06/12/2022
Being a Text of speech Delivered by the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, at the 2022 edition of Elegbara Festival, holding today, Tuesday, December 6,2022,at Oguntade Bus stop, Shasha,Lagos.
I welcome you all to this year's edition of Elegbara festival.
I appreciate our royal fathers and other guests that are present here today.
I express my sincere appreciation to our royal father and host,Oba of Shasha Kingdom,His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde.Nasiru Lawal Ogunronbi,(Ariwajoye /Akinlowo 1) for supporting our organization.
The year is certainly running to an end.
Therefore,it is very important for me to appreciate all our members for their commitment to this cause.
I want to assure you all that there is reward for everything you do for Yoruba land.
My prayer is that at the time of the reward,you will all be alive to see and witness that moment of joy and happiness.
ELEGBARA:CELEBRATING THE MOST VILIFIED DEITY IN THE WORLD
Elegbara festival is unique because the deity we are celebrating is at the centre of every thing that we do in life.
Elegbara is everywhere, and he is always available as the leading deities in the world.
In the course of my researches, I found out that Elegbara had been misunderstood as the Devil,or Esu in Yoruba land.
But in reality,Elegbara is a deity.It is not satanic or devilish in nature.
He is the king of all spirits in the world.We can also call Him the Olori Aiye,because He is always in charge of the entire world.
Both the Holy Bible and Holy Quran are very clear about the role of Elegbara in the creation of life and man.
But it is sad that He is the most vilified deity in the world.
There is no country in the world that has abused Elegbara as much as Nigeria.
Each time we talk evil of Elegbara, He destroys our economy and other institutions in the country.
The more we abuse Elegbara,the more He brings untold hardship to the country.
And we experience more pains and anguish.
Believers of other faiths set us against the deities through religion and civilization.
Nigeria is most affected by their unfounded deceit.
Nigeria is in a terrible situation with the way we treat our deities.
That is why we are where we are today.
Even if you don't believe in Elegbara, don't denigrate Him.
Don't abuse him because He has an enduring relationship with God who is the creator of heaven and earth.
As Yoruba culture promoters,it is our duty to correct the wrong impression about this deity.
I am an advocate of peace.I preach religious tolerance.That is why I am saying this for posterity.
As we celebrate Elegbara festival today,we are changing the wrong impression of the people about the deity and other deities in Yoruba land.
Therefore,as we celebrate this festival,I want to use this great opportunity to appeal to believers of other religions to stop abusing Elegbara by calling the popular deity the Devil.
RE-INTRODUCTION OF HISTORY IN SCHOOLS:A NEW BEGINNING
All over the world, history has been the foundational subjects taught in all schools.
While growing up,we all learned about our past history,as well as our heroes and heroines.
We were taught about how they have excelled by becoming national heroes and heroines in the country.
13 years ago when history was abolished from our school curriculum,I stood against the "anti people" policy.
I knew it would lead to nothing good.
For 13 years,removal of history from the school curriculum had robbed us of the knowledge of how Nigeria evolved as a country.
It has also deprived us of the good memories of the past.
It hindered our progress.It deprived us of knowledge and information that we could have learned about our past histories.
It led to a fall in moral values, erosion of civic values, and disconnected us from the past.
Unfortunately,Nigeria is reaping the negative effects till date.
Any country that loses its history loses its originality and respect.
Our lives as human beings are measured by the way we cherish our history and language.
Our leaders must have learned their lessons from the negative effects.
That is why they have retraced their steps by re- introducing history in our school curriculum.
However,let me commend the Federal Government for this positive initiative and retracing of steps.
The Federal Government had also advocated the use of mother tongue as the language in our schools.
This is a new beginning that will enhance our students' knowledge of history.
It will also help in the recovery of lost grounds.
It will advance the knowledge base of our students beginning from the basic to the elementary schools.
As we learn about our past history, we dig more into the past.
And by doing that,we will correct the errors of the past and move on to actualizing the dream in the education sector.
SAVING NIGERIA'S MEDICAL SECTOR FROM AVOIDABLE BRAIN DRAIN
It is unfortunate to hear the reports of the National Bureau of Statistics that Nigerian doctors are leaving the country in droves.
The report indicates that there is a huge gap in the health sector.
The recent story that Nigeria today have only one doctor to about 6,400 patients in our hospitals is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had also said recently that about 4,000 medical doctors had finalised plans to leave the country for better jobs abroad.
Going by these reports, Nigeria's health sector is in emergency situation.
The irony of the situation is that we have one doctor to 8000 Nigerians now.
Unfortunately,over 38 percent of Nigerians are presently suffering healthcare depreciation.
For instance,in the last four years, Nigeria has lost over 2,000 doctors to the outside world.
On the average, we lose between 100 and 160 doctors every month.
With the recent brain drain,it is very clear that Nigeria's health sector is on the verge of total collapse.
This is an emergency that should be addressed urgently.
If nothing is done to arrest the drift, we would come to a stage where we won’t have doctors in our various public hospitals.
And that will be too dangerous for a country like Nigeria.
A country that usually prides itself as the giant of Africa.
Finally,as the Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land,I call on the Federal Government to look into the welfare of medical practitioners in Nigeria, so as to stop the ugly trend before it gets out of hand.
Thanks for listening, God bless you all.
Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams
Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land
