By Kehinde Akinpelu , Ilorin.
A call has been made for the funding of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by their sponsors, multilateral, charitable organizations and governments.
The call was made in Ilorin at the pre-conference seminar organized by an NGO- The Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic Communities Development Associations (CONECDA) in Olufunmilayo Hall, Circular Hotels, Ilorin by Prof. Samuel Ibiyemi.
According to Prof. Ibiyemi, ” the problems of our youths in maintaining our culture is enormous. Once, we neglect our culture, we neglect our Godliness. We need to come together to bring our youths back to our cultural past.”.
Prof. Ibiyemi who is the Chairman of Cultural and Societal Values for Development Initiatives stressed that there is need to engage our youths and make them pursue their ideas within the rural communities. There is therefore need for funds to develop our rural communities in order to stem rural-urban migration. When the youths are developed, communities benefit.
In his goodwill message, the Elegosi of Egosi in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the State, Oba Samuel Dada on behalf of other royal fathers present and in absentia appealed to the NGO’s to always strive to bring development to the rural communities as earlier enunciated for the benefit of mankind as government alone cannot do all things.
While Rev. Gabriel Hide Olaoye urged the NGO to make its activities centre on communities interest as the participation in the seminar has shown diverse monarchs, community leaders as well as opinion moulders from the State.
He called for more seminar where National Officials of CONECDA would be present in Kwara.
In his lecture, Mr. Babatunde Slade, who is the secretary of Communities Development Associations registered with CONECDA in the State enumerated challenges of many communities in the State due to the long abandoned communal past in different endeavours.
He advocated the need to empower the womenfolk than others. This, he said was because of the enormous role played by women in home and nation building. He enjoined the NGO to explore areas like vocational training for them.
The Chairman of the Language Council of CONECDA in the State, Chief Sunday Oyebiyi appealed to linguist, cultural enthusiast to join the NGO in its quest to ensure that indigenous language in the State like Koko Bark, Batonou, Nupe and Yoruba does not go into extinction through promotion and development, saying language is the vehicle of development.
In another lecture at the event, the National President of Oodua Progressives Care Initiative, Alhaji (Dr.) Abdulsalam Olanrewaju Maruf called on all and sundry to be sensitive towards the security of their community. This is because, according to him, “there can be no development without security.”
For the umpteenth time, he argued that communities security could only be effective when our traditional monarchs are involved in the security architecture of their communities. This is because our monarchs knows when strange faces surfaces in their communities.
He called on governments at all levels to be more committed to security of lives and properties as it was in the olden times as opposed to now when insecsant kidnappings and robberies has become the order of the day.
He therefore called for an end to this malady that has made many investors flee our country leading to mass youth unemployment.
He solicited for the government protection of over 200 porous, unguided border routes being used by assailants to enter illegally into Nigeria and commit havoc on the people.
