Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday urged Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to continue developing every part of the state.
Obasanjo stated that Osun holds a special place in Yoruba history as a state that includes Ile-Ife, the cradle of the race, and that development experience in the state will bring dignity to the Yoruba people wherever they live.
Speaking shortly before commissioning the Old Garage-Oke Fia-Lameco Dual Carriageway in Osogbo, one of the projects being used to commemorate Adeleke’s second anniversary in office, Obasanjo recalled seeing Yoruba people in faraway Brazil during a visit to a city called Bahia who were still preserving their culture.
The ex-Nigerian leader stated that when in Brazil, he encountered a couple who asked him to marry them in a Sango deity manner. He added that in order to complete the duty, he had to request that a thunderstone be delivered to him from Nigeria, which he used to join the couple.
“When I arrived here, you told me about the pensioners owed by the previous governments that you have paid their entitlements. The advice I want to give you is that you should continue as you are doing.
“What you are elected for is to make life easier for Osun people, and that is what you are doing. May God help you. Those who have been governors before you have written their own history, and you are also writing yours now. I want to assure you that I will always support you in whatever you do.
“Osun State is very special among other Yoruba-speaking states. Ile-Ife, which is the cradle of the Yoruba race, is in Osun, which is why the work you are doing in Osun is for all the Yoruba race.
“When I went to Brazil, a man and wife wanted to be joined in marriage according to the Sango deity way, and they asked me to conduct the wedding for them. I told them I didn’t know anything about the ‘Sango’ way of joining a couple. But I called home (Nigeria) and requested thunderstones.
“When I got hold of the objects, I put the thunderstones on the table, and I called the name of God to bless the marriage. The couple now has two children. Yoruba people are everywhere in the world,” Obasanjo said in Yoruba.
Commenting on Adeleke’s work over the past two years, Obasanjo noticed considerable improvements in the state’s infrastructure and asked Adeleke to continue developing the entire state.
Adeleke recalled how the late Asiwaju of Osogbo, Mr. Ajadi Badmus, supported his initiative to revamp the state capital and named the dual carriage Abdulfatai Adekilekun Ajadi Badmus Road after the late community leader.
