The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has said that Ile-Ife continues to be the central hub and nexus that no Yoruba, whether at home or in the diaspora, can ignore.
This was stated by Oba Ogunwusi at the closing ceremony of the international conference on Ile-Ife and Yoruba civilization, which took place in Ile-Ife on Saturday and had as its theme “The Nexus between Tradition and Modernity. Without real history, Africans will continue to depend on foreigners to tell our stories,” he said.
The Ooni called on all those of the Yoruba race to ensure they support the historians to conduct thorough research on Ife history in order to put all measures in place.
Also, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof Olutayo Adesina, said tradition and modernity should not be mutually exclusive for they run into one another.
According to Prof. Olutayo Adesina, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Ibadan (UI), who also spoke at the conference, tradition and modernity should not be mutually exclusive.
Adesina said: “We have a lot of things to learn from history and to use to create knowledge and employment for the population of the country, for all to understand how to blend tradition and modernity together.
“The traditional rulers are the custodians of traditions, culture and values and they are aware that there are lots of benefits derived from what we have.
“We should shun running away from the country because we have not just mineral resources alone, but cultural resources across the nation to add values to the society,” Adesina said.
