The decision was reached by the governors, traditional rulers who gathered in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, to review the security situation of the zone.

The meeting, which was held inside the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s office, Agodi, Ibadan, had in attendance five governors including the host, Governor Makinde; Governors Akeredolu of Ondo, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

The meeting equally had in attendance the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of South-West, David Folawiyo, and security chiefs serving in Oyo State.

Others included the chairmen of Council of Traditional Rulers in each of the South-West states and some first class monarchs.

Some of the traditional rulers who took part in the meeting include the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinrutan; Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, Aje Ogungunnjso 1; and Olugbon of Orilegbon, Oba Francis Olusola Alao.

Also in attendance was the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, and other heads of security agencies in Oyo State.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, who spoke at the end of the meeting hinted that though the meeting was at the instance of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the trio could not fly out of Abuja due to bad weather.

He said that the governors and the traditional rulers thereafter decided to meet to appraise the security situation in the zone.

Akeredolu, who briefed newsmen about the resolutions of the meeting said, “The discussion we had with our Obas and security chiefs have been most productive. Many things we never thought of came up and we heard from our Kabiyesis more mature approach to challenges we are facing in the South West and the country at large.

“And from our discussion, we all agreed that the time is now that we support the decision of National Economic Council (NEC) about forests management. They believe that all the states should be in the position to manage their forests, which will give enough room to determine who is there, what purpose they are serving, and where you have people illegally. The states should be able to take steps to enable us preserve our forests.

“We all agreed that our borders have become too porous, and that we need to do something urgently to prevent foreign herdsmen from coming into this country without any form of caution, because a number of them have come in with their herds and what they do is of concern to us. We all believe that our borders need to be checked and tightened, so that all those foreigners from Niger Republic and those beyond bordering states don’t come in with their herds and destroy our farms.

“We also discussed that, as we are supporting other areas of farming, like rice farmers and others, there is need for government to support cattle breeding.

“One of the ways we can support cattle breeding is to change the ways cattle breeders are adopting now. So, there will be designated grazing areas, as well as feed mills. With these, there is no need to trek with herds from far. But, things that will lead to open grazing in these modern times must be looked at and the state and federal government, in particular, should give as much support as possible to cattle breeders”, he concluded

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The SWAG4 2023, which is billed for launch at the Mauve 21, Ibadan on Tuesday also disclosed that its goal is driven by desire for a common front to push the Yoruba Agenda for leadership of Nigeria. 

Among those in attendance during the visit include :the Chairman, Planning Committee of the group, former Minister, Sen. Dayo Adeyeye; Sen. Adesoji Akanbi who represented Oyo South Senatorial District between 2011-2015, former House of Representatives’ members , Otunba Abayomi Ogunnusi; former Bosun Oladele, Alhaja Kafilat Ogbara, Tinubu’s son in-law, Oyetunde Ojo; Toba Oke, son to former Lagos State Governor, Deji Jankande; former Secretary to the State Government in Ondo State, Abegunde Abena; Mutiu Okunola, and Makinde Rotimi among others.

Speaking, both in Ibadan and Oyo, where the team received a warm reception, Sen. Adeyeye, who led the delegation explained that there is an agreement in both APC and PDP that the Presidency should be a rotational between the North and the South.

He stressed that now after the eight years of President Buhari, it is the turn of South, which also housed three geo-political zones, including South-west, South-south and South-east respectively.

According to the former minister of works, in all these three components of South, Asiwaju Tinubu from the South-west is the most qualified, who has paid his due in political arena before and during this political dispensation.

“The tour is not a political campaign but a sensitization drive. The agenda of the group is to call out all well meaning South-Westerners to encourage, market and support the candidature of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the office of the President of Nigeria in 2023.

“Yoruba race and Nigerians in general stand to benefit much from Tinubu’s Presidency.

“We are here to pay homage. What we are here for is for Yoruba to succeed President Buhari is 2023. We can not do this without visitation to the palace.

“I have the privilege to tell you that we are representing Yoruba race. We are more than this. We are clamouring for Yoruba race to succeed President Muhamadu Buhari in 2023. And Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the man we are clamouring for”, Adeyeye submitted.

Remarking, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi who declared support for the Yoruba Agenda project said the mission of delegation is thought of, noting that covenant is very important, which must be fulfilled either written or not.

The monarch maintained that anyone who renege on agreement should be ready to face the consequences.

Alaafin said, “Covenant is very important and must be fulfilled, anyone who breach the agreement should be ready to face the consequences.

“There is no sincerity in Nigeria politics, lack of fate in the political arrangement of Nigeria is one of the major set back facing the country. Your mission is thought of, be strong, hopeful and your aspiration shall be met”, the custodian of culture counseled.

Also, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, in his remarks, said that the palace is open for all Yoruba politicans who wishes to contest elections to seek support of the monarch.

“I appreciate you all. I am proud of you. In Nigeria, if you do not demand for your right, they many not give you. You will prosper with this group. Let me tell you that the doors of the palace is widely opened to all Yoruba politicans who wishes to seek votes.”

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In modern time, Africa had Ugandan Joseph Rao Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan guerilla group. Kony was queer and weird. He proclaimed to the world that he was the spokesperson of God on earth and the spirit medium through which He could be reached. He also claimed that he was always host to thirteen multinational spirits that included a Chinese phantom.

He led a syncretic mix that included the usage of Christian fundamentalism, mysticism, Acholi nationalism and claimed that he was establishing a theocratic state, based on the Ten Commandments. He was subsequently indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the abduction of 66,000 children who were turned into child soldiers, as well as sex slaves and causing the internal displacement of two million people from 1986 to 2009.

This is not to talk of the Alaafin of old Oyo who ordered the head of his father-in-law brought on a platter because, while helping to scrub his back in the bathroom, his new wife had jokingly teased his limp manhood thus: “Kabiyesi, so you are this small, yet the whole world is afraid of you!”

Pre-colonial Africa was equally very rich. Egyptian civilization, for instance, has been held to be a major gladsome past of Africa, even from prehistoric times. Agricultural irrigation method that flourished in the deployment of the Nile for agricultural purposes, as well as Egyptian architecture are major sources of study in strides of prehistory. This is not to talk of Egyptian science of embalmment.

This method gained wide mention in its unique system of preserving the dead called mummification so as to achieve some measure of immortality, even in death. Deploying herbs and locally sourced chemicals, Egyptian native doctors dispossessed dead bodies of all moisture, leaving dried flesh that could not decay. With this, many Pharaohs were preserved for centuries and archaeologists claim to have excavated centuries-old bodies preserved with leaves and still effusing scents of embalmment.

On a visit to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, some years ago, he told me of two scientific strides bequeathed by his forefathers. One was that of a fascinating palace environmental science wizardry. According to the Alaafin, no matter how heavy a downpour was in the palace, within a few minutes, you can never find its trace in the palace.

There is an inscrutable and undecipherable flood control network in the palace which ensures that it can never be flooded. The palace is centuries old. The second, as told me by the Alaafin, is an African DNA system in the palace which enables an Alaafin to identify whether children born to the palace were genuinely of the monarchy. The third, as related by the revered monarch, is a potent local cure for cancer of the prostrate. The Alaafin told me that if local traditional doctors treat such a patient of prostrate, he will, in Alaafin’s words, “die with prostrate but never of it.”

There is no doubt that African medicine was potent and was efficient for centuries in treating sicknesses like cancer, diabetes, malaria, stroke, epilepsy, benign prostatic herperplasia, gout and all manner of ailments. Traditional African medicine involves indigenous herbalism that is many times mixed with African spirituality.

Its own doctors were known as diviners, herbalists and midwives. They are reputed to have cured complex ailments, even psychiatric disorders. I was a living witness to a then three-year old boy who was, seventeen years ago, treated for asthma. The local traditional doctor never came in contact with his patient. He merely asked for the presentation of this ailment which had taken the child’s parents to different orthodox hospitals without any remedy, handed them two bottles of herbal potion and in the last seventeen years, the parents have reported no manifestation of the sickness. To the best of my knowledge, Western medicine has no cure yet for asthma.

The recent altercation over the claimed remedy to the raging COVID-19 pandemic by the government of Madagascar was what propelled the above narratives. Madagascar, which is officially known as the Republic of Madagascar, but which before now was known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island.

A country in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar is said to be approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. It is reputed to be the world’s second largest island country. As is known with all island countries, the desire for survival usually forces them to take initiatives about their existence.

So when Madagascar was said to have thought out of the box, not tying its fate to the fate of a world that is hopelessly bayoneted by a tiny microscopic virus which had to date killed over 200,000 people, to those who know the initiative-driven existence of island countries, they weren’t taken aback by the Madagascar innovation.

When the country launched Covid-Organics (CVO) which is reportedly effective in the treatment of this strange disease, it naturally raised some dusts, especially from the World Health Organization (WHO). Since the virus cast a spell on the world, killing global compatriots like chickens, Madagascar is yet to record any death, even when it had 193 cases.

This stride has confounded the world, especially many African countries who are said to be seeking Madagascar’s intervention. Explaining how the country got to this ennobling cusp, Marcel Razanamparany, who is the President of the Academy of Medicine in Uganda, said it was an initiative of the work of Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) researchers, who he said had conducted clinical study into herbs in the quest for a connect between modern and traditional medicine.

In the process of seeking cure for the coronavirus, Madagascar was reported to have made use of its biodiversity by embarking on a therapy protocol that uses an admixture of chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, as well as deployment of medicinal plants. IMRA and the National Pharmacology Research Centre of Madagascar were said to have depended heavily on the usage of artemisia plants hitherto renowned for the cure of malaria.

Indeed, Madagascar, since 1975, was said to have begun researches into the potency of this artemisia annua, a research said to have been pioneered by a Professor Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga. The result is that today, even when WHO is ululating over this splendid outcome, the world is giving thumbs up to Madagascar and the country is able to rescue her citizens from the pangs of coronavirus. Since then, the road to Madagascar has become the path to tread.

Madagascar has since introduced the native-brewed but effective medicine it christened COVID Organics to Guinea Conakry, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, with Tanzania about to place its order. Nigeria’s Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has also indicated that Nigeria might also follow suit.

WHO’s reaction to the Madagascar road that has become the path to tread, was predictable. In a statement, it warned against the use of traditional herbs by African governments, saying that as “efforts are underway to find treatment for COVID-19, caution must be taken against misinformation, especially on social media, about the effectiveness of certain remedies.”

No one should need to tell Africans that even though colonialism ended some decades ago, neocolonialism is still ravaging Africa. While it is true, as propounded by Italian Antonio Gramsci, that physical coercion as a system of control of man had died a natural death, control of the mind of the African has hugely deputized for physical force. And because African leaders are a bunch of simpletons who have no minds of their own, they are easy recruits into the war to enslave the minds of their people.

Their poverty of materials and lack of the mind have ensured that they are appendages to the west. In spite of his penchant for thieving the resources of his people, Sani Abacha was about the only Nigerian leader who called the bluff of the west and who can be compared to Andry Nirina Rajoelina, current Madagascar president. The ones before and after him appear to be mere agents of the colonizers.

If not, a government that has a mind of its own shouldn’t be deterred by the threats of the west, especially in the quest to rescue its own people from the pangs of a global pandemic. It is apparent that finding cure to a global ailment by any common African country is an effrontery, indeed insolence by Africa against her masters. How could those black niggers who cannot fend for themselves without the help of their white slavers, be the ones to find medical rescue to the problems of the world and end a superior white race’s medical agony?

That would surely be racial impudence. To worsen matters, what that also means is that shipment of cash from all the nooks and crannies of a world that is in search of stoppage to this colossal death, would go to Africa. Absolutely nauseating!

If the Nigerian government encourages traditional medicine practitioners and departments of botany of different universities to find cure to COVID-19, I am sure remedies could be found to this fiery disease and we would jump up in the estimation of the world. Yes, traditional medicine practice has been infiltrated by mediocrities, charlatans and fraudsters, but there is still a tiny window inhabited by genuine traditional practitioners. Gladsome is the news that the Federal Government, through the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mashi Abdullahi, has directed the National Agency for Foods Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to carry out necessary procedures to assess plant-based cough mixture as a possible treatment for COVID-19.

Government should go a notch higher. All efforts must be made for Nigeria to follow this laudable road to Madagascar. It is a road that leads to self-sufficiency and homegrown solutions to continental and international malaises.

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According to palace source, this decision was in line with the spirit of common empathy and solidarity with the Akesan Market Fire victims.

The installation of the Fuji idol, Wasiu Ayinde as the Mayegun of Yorubaland, which was earlier billed for  Monday, 13th January, 2020, has been summarily suspended.

“What befell the people of Oyo, in terms of losses and ruins, is unquantifiable and heart-wrenching.

“The institution of the Alaafin of Oyo respects the mood of the masses. We cannot be celebrating while our people are groaning in pains and utter agonies”, Prince Adeyemi Akeem added.

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During the visit, Ajimobi expressed sadness at the occurrence,  describing it as unfortunate. He noted that his visit should be likened to that of a son to the father over the loss.

He also promised to  contribute to the rebuilding of the market as a private individual who feels the pain of the loss of the victims.

Speaking further, the former governor  also expressed appreciation to the custodian of culture, Oba Adeyemi  for his fatherly contribution to his 70th birthday on December 16, 2019.

In his remarks, the Alaafin  expressed appreciation to Governor Ajimobi over the visit, describing him as a man of wisdom which reflected in his stewardship as Governor. The monarch said the occurrence was especially painful because of the importance as the King’s market.

Apart from its importance and the tradition laid down and sustained by subsequent Alaafins of providing welfare programme for the people in the market, the Alaafin also described the market as the cleanest and safest because of the way it is cared for.

Oba Adeyemi noted that such a major incident has never occured before in the history of the market, promising that the market would be restored to its former glory.

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Speaking during his courtesy visits to the palaces of Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi (Ajagungbade) on Tuesday, Dr. Ayandele described the traditional institution, especially in Yorubaland, as very essential for social integration, cultural renaissance and national cohesion.

According to him, “Our Obas are usually products of royalty and nobility as epitomized by the Alaafin who is globally acknowledged as a repository of knowledge and wisdom. It is on this premise that we call for the amendment of the nation’s constitution to allow for better participation of this set of exceptionally endowed people in the general administration of the society.

Dr Ayandele at the Palance of Soun of Ogbomoso land, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi (Ajagungbade)

“However, the desired to succeed Governor Abiola Ajimobi in office in May 2019 is borne out of my conviction that Oyo State needed a competent and passionate person who would not only build on the solid foundation being laid by the present administration of the APC but also expand the scope of good governance to put our dear Pacesetters State in an unassailable lead among its contemporary”, the APC chieftain added.

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Reacting, Oba Adeyemi eulogized the Ibarapa-born governorship aspirant for what he described as aggressive mobilization of relevant stakeholders for his pre-campaign activities. “I am impressed by the presentation you made here today as one could observe that you have good intention as well as fantastic ideas to run the state if you emerged the governor.”

At the palace of the Soun of Ogbomoso, Dr. Ayandele disclosed his resolve to leave no stone unturned in the quest to harness all the resources available to facilitate rapid development of all parts of Oyo State without discrimination or sentiment. “Ogbomosoland and every other part of the state would witness rapid development in a matter of months if I am to become the governor in 2019.”

Oba Oyewumi, in his own response, prayed for the success of Ayandele, just as he urged him to prioritize the welfare of the masses and justice for all regardless of any sentiment should he get the chance to be the governor as desired.

Dignitaries in the entourage of Dr. Olusola Ayandele during the Tuesday tour were his wife, Dr. Olayinka Ayandele, Hon. Olawale Odu, Chief Tony Ibidapo, Hon. Sola Fakorede, Hon. Ademola Ojo (former Oyo State Chairman), notable chieftains of the Oyo APC as well as members and supporters of the ruling party across the state.

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The group, representing worldwide body of the people of Oyo town observed with angst the advertorial, which bears the letterhead and signature of the monarch purports to praise Governor Ajimobi as a high-achieving, “excellent” chief executive in Oyo State.

According to a statement issued and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the group’s General Secretary, Mr. Hassan Adebayo, said, “this unfortunate advertorial is a slap on the face of long-suffering sons and daughters of Oyo federal constituency, who have endured untold hardships arising from misgovernance and mismanagement of the state’s resources under the leadership of Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

“As we speak, road infrastructure projects started by Oyo state government several years ago have been abandoned, public primary and secondary schools are starved of resources and left in derelict states, workers are being owed salaries of more than six months in various cases, and citizens are living in daily fear of their lives and properties.

“Only a few days ago, students at the state-owned Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, frustrated by lack of government attention and incessant closure of the institution, went on a demonstration that turned violent, leading to disproportionate and irresponsible use of live ammunition by the security forces.

“The good people of Oyo will not continue to take the pains of bad governance lying down. The era of “suffering and smiling” has ended; the age of “arise and fight for your rights” has come. Given the extent to which Oyo State is blessed with abundant natural and human resources, the level of poverty and squalor in Oyo federal constituency, in particular, is unwarranted and inexcusable. This is by no means a call to violence, but a call to vigilance, a call to citizens to awake and fight for transparency, accountability and good governance”, the statement continued.

The group, however promised to intensify its efforts to work with, and for, the long suffering constituents.

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