The Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has challenged Yoruba authors to write more quality literature for the teaching of morals and hard work to engender attitudinal change among the youth.
The governor gave the advice at the public presentation of a book, ‘Ona Ola,’ written by a popular Yoruba presenter and Special Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Governor, Mr. Babatunde Olaniyi, a.k.a. Ti o Common, at the Parliament Building, Agodi, Ibadan, on Thursday.
The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, said that the dearth of such books was greatly eroding the rich Yoruba culture that teaches moral rectitude and hard work as means for survival.
Also at the occasion were the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli; Head of Service, Mr. Soji Eniade; Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, National and State House of Assembly members; State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Akin Oke, among others.
Ajimobi, who described the author as a committed and ardent Yoruba language protagonist, recommended the book for use in public school and public libraries across the South West.
He also advocated the return of popular Yoruba programmes to the broadcast media to ingrain the ways and life of the tribe in the minds of the children who, he said, are daily being swayed by foreign culture picked from the new media.
The governor said, “This book has come at a time Nigeria and the people are looking for alternative, but legitimate, ways to wealth and affluence. If we follow the recommendations in this book, I am sure we can be assured of a way out of individual financial doldrum.
“The book is worthy of making the state’s recommended book list for secondary school so as to help our children to gain from the author’s fountain of wisdom. ”
The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Lekan Alabi, said that poverty was entrenched when people failed to snatch opportunities and convert same to wealth or wealth-creating channels.
He lamented the current economic downturn in the country, which he blamed on the people’s inability to condemn corruption and corruptive tendencies around them.
Alabi said, “I appeal to Nigerians to go back to the days when merit was key to achieving success. Our forebears and nationalists who truly made landmarks in our society that have helped socio-economic lives of the people are good examples.
“We should also not forget that those who fail to convert the best channels to wealth or survival will continue to live in poverty, because there is a thin divide between poverty and wealth,” he said.
The royal father of the day and Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oyediran, appreciated the timing of the book presentation, which he said coincided with the clarion call by the state governor asking people to go back to farming.
He said for wealth to circulate, the school curriculum should favor technical education in other to produce more youths with technical knowledge which will earn them more money and survival than white collar jobs.
The monarch said, “The broadcast practitioners of the days of yore produced jingles and programmes that encouraged youths to face skill acquisition instead of laziness.
“Over-concentration of our youths on European football leagues and championships would not help us either, as it erodes our own league and possibly diminish the interest of our youths who love sports to achieve glory.”
The book reviewer, Dr. Abib Olamitoye, described the book as epistolary in which the author used exchange of letters between a character, Akanbi Olowo, a successful man and his childhood friend, Adelaja, on how the latter could escape from poverty.
Abib said the book outlined various ways by which readers could wriggle out of the jugular of financial incapacity like the juxtaposition of income and earnings.
He said, “The average poor man spends more than he earns, the successful spends less than he earns, while the wealthy spends more and earns in fold.”
Olamitoye recommended an audio version of the book so as to have it played at motor parks and open places for the benefit of the majority.
