•The Iyalode Of Ijebuland
It is with great pleasure and gratitude that I welcome you all to this gathering. I thank the Almighty God, for urging us to take this step, for making provisions for us and giving us life and good health to do it successfully. All honour and glory be to His Holy Name.
My profund gratitude also goes to our wonderful monarch, ALAYELUWA OBA (DR.) SIKIRU KAYODE ADETONA; THE AWUJALE AND PARAMOUNT RULER OF IJEBULAND for his benevolent conferment on me the traditional title of IYALODE OF IJEBULAND a year ago. This empowerment programme is organised to commemorate the first anniversary of that honour. Kabiyesi Alayeluwa, I am very grateful. Your invaluable support, advice, encouragement and constant guidance are greatly appreciated. May God grant you long healthy life of continued relevance and usefulness to Ijebuland and humanity.
I also want to thank my fellow Chiefs, Otunbas, Olorituns, market leaders, youth leaders, etc, for their cooperation in this past one year. I use this medium to solicit further and greater cooperation to attain higher goals. I thank you all.
Last, but not least, I want to appreciate the huge support and encouragement of my family, especially my children. May God’s blessings continue to multiply unto you. This empowerment programme is packaged to give some succour to a tiny fraction of the less privileged among us, especially among womenfolk. Like the Economists would say, human needs are many and insatiable because of limited resources available to meet them. Yet, some suffer greater hardship than others, in terms of needs, because of their peculiar circumstances. Among this vulnerable class are widows, single mothers and artisans who struggle through apprenticeship, but cannot buy the needed equipment to practise the trade they learnt for sustenance. It is worthy of note that there were wide consultations and scrutiny to determine today’s beneficiaries. The single mothers were especially scrutinised to ensure that they did not become so out of promiscuity.
The categories of needy people in our society are many and varied, but we have zeroed in on the three mentioned above based on perceived realities in our immediate environment. In addition, the number of beneficiaries in this maiden edition is determined by our modest resources. That is why 50 beneficiaries are being empowered today. It is our hope and prayers that many more will benefit in subsequent editions of this programme as God blesses us more.
Ajeje, owo kan o gberu dori. A tree does not make a forest. I want to appeal to the Ogun State Government, Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Corporate bodies, high net-worth individuals and other notables in Ijebuland to join hands with us and complement the efforts of the Awujale in making life more meaninful for the less privileged in our midst. May God bless us all as we answer this clarion call.
I appeal to the beneficiaries of today’s programme to make good use of this opportunity and, by their conduct and improvement, encourage us to do more for others. Furthermore, as you are benefiting today, let others benefit from you, too. Be a reflector of light, not a dimmer of it. That way, a network of helping hands will emerge that will ultimately reduce the burden of poverty and dependence in our land.
I thank everyone here present for your love and goodwill, your esteemed presence is greatly appreciated. I pray that God will meet the needs of each of us and adeqently empower us in Jesus Name.
A de le ba re, a rin na ko re fun gbogbo wa o.
Osi Ijebu a gbe wa ooo.
Being the text of the speech delivered by Chief (Mrs.) B. O. Osibogun, the Iyalode of Ijebuland at her empowerment program for widows, single mothers and indigent female artisans, held at the Ijebu-Ode Local Government Headquarters, Itooro, Ijebu-Ode, on Saturday 1st of May, 2021.
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