In other to continuously bridge the gap between the Yoruba race and the rest of the world through cultural integration and globalizing Yoruba culture across the shores of Nigeria; His Imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ifé; Arole Oduduwa, Ooni Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II CFR has officially delivered the 1st title to Quilombola territory in Brazil; making the city first outside Africa to receive a certificate of Yoruba territory.
Ooni Adeyeye and his entourage from Nigeria arrived in Bahia, welcomed by an orchestra of Atabaques and Berimbaus. He delivered the title in recognition of Quilombola territory in Brazil on Sunday the 19th of March 2023. The epoch-making ceremony took place in the Quingoma community, in Lauro de Freitas, in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Brazil. Residents of Quilombola could not hold their joy as they celebrated the delivery of the title of Yoruba territory which will further strengthen and preserve the Yoruba history, culture and language in the community.
According to the account, the Quilombola was recognized for having received and welcomed Yoruba people, who were enslaved and forcibly removed from their base in Nigeria during the era of the slave trade in Africa, the recognition of Quilombola as Yoruba territory is another step in the fight for respect for African history. The history of the Quilombo dates back to the 17th century. Currently, around 580 families live in the area covering approximately 1,200 hectares. Quingoma has been recognized as a Quilombola territory by the Palmares Foundation since 2013.
Ọ́ọ̀ni Ifẹ̀ in his address disclosed that; the rich and robust history of the Brazilians and the Yoruba people have dated back time in memorial and steps like this will not only preserve the history via cultural preservation, it will also give Brazilians a sense of belonging and help foster improvement in strengthening the heritage of Yoruba globally. “
This event is a very big one for me because I am passionate about preserving the Yorubas culture and its deep-rooted values. this event will lay precedence for the Yoruba language and its culture to be more acceptable globally. You can see the excitement on their faces. Their Babalawo are well grounded in the teachings of Ifa and can render the Odu-Ifa and it’s panegyrics like our Ifa priest do in Nigeria. They hold our gods like Sango, Ogun, Yemoja, and Obatala in high esteem. The have designated days to celebrate these gods with colorful displays infused with plenty aesthetics. They also speak Yoruba which is one thing I love about them. It’s very essential to harmonize them and also show solidarity that we are part of them and they are part of us. this will foster good bilateral trade between Brazil and Nigeria and it will also put the Yoruba culture at an advantage.” He added.
The former governor of Ogun State and Senator-Elect of the Ogun East Senatorial District, under the All Progressive Congress, His Excellency Otunba Gbenga Daniel _fnse_, has has doled out various sums of money in support of victims of the recent flood tragedy in Sagamu.
This followed the condolence visit by a delegation representing the newly elected Senator to the family of the deceased young student; Goodluck Abiola and other victims of the flood who are currently recuperating in the hospital.
Leader of the delegation, Evang. Kolade Segun-Okeowo KSO, who is The Gateway Movement Coordinator in Sagamu Local Government, delivered a moving message from His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to the mother, guardian and family of the late young lad.
KSO expressed the rude shock and bitterness with which His Excellency, OGD received the news of the tragedy and his deep sense of sympathy and condolences to the family he left behind.
The delegation thereafter offered prayers for the repose of the soul of the young boy.
In his response, the head of the family and foster father of the late boy, Surv. Lawal Ibrahim Olalekan, thanked the delegation and His Excellency Otunba Gbenga Daniel for considering it worthy to visit the family and commiserate with them.
He declared that the action of His Excellency, OGD is not surprising to him as he has always known him to be a large- hearted man and very magnanimous almost to a fault.
The delegation thereafter presented a cheque of #200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only) to the family on behalf of His Excellency, OGD.
The OGD delegation thereafter moved to the hospital _(name witheld)_ where the two rescued victims were recuperating. The two patients who although were in great pains at the time of the visit were stable and received the delegation properly.
They recounted the horrible experience of what happened on the fateful day. According to the two friends, they were returning on an an okada from the burial service of another friend when the tragedy struck.
A hit and run driver was said to have pushed them into the huge Isale Ojumele canal and left them to battle for their lives in the massive floods, until rescue operations sought them out.
Once again, KSO delivered the get-well message from His Excellency, OGD to the two rescued victims and assured them of his continued prayers/best wishes to them.
Cheques of #100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira Only) each were again presented to the victims to support them in getting good treatment.
Responding on behalf of the two victims, Mr. Waheed Kehinde said he has heard so much about the good intentions and large heartedness of His Excellency Otunba Gbenga Daniel and expressed thanks to him and God that he and his friend have benefited from his goodwill. He prayed that God will continue to bless OGD in all his endeavours.
The OGD delegation led by Evang. Kolade Segun-Okeowo, KSO also included Hon. Temitope Ogunnubi and Hon. Dada Ogunyombo (the Honourable Councilors representing wards 11 & 13 respectively. Others include Hon. Kalejaiye Okueso and Hon. Sunday Sodiya (Gateway Movement Coordinators for Wards 11 & 13) Also on the entourage was the Gateway Movement Youth Mobiliser for Sagamu Constituency 2, Comrade Shamsideen Abdul.
As part of its activities for the New Year, the Quality and Selfless Empowerment Foundation, QSE, a brain child of Queen Sekinat Aramide Elegushi, hosted over 300 children from within Ikate Kingdom in Lagos State and its environs to a New Year party. The annual New Year party is one of her humanitarian programmes for residents in the community, particularly the indigent. In her remarks, Olori Elegushi advised the children to be focused, disciplined and shun all forms of social vices, to make their parents and the country proud. “Also, as you resume school this week, I urge you to study very hard so as to become great personalities in life, make your parents and the country proud,” she said. Olori Elegushi thanked God on behalf of the children for keeping them alive and healthy to witness another year. She also thanked her husband and Patron of the foundation, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, as well as other trustees for their support and for also spending time with the children. She equally thanked the International Women Society (IWS) and other organisations for their partnership and collaboration. The children who had quality time of entertainment, amusement and merriment, were given different items including school bags; writing materials; lunch boxes; water bottles; snacks and toys.
Recent moves by President Buhari to implement Climate Change Act 2021, Nigeria’s framework law to deliver green growth for sustainable economic development, are rubbing against bureaucratic infighting over the form and composition of the implementing mechanism the National Climate Change Council (NCCC) and its secretariat. The NCCC is chaired by the President with broad participation from government and civil society, and is supported by a Secretariat headed by a Director General who is recommended by NCCC and appointed by the President. Because the NCCC is chaired by the President and Vice President and located within the presidency, it signals to the world that Nigeria is taking a whole-of-Government approach to low carbon development and is not merely delegating the issue to a line ministry. Recent pronouncements by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, questioned both the ‘humongous bureaucracy’ CCA created and the composition of the NCCC. Such doubts as COP 27 approaches, may be misinterpreted as sending mixed signals to development partners interested in supporting Nigeria’s energy transition.
Recently, the Minister vented his frustration at the unwieldy ‘humongous bureaucracy” of “state and zonal directors” in the NCCC’s secretariat. He went further adding that “membership of the council also inadvertently takes out commissioners of environment as members of the Climate Change Council. The secretariat has no directorates to support functions of the director-general, no transitional provisions in relation to functions of the department of climate change and the Climate Change Council.” The minister then announced that he had set up a technical review committee within the Ministry of Environment to initiate “amendments of the Act”.
An internal ministry of environment technical review committee to amend the Act is the classic bureaucratic response to a bureaucratic problem. The Act’s implementing structure appear designed to avoid capture by a single ministry and be nimble enough to respond to reform priorities across ministries departments and agencies and between the levels of government. While this may have drawbacks, the more pertinent question relating to structure and institutional transition is whether the NCCC and the secretariat can provide the framework for sustainable economic development achieved through low carbon means to occur across government and society. Here, the ministry of environment has specific inputs to make the climate diagnosis. The treatment plan or cure is actually provided by other stakeholders responsible for the policies, technologies and societal changes that make sustainable economic growth a reality. The treatment aspects of the CCA’s objectives and NCCC’s mandate involve inputs primarily from other agencies such as the petroleum, power, transport, water, works and housing sectors among others. The CCA and NCCC thus require a whole-of-government review, and not just a ministry of environment technical review.
While, the Minister and the ministry are understandably territorial about the CCA and NCCC, the NCCC is unlike other councils or committees superintending particular sectors as with say communications with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). The NCCC and its secretariat are crosscutting institutions that resemble the defunct Office of the Senior-Special-Assistant to the President on Millennium-Development-Goals (OSSAP-MDGs) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). The BPE as secretariat to the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) closely resembles the NCCC and its secretariat. Both OSSAP-MDGs and BPE were created within the Presidency and operated on a whole-of-government premise rather than being hived-off from a parent-ministry – a kind of prodigal children as the Minister seems to think the NCCC and secretariat are.
It is worth mentioning that the pioneering Director-Generals or leaders of both OSSAP-MDGs and BPE had successful non-civil service professional and managerial careers and brought that private sector drive, energy, can-do spirit and organisational discipline to the new institution. They also possessed the requisite stakeholder management skills to navigate social and political interests across all levels of government. This does raise questions, given the vast all-encompassing and existential challenge climate change poses, whether the Minister sees the proverbial forest from the ministerial tree.
Seeing the forest from the ministerial tree generates the perspective needed to discern the internal inconsistencies in the Minister’s position. As it is difficult to reconcile the minister’s criticism of the CCA with his proud announcement, in the same breathe, “that just last week, Mr. President appointed the pioneer director-general of the National Climate Change Council.” If the deficiencies in the Act can prompt the minister to review and recommend amendments, why then announce the appointment of a Director-General when the CCA expressly says that such an appointment can only be made after the NCCC recommends a Director-General to the President? Such an appointment and announcement fits squarely into the problems the CCA has that the technical review committee should have also reviewed. It is even more irregular when the appointment is announced by the minister or the ministry rather than the Presidency, which usually announces such appointments. It is unclear whether the appointment has been announced by the President or presidency at all. These irregularities and inconsistencies will not have gone unnoticed by the international community, private sector investors and interested parties to Nigeria’s climate change objectives.
In the end raising issues about the CCA while making unconfirmed pronouncements on staffing this close to the 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) in November in Egypt sends the signal that Nigeria is not ready politically, institutionally or policy-wise to receive the investment required to transition to a low carbon economy. This ultimately defeats the very objectives of the CCA.
If Nigeria is to achieve the objectives in the CCA, the Minister and Ministry of Environment will need to play their indispensable part by not going it alone, but by being in lock step with the entire government and people of Nigeria. We all go farther on the road to net zero when we go together.
Mardiyyah Omikunle, specialises in Energy Law and Climate Change, she writes from Lagos.