By Wale Ojo-Lanre
It is being discussed in a hush tone and tenor! That a lady is eyeing and running after the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi,Ojaja II.
Though I have been very careful about this expose, which may shake the cultural platform of Yoruba land; but in other to prevent future embarrassment and disgrace of the entire scion of Oduduwa, it should be exposed once and for all, so that generations unborn will know how things were before them.
For it is a serious issue – touching on the fundamentals, stroking the root and tickling the soul of the entire entity of the Yoruba race.
Unveiling it now may portray one as a Yoruba bastard, but it is necessary to act now as an authentic Yoruba man.
And it must be exposed to the world, why a lady of noble birth, who is blessed with a robust mental capacity; and having the vision to deliver is running after and eyeing the Ooni of Ife
His Imperial Majesty,
Alayeluwa Oba
Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and other distinguished pristine Oduduwa scions.
Her name is Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo.
She is a pretty African lady of grace, first-class in mannerism, intelligent, bold, brilliant and beautiful; a damsel, who God must have instructed Obatala, the expert moulder and great sculptor of awesome delectable beings to do extra works on.
With the special instruction of being born in Ondo State, the water of life was pumped into the spine of Prince Gilbert Olawanle Ogunlowo, now the Atosin of Atosin, Idanre, who watered down the seed into the bowel of Beatrice Ogunlowo, now Olori Ogunlowo.
And right there on the hills of Idanre, Ondo State, four decades plus two ago,
Foluke’s head hit the ground of Olofin.
The signs were apparent: a strange and wonderful gift has been delivered by Eleda, the creator of all things to the Ogunlowos of Atosin, Idanre.
Weaned and pampered with kingly and regal attention, heavily grounded in the African culture, norms, mores, tradition, arts, songs, values and reasoning; immersed in a deep pool of native intelligence and receiving historical lessons, history of Yoruba, Ife Oke, Oduduwa, Ile – Ife, she went to good schools in Nigeria and trained in the US.
Comfortable with prosperity living with her; good home,
wonderful husband;
great children.
With all these comforts, you might say Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo is not comfortable! She is not happy!
Her blood pressure tickles every minute.
She is worried silly.
Worried at the daily erosion of Yoruba history, arts and culture; upset by the unbridled minute by minute extinction of Yoruba values, mores and norms; concerned by the sheer lackadaisical posture of Yoruba leaders to the fate of the Yoruba language!
She is piqued by the non-chalant attitude to the preservation of Yoruba heritage, monuments, and artefacts; disturbed by the lack of conscientious and agrarian steps at documenting the authentic migratory history of Yoruba from Egypt to Ile Ife; frightened that Yoruba as a culture may be obliterated in the global reckoning of cultural states sooner than expected and horrified that the next generation of Yoruba products might not have a cultural identity, Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo believes she has a duty to her race!
A duty to join others, who have made remarkable progress in this salvaging mission.
Those who are deadly serious about the resuscitation and revitalization of the Yoruba culture.
Those who are giving and sacrificing their resources to defend, promote and sustain Yoruba heritage.
Thus, she has tied her wrapper and started eyeing and running after the Ooni of Ife in his course of promoting, preserving and protecting the cultural history, heritage, values and norms of Yoruba.
She is going after the Ooni of Ife, by also acquiring 40 acres of land in Idanre to build the biggest and largest Yoruba Heritage Museum and Monuments, where some structures have not only existed, but are being patronized by tourists!
The same Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo in furtherance of running after the Ooni of Ife and eyeing his cultural drifts has registered and inaugurated Foluke African Centre for Arts and Culture, with the mission of conducting research and investigating historical facts and figures about African history and culture, making Yoruba the centrepiece of reference.
In her drive at reinforcing her cultural and historical depth, Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo has travelled to Egypt thrice, not to visit the Pyramids, but to conduct, investigate and research the relationship of Yoruba with Egypt.
Not satisfied, she has planted a historical endowment fund for further research in Egypt to unveil the authentic history of the migration of some Yoruba from Egypt to Ile – Ife
Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo has also single-handedly founded a Yoruba cultural performing group, which is solely for the promotion of Yoruba dance, music, arts and culture.
Like the Ooni of Ife, Foluke believes that without the youths being ingrained and centre-focused in the efforts at removing, embracing, sustaining and promoting Yoruba heritage and culture, any stride towards this will end in futility, she established a youth-driven non-governmental organization, NGO – Youths in Focus, which has been active in the Yoruba heritage cultural revivalism crusade.
Foluke Adebayo Ogunlowo is after and eyeing Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, just to reinforce his efforts at protecting, preserving, showcasing, and salvaging Yoruba from cultural asphyxiation and extinction
That is just it (ko ju bee lo)!
Well done
•Ojo-Lanre writes from Femi Johnson Chamber, a firm of legal practitioners,
Opposite Group Medical, Mokola Roundabout, Ibadan, Oyo State.
