A clarion call has been made to the indigenes of Ibadan, Oyo State, living across the globe, to come home and contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the ancient city.
The call was made at an annual lecture and bursary awards event organised by Oluyole Club, Lagos, held on Sunday at Alausa in Ikeja.
During the event, a total of 11 brilliant university students, who hail from Ibadan and the less privileged homes across 11 local government areas under Ibadanland, were offered a N75,000 bursary award each to relieve their parents of financial burdens.
The students are from different public universities, including the University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the University of Lagos, Akoka, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, and the University of Ilorin, and they are all in the first-class grade.
Speaking at the forum on the topic “The Integrated Development of Ibadan Indigenous Areas,” the lecturer, Mr Lanre Adewolu, highlighted some of the significant roles Ibadan people, particularly the warriors, played in securing Yorubaland during the Fulanis invasion.
He said if not for Ibadan warriors, who put up resistance, the invaders might have succeeded in conquering the entire Yorubaland and that such would have spelt doom for the Yoruba race today.
While declaring that Ibadan has been the safest place in Nigeria for ages, Adewolu expressed displeasure over the slow pace of development in the city.
He pointed out that the underdevelopment is more pronounced in the old areas of the city where their forebears lived and most of them, who are now in their 70s, grew up than in the new Ibadan, where most elites and wealthy people, including non-Indigenes, live today.
He therefore urged the natives of Ibadan, who have the financial wherewithal, to go home and build not only industries and social amenities that will create job opportunities and make life more meaningful to the inhabitants but also to develop their ancestral homes and impact the lives of their kinsmen and other people living there.
He said many of the young boys and girls, especially in those old areas of the city, who live as if they have no hope in life, only need a small push that may come in the form of a scholarship, the provision of safe water, decent accommodation with modern toilet facilities, good roads, electricity, and other basic social needs for them to become somebody in life.
In his welcome remarks, the President of the Club, Mr Oluniyi Fatokun, said the essence of the group is to advance the socio-cultural and economic interests of Ibadan indigenes resident in Lagos and also promote the interests of Ibadanland and its inhabitants, as well as Oyo State generally.
He noted that the club had embarked on a number of social interventions, including annual bursary awards to indigent but brilliant university students, youth empowerment, welfare support for members, and annual lectures from which many indigenes tremendously benefited.
He disclosed that the club may likely increase the monetary value of its bursary award to three digits next year, as well as the number of beneficiaries.
He said only 10 students benefitted last year, while 11 of a total of 84 applicants spread across the 11 local government areas of Ibadanland benefitted this year.
He congratulated the students and implored them to remain focused and committed to their studies, noting that one of the past beneficiaries is now a professor while others are also doing well in their respective fields.
Also commenting, Prof. Adeniyi Osuntogun, who is a former president of the club and former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, acknowledged the impact the club had made on the indigenes of Ibadan, the city itself, and the Oyo state at large.
He said he is particularly joyful that the club has sustained its bursary awards over the years, saying there is nothing to equate knowledge and skill acquisition with, especially in the lives of young ones.
He said quality education is the best legacy to give to any child anywhere globally.
One of the beneficiaries of the bursary award, Miss Veronica Afolabi, who is a 200-level medical student at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomosho and from Ibadan North West, told the Nigerian Tribune that the money given to her would certainly bring some relief to her parents.
She thanked the club for the gesture and urged it to try and increase the money for future beneficiaries, particularly because of the increasing costs of educational materials and other goods and services in the country.
She said that getting quality education nowadays in Nigeria comes at a high price, urging the government at all levels to do something and address the country’s economic challenges.
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