Adelaja Adenuga Foundation to offer free medical services to Abigi community

By Ifeanyi Eduzor

The management team of the Adelaja Adenuga Foundation (AAF), a community based non governmental organization saddled with numerous community development programmes and projects have concluded arrangements to stretch out arms of support to indigenous people of Abigi and environs of Ijebu Waterside, Ogun State with medical tests such as eye tests, vision screening, presentation of free medical glasses, free drugs on malaria, high blood pressure, cough and so on alongside end of the year gifts of food materials to the elderly in in the community.
As part of the program, the teeming populace of Ijebu Waterside would also be sensitized during the one day End of the year community empowerment program on the need to promote the cultural heritage of the Ijebu Waterside and ijebus generally, foster and promote unity, good relationship among the community members; use the gathering to campaign against drug use/abuse, cultism, indecent dressing and all forms of social vices among secondary school students and youths at the community level as welk as encourage peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding and harmonious living in the community, all in an effort to empower the youths and community members so as to make them responsible and useful citizens of the community and the country at large.
In an interview with our correspondent, the traditional ruler of Abigi kingdom His Royal Majesty Oba Barrister Olusegun Ogunye, the Ojotumoro of Abigi, expressed happiness about the programme; saying his community will benefit immensely from it just as he commended the non governmental organization for showing concern in the health of his subjects.
‘’I feel so excited about this timely program coming to my community. It is overdue and a timely one that is laudable. When we decide to promote our cultural heritage, it will advance our ways of life, standard of living, affect the lives of the indigenes positively and affect their health and several other things.
” Honestly I am so excited. We are locals and that is the beauty of it. We call our language vernacular and appreciate mordern language and the beauty of it is that our people enjoy communicating in their local dialect than speaking English language’’
His royal Majesty Ogunye emphasised that “Ogun Waterside is a Local Government Area in Ogun State and the only area of the state with a coastline on the Bight of Benin which also borders Lagos Lagoon. The local government headquarters are in the town of Abigi where I am the king. Other towns and villages in the local government include: Ilushin, Lukogbe, Iwopin, Olojumeta, Imakun Omi, Ode Omi, Ibu, Itebu Manuwa, Ibiade, Efire, Lomiro, Oni, Ayede, Igele, Ayila and Irokun among others with many public and private school students who can participate in the Ijebu dilaect debate fluently. Abigi alone has sixteen communities so attendance at this timely program will be massive”, he assured.
Oba Ogunye who promised to be in attendance with seven other kings and chiefs from other communities in the Ijebu waterside did not mince words to say that the Ijebus have lost values and cultural existence and the best time to have a rethink and start promoting our cultural heritage is now. ‘’What Prince Adelaja Adenuga is doing with the non governmental organization should be supported by other well meaning Nigerians as that is the only thing that can revive our culture. It is obvious that some people are shy to speak in their mother tongue or their dialect. This program is going to send people thinking. It is real; it is possible that people can speak in Ijebu and even debate in Ijebu. It is going to be an ijebu program all through except one or two programs that will be cordinated in English language. It is a lovable and laudable program and luckily it falls on the last week of the year that all the sons and daughters of Ijebu Waterside would be home for the festive period.’’
The Monarch also advised the youth at the community level not to shy away from speaking, communicating, participating and respecting their cultural heritage.
“The short story about life is that you are from somewhere. Before there is there was, before you become a Doctor, Professor, Lawyer, Engineer or anything you are, you are from somewhere. People forgot that without a foundation, the structure can not stand well, and that is where we have issues today. Our base is faulty, so we can not build on it.
The Kabiyesi narated a scenerio where he visited someone with his mum as a child and his mum told him in Ijebu dialect ‘’Segun, we le jeun nibe o’’ which simply means (Segun, you can not eat here). A lot of people do not have such dialects to communicate with their children so they don’t have any secret means of communicating at all, so something is wrong somewhere so I am advising the youths especially the younger generation to know that it is good to learn Ijebu while I will also advise the government to make Yoruba a compulsory subjects in all our schools in Yoruba Land.
On how we can redeem our culture, he nposited that for that to be possible, we have to be determined to do that.
” It is obvious that we have lost quiet a lot over time but with determination, we can start to regain them back starting from our homes, churches, mosques, community gatherings and other social gatherings. For example, I don’t speak English Language to my subjects in my domain, we speak Ijebu in our meetings and atimes we speak Yoruba in some meetings.
” We have a rich culture and rich language which we should guide very well. When you go to Ijebu Ode Club members meeting, they use ijebu throughout. Our youths should speak Ijebu, learn Ijebu and should speak the ones that will promote our cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, the in-school and out-of-school youths of Ijebu Waterside expected at the gathering to participate in the Ijebu dialect debate on “Rogbodiyan ni aarin asa ati olaju, kini ona abayo?’’ would be coming from Abigi as well as other towns and villages in the local government area of Ilushin, Lukogbe, Iwopin, Olojumeta, Imakun Omi, Ode Omi, Ibu, Itebu Manuwa, Ibiade, Efire, Lomiro, Oni, Ayede, Igele, Ayila and Irokun among others on Wednesday, December, 28th 2022 at Abigi Township Hall, Abigi, Ijebu, Ogun State from 8:00am. There would be another debate among the artisans, teachers, tertiary school students, civil servants and others with the topic: ‘’Ki ipa ati akitiyan ri awon Ijebu omo Alare ti ko ninu idagbaroke ile Naijiria? in pure Ijebu dialect.
Other programs lined up to make the end of the year community program rich and lively are lecture on: ‘’Consequences of substance abuse: Its impacts on Nation Building’’ by a Director from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Federal law enforcement agency in Nigeria under the Federal Ministry of Justice charged with eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs.
There will also be questions and answers on Ijebu Waterside, origin, foods, arts and culture, standard of living, dresses, ways of life and so on and to crown it all, there will be gifts for the elderly people at the end of the year program among funfair and refreshments.