Ooni appoint Prince Adegbola as Special Assistant on History and Culture

By Chris Onuoha

Arole Oodua, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife has appointed Prince Adelegan Adegbola as a Special Assistant on History and Culture to House of Oduduwa, Ile-Ife. In a statement from the Ooni’s palace, Oba Ogunwusi while endorsing his appointment, extols the virtues of Prince Adegbola as a cultural scholar and custodian of Yoruba heritage who has done well in preservation of the Oduduwa cultural heritage through his publications and research works. “It is my pleasure to appoint you as a special assistant on history and culture to House of Oduduwa, Ile-Ife. You have proven to be selfless individual who has gone to great length to protect the history of Yoruba culture. It is a belief that you will handle this role with utmost care and protect the integrity that comes along with the office. I charge you with noble appointment to do more in creating awareness about the Yoruba culture well as protecting our heritage and advocating for its sustenance,” says Kabieyesi Ogunwusi. The astute cultural scholar has been in the forefront of promoting and propagating Yoruba cultural identity and African values as a cultural researcher for decades. He was endorsed by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi as a custodian of Oduduwa heritage studies that comprises information, education, promotion and preservation of Yoruba culture, arts, history, literature, science and technology and its heritage. Prince Adegbola is an author, communicator of history and tradition, founder and president Oduduwa cultural foundation (OCF), center for the Yoruba Cultural, History, Tradition and Documentation. Among the books he published are “Ile-Ife: The source of Yoruba Civilization” launched in 2012 by the former Ooni of Ife, late Oba Okunade Sijuwade and a recent one, “Ooni Obalufon Alayemore: The father of Efon-Alaaye Kingdom” published in 2017 among others. He is also the publisher of a monthly magazine called ‘Oduduwa Heritage Magazine’ a production of the Oduduwa International Communication that focuses on culture reports and events in Nigeria and in diaspora. According to Prince Adelegan Adegbola, “Reasons to establish a standard cultural magazines is to create an enduring legacy as the mouth piece of the Yoruba people; to make Yoruba culture a source of pride to all Yoruba people all over the world and to spread Yoruba enviable culture of honesty, integrity, equity, accommodation and sense of justice all over the world, and also to showcase Yoruba cultural as a point of reference all over the world.” Speaking further, he explained that the cultural foundation, OCF, is a non-for-profit organisation established to research into the antiquities and the primacy of the Yoruba people; to showcase the cultural supremacy and quintessential position of Yoruba people in Africa.