All roads lead to the ancient city of Ile-Ife on Saturday, 11th December 2021, for the installation of the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, as Afurugbin Ola of Ife (Lead Sower of Wealth and Prosperity of the Source), to be conferred on him by the Arole Oduduwa and Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.
A statement released on Wednesday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs to the Ooni, Comrade Moses Olafare, Ooni Ogunwusi, who doubles as Co-chairman, National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, NCTRN, found Dr Sanginga worthy of the prestigious chieftaincy title in recognition of his unquantifiable contributions to food security and agro-economic development in Africa.
According the African foremost monarch, Dr. Saginga, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, who had spent a large part of his career in Nigeria, is the first African to lead IITA in its 50 years of establishment.
The statement said, “In furtherance of his ‘Africa Must Unite Mission,’ the Ooni of Ife and Natural Head of the Oduduwa race worldwide, Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula, Ooni Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, after wide consultations, will on Saturday 11th December 2021 honour the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculturen, IITA, Ibadan, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, a globally respected African citizen from the Democratic Republic of Congo with a prestigious chieftaincy title as the Afurugbin Ola of Ife (Lead Sower of Wealth and Prosperity of the Source).
“Since his assumption as the IITA’s Director General in 2011, he has served creditably with exceptional commitment to initiatives which have placed the African continent on the global stage, especially in the agricultural arena.
“Over the past 50 years, IITA, Ibadan through its various programs, has provided farmers in the continent with innovations that promoted food and nutritional security and safety, increased food production, raised yield of major food crops, reduced poverty levels, decreased post-harvest losses, promoted mechanization of agriculture, and generated job and wealth creation for young people and women in the agricultural sector, among others.”
The IITA, Ibadan is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across
sub-Saharan Africa.
