the food fair has been
scheduled for Friday, 30 th November, 2012
at Ugha Ode for 12 noon. Just like in the
case of textiles however, Ondos do not rear
goats in any tangible scale but continue to
buy from other places like Ilorin, Osogbo,
Iwo, etc. This is another food for thought!
Ondo is also rich in drumming and dancing.
Every class of chieftain has its own drum
beat. The songs, dance steps are simply
enthralling. It is comforting also that the
Ekimogun Day Celebrations also show case
the various drum beats and dance steps.
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Our traditional sports include wrestling
(Gidigbo) and indoor games like Ayo. There
is virtually no traditional Ondo sports that
does not get accompanied with music and
in some cases dance steps –
Me I luja mio, ebi pa koolo
O dola uja, yewon de won u koko bee
Foreign influence has also introduced other
sports like athletics and football. The Ondo
Development Committee has donated
sports kits and equipment to several schools
for the last two years in the spirit of “Mens
Sana in Corpore Sano – A good mind in a
good Body” and to encourage healthy
competition amongst our schools
Posers
7.1 We need to develop our own local
textile industry
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7.2 We need to encourage the rearing of
goats locally to satisfy our appetite for asun
7.3 We need to encourage our youths to
learn our traditional drum beats and dance
steps
7.4 We need to encourage every Ondo
home to reintroduce our traditional cuisines
in their family diet.
8.0 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
Our kingdom is rich in traditional health
services. There are 3 classes of traditional
medical practitioners – The Babalawo, The
Onisegun and The Agbebi. Divination is an
integral part of our traditional medicine.
Divination by Babalawos seeks to find out
the cause of ailments by consulting The Ifa
Oracle. It will take another whole lecture to
explain some of the workings of Ifa
divination. Not withstanding, The Ifa Oracle
as handed down by a Yoruba deity
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(Orunmila) is based on the interpretation of
several chapters of lyrics known as Odu Ifa.
There are 16 main chapters – Ejiogbe,
Oyeku Meji, Iwori Meji, Odi Meji, Irosun
Meji, Owonri Meji,Obara Meji, Okanran
Meji, Ogunda Meji, osa Meji, Ika Meji,
Otuurupon Meji, Otua Meji, Irete Meji, Ose
Meji, Ofun Meji and 240 sub chapters
known as Ese Odu. Divination by cowries,
ikin or other methods gives a binary pattern
which the babalawo links to the lyrics of an
Odu Ifa or ese Odu Ifa to interpret the cause
of an occurrence be it natural, supernatural
or artificial. The babalawo then proceeds to
recommend the line of action be it to cure a
state of misfortune or an ailment. Divination
by Odu Ifa is highly mathematical and its
configuration is similar to the binomial
theorem.
The Onisegun is the medicine man who
prepares and dispenses the drugs or
curatives while The agbebi is the traditional
midwife. Most operatives of the traditional
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system tend to combine the practice of
Babalawo with Onisegun although they are
quite separate arts. The local practice of
Agbebi is becoming quite obsolete and is
being taken over by modern maternities.
The typical Ondo person still believes in the
use of Agbo (a herbal concoction) and other
traditional drugs and will not hesitate at all
to visit a babalawo if pushed to the wall
albeit it secretly whatever the new religions
say. Their basic expectation of religion,
traditional medicine and the like is to
protect them from their enemies, improve
their life and livelihood and cure their
ailments. The typical Ondo man or woman
cares less about The Kingdom after death.
He prefers to hold the title of Bajulaiye to
that of Basorun. There are also traditional
medical specialists like psychiatrics and
orthopedics (bone setters known as
Arunmaleegun). Preventive medicine is
through the local immunization known as
Gbere. If our people still patronize
traditional medicine so much. Why is its
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practice being treated under the carpet. It is
because our colonialists had brain washed
us that everything we conceive and do here
belongs to the devil and whatever they
pump into our brain belongs to their own
version of the true God. The new imported
religions have not helped at all on this issue.
They have not made conscious attempts to
integrate our culture into their religion
unless it suits their monetary needs.
Past and present Governments’ attempts at
researching on and regularizing traditional
medical practice had been rather feeble and
cosmetic. NAFDAC had treated local drugs
as curios only and specifically warns that
issuance of NAFDAC numbers does not
imply certification of effectiveness. What a
double talk! On the other hand, traditional
medical practitioners themselves claim to
solve all problems under the sun. There
ought to be heavy investment at all levels of
governance (including traditional
governance) into traditional medical
practice.
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Posers
8.1 Why have we not established a research
centre for traditional medicine even in Ondo
Kingdom?
8.2 Why have we not instituted quality
control measures into the production and
dispensation of traditional drugs?
9.0 URBAN AND RURAL PLANNING
Urban and rural planning in Ondo Kingdom
has been patterned after that of Benin with
a slight difference. Unlike Benin, every Ondo
person claims Ondo Metropolis as His town
and home and only refers to the satellite
towns and villages as his farm or place of
work. This has stultified the development of
rural areas to a lot of extent. There is a
strong need to reverse the trend of building
beautiful houses and places of work in the
metropolis only. People should accept their
domiciliation in the surrounding towns and
villages and help to develop the rural areas.
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Urban planning should also be properly
controlled. It is indeed welcome that The
Osemawe Vision 2015 programme is
developing a master plan with appropriate
ring road and interlinked roads. We are
hopeful that the Ondo State and Federal
Government will come to our aid in the
implementation of the master plan for
Ondo kingdom. Approved layouts should be
strictly followed. Land owners should not
disrupt the layouts by selling lands meant
for roads, drainages, markets, etc.
In all these, the unity of Ondo Kingdom
must be maintained. The idea of a
traditional ruler in the district towns of
Ondo Kingdom that he is independent of
the Osemawe and that his sovereignty is
from somewhere else is an anathema and
should be totally resisted and purged.
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Posers
9.1 The development and implementation
of Ondo City Masterplan should be
vigorously pursued.
9.2 Industrial and infrastructural facilities
should be extended to the satellite towns
and villages
9.2 Unification and integration of all Ondo
towns and villages should be the
watchword.
10.0 TOURISM
Tourism plays a lot of role in the economic
and cultural development of any
community. Tourism facilities in Ondo
Kingdom are still at their infancy. Many
would ponder what potential tourist
facilities we have to showcase? My answer
is PLENTY. There is however a need to
articulate the various areas we can tap to
promote tourism. I make bold to suggest
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that many of our artifacts, traditional
places, legends, cuisines, dresses, festivals
depicting our cultural heritage can form the
basis for the development of tourism
industry in Ondo kingdom.
Some of the interesting places include the
Osemawe Palace, The Ojomu Court, Ogun
Leri, Ogun Aisero, Udoko Shrine, Ori Aye,
Ifore Shrine (Oiden), Idimi Agbede, Uli Aio at
Odosida, Uli Besade at Oreretu, Uli Sora, Uli
Lobun, Uli Oshinrungboye, Lisa’s Court, old
post office building, industrial estate sites at
Okegun and Agbado, Old Town hall building
now slated as Ondo Heritage Museum,
Adeyemi College of Education, NIEPA,
WUSTO, Old Cathedral, etc.
We need to immortalize our past legends by
way of statues, plays, films, dramas and
books. Such legends include Oba Aio, Jomu
N’la, Oshinrungboye, Sora Akoko, the
female legend Tagba and many more. Some
immortalization projects can turn into
tourist facilities. I wish to remind us of the
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heroic feats of Tagba which by now ought to
have been turned into a film. In this vein, I
recount for posterity these two songs on
her:
E maa ba mi kalo, Berere lobinrin nleyo
berere
Kainkan pesu lapeideyin, mo pe Tagbe re wa
o ee.
Our cuisines and dresses can also promote
tourism. Most important are the festivals
particularly Odun Oba, Odun Ogun and
Ekimogun Festival. We should not leave any
stone untouched in promotion of out
tourism.
Posers
10.1 A detailed study must be conducted to
identify potential tourism facilities in the
kingdom. I have only identified a few in the
metropolis. There are quite a lot in the
satellite towns and villages.
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10.2 Concrete plans must be made for the
development and promotion of tourism. We
should not rely only on Government but
must involve all and sundry including
individuals, clubs and societies, corporate
organisations, national and international
Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s).
Existing hotels and recreation centres
should tune up to this goal.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
I have in this short lecture discussed a few
areas of Ondo culture which we need to
address to promote development in Ondo
kingdom. The areas include historical
antecedents, traditional modes of
governance, religious tenets and traditional
festivals, social and ethical norms, economic
and technological system, education, modes
of dressing, entertainment and sports,
medical and health services, urban and rural
planning as well as tourism. The posers in
each of the above ten dimensions of our
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culture are pointers to specific
recommendations that are being made to
further the development of Ondo Kingdom.
We wish His Royal Majesty Oba Dr. Victor
Adesimbo Kiladejo, Jilo III, The Osemawe
and Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom and
the entire citizenry of Ondo Kingdom Happy
Ekimogun Day Festivals.
PRAYERS
Olu-ola ni oruko ti a a pe ifa;
Olu-ola ni oruko ti a a pe Esu;
Obatala ni oruko ti a a pe orisa;
Adaabase loruko ti a a pe Eledumare;
Eyin mereerin ni ki e gbe wa gege,
Ki e je ki aba wa o se.
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A daaba owo fun gbogbo wa; e je ki o se.
A daaba ire gbogbo fun Ile Ondo; e je ki o
se.
A daaba ile ise fun Ile Ondo; e je ki o se.
A daaba omo rere fun Ondo; e je ki o se.
Ti akese ni i se laaarin owu.
Abamoda ki i da tire ko ma se.
Ifa, ohun gbogbo ti a ba ba o so
Ni ki o se.
Okete ki i ba ile soro ko maa gbo;
Bi a ba yan ebo tan,
Oseetura ni i gba a.
Ki o gba gbogbo oro wa
Si ire, sowo, somo, soro, salaafiya.
Aio O dudo a gbe wa o. A se.
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