Oba Adetunji Position Ibadan As Hall Mark Of African Culture
Responding to a newshunt during an interview, he x-rayed the impact of his organization in Ibadan and prophesied that Ibadan will be made a state in no distant future.
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Q: Share your profile in summary sir?
A: I worked with the government for 35 years before I retired as a director at the office of the auditor general of the local government.
I am a chartered accountant by training and I have been into oil and gas over the years.
Q: What are the main objectives of the CCI?
A: The main objective of the CCI is to promote the culture and tradition of Ibadanland economically, socially, politically and also ensure that social amenities are improved upon.
We worked cordially with the state government to ensure good governance and make recommendations where necessary; more importantly in the area of statistical development.
We also collaborate with the government to improve security, urbanization in areas of agriculture, preservation of nature and natural resources.
Q: Oba Adetunji has joined his ancestors. What do you have to say?
A: Late Oba Adetunji was a complete gentleman; simple, very courageous, humble, very prayerful and we thank God all the prayers he prayed for Ibadan came to pass.
He emerged as the paramount ruler at a time his nature and character was needed in Ibadanland and he was able to amicably resolve a lot of challenges that arose with his God given wisdom.
The late Olubadan saw himself as an element of stability and also paved the way for relative peace in Ibadan in the area of needed cooperation and others to bring progress to the people of the state.
Q: Unemployment is a major challenge confronting youths in Ibadan, how does your organization intend to address this challenge?
A: Unemployment is a global challenge and it is not just limited to Africa or Nigeria, it abounds in the US, UK and other underdeveloped countries and states and not particularly Oyo state.
A lot of efforts are made to create jobs for the youth and we thank God a lot of investors are targeting Oyo state. The governor of the state in his own wisdom has created the much needed environment for investors to flourish and he has also reinvigorated the transportation system with the rehabilitation of the local Airport and the construction of bus terminals across the state.
All this will create employment one way or the other in the area of Agricultural processing. A lot of industries are investing in Ibadan likewise the entertainment industry which has the ability to absorb a lot of job seekers.
CCI is coordinating a lot of activities to increase employment opportunities and we are achieving results. We related with the three tiers of government and organizations to make this a reality. We are not just protecting the interest of indigenes of Ibadan but also the residents of Ibadan because when you said Ibadan is developing fast, it is not just about the indigenes alone. Yes, the main indigenes also play their roles but we take everybody into consideration because Ibadan is a land of fairness and objectivity.
Q: There has been strong agitations for the creation of Ibadan state. Are you in support of this?
A: By the grace of God, we will have Ibadan state because God will answer our prayers, Ibadan not having its own state represents a state of unfairness to the people of Ibadanland and Yorubaland.
Ibadan, which has been the political capital of the western state of the whole western region needs to have its own state. It is not different from states like Kaduna, Sokoto, Bauchi, Enugu that have their own state.
Ibadan has all that is required to be made a state; economic viability in terms of infrastructures, land mass, mineral resources etc. We really should be made a state.
A: Ibadan has continued to expand beyond what it was known to be in the last ten years and we hope that in the next five years, Ibadan will continue to expand in land mass. We also thank God for the current administration in office for urbanizing the city.
Q: What is your message to the people of Ibadan?
A: The people of Ibadan should be law abiding and they should be faithful to their fatherland and believe in God. We expect further communication from the Olubadan in Council as to the next line of action on the succession plan.
Nobody should speculate, we should wait till the authorities have spoken and until the Oyo state government approves who should be the next Olubadan of Ibadan. We have an established system that we can speculate upon and I think we should run away from speculations and wait for the formal announcement.
