Image: Alaaje Oba Reuben Adesina Amao Osunbiyi
Youths celebrate Aaje Ologo Day, as plans for community secondary school, street lighting are unveiled
Khalid ABRAHAM
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Aaje Ologo in Ogbomoso North local government area of Oyo state, roared in festivities Saturday as youths in the community swelled by scores of their counterparts from Ogbomoso metropolitan city, Ikose, Iluju, Pakiotan and other neighbouring communities, celebrated the Aaje Ologo Day amid pomp and pageantry. It’s the tenth edition .
“We had a nice time,” a youth in the community, Adeleke Adebayo, told ogbomosoinsightonline.com. “It’s to appreciate God for sparing our lives and helping to move our community forward under our progressive Oba, HRH Reuben Adesina Amao. We deliberated on how we can support him to bring progress to Aaje Ologo. We celebrated from afternoon till dawn, it was a rewarding and entertaining occasion,” he added.
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The town’s round-about wore a new look, decorated beautifully, accentuated with a bold inscription – ‘OJU AAJE.’
According to a youth, who gave his name simply as Kayode, “Oju Aje, as in the body cannot see without the eyes. Likewise egg minus the yolk cannot multiply, is the main approach to the community and there, is growing an Ajagbon tree like the one at Oja’gbo, at the centre of Ogbomoso (now fallen). We attach spiritual reverence to Oju Aje Ologo. It’s fountain of glory.”
Declaring the festival open, Alaaje, Oba Reuben Adesina Amao Osunbiyi 1 JP, fsi, dss dir (rtd), announced donation of fund for the purchase and installation of street solar lighting in the town.
In addition, he disclosed the traditional leadership of the community under his headship is “sweating to seek the nod of the Oyo State Ministry of Education for a community secondary school.”
He added, “This has become germane. We are aware that education is vital towards empowering our community, our children must be well educated. And we are determined to make secondary education more accessible to them.
“They travel far distances precisely, which you all know, before they can acquire secondary school education. This is a limiting factor and so we want to bring the school closer to them to remove the hurdle.
“We have sought approval from the penergetic Ministry of Education and this is being considered. We are highly hopeful the approval will be granted. His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration gives premium to expansion of education opportunities and we are assured our dream of bringing education citadel to our children will be realized during his tenure. We are ready to give the necessary support.”
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The former Assistant Director General of the State Security Services (SSS) urged the youths to continue to be “vigilant against insecurity and to maintain peace to provide a conducive environment for rural development.”
Col. Zaccheus Oyewo, a friend of Oba Amao, who graced the event after attending a function of the Ogbomoso Valiant Club (OVC) together, also advised the youths to “sustain the existing peace and to ensure they get their wards and children educated.”
Pastor Isaiah Olatunji, who stood in for the under-shepherd of Union Baptist Church, Aaje, Rev’d J.A. Owoade, spoke on the topic, “Be a unique leader,” with text from 1st Timothy: 12 – 15.
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Pastor Olatunji admonished the youth to “to be unique in leadership, honest, reliable, credible, humble, knowledgeable, and be borne by the fear of God. Anything done should be with the fear of God in mind.”
Furthermore, he charged them to ”abhor adultery, cultism rape and so on. This should not be heard among you as individuals seeking God’s kingdom.”
The occasion similarly featured inauguration of a new chairman, Abel Adeola Balogun, as the former chairman, Amos Oyedeji, voluntarily stepped aside after several years though members resisted this move. Vice chairman is Fadare Mathew a.k.a. Roborobo.
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Mr. Oyedeji indicated in his speech that they were able to minimize herdsmen-farmer’s conflict during his time, stressing “from time to time we held meetings that brought about good relationship.
An Award of Excellence in Performance was later presented to the outgone chairman by Oba Adesina Amao.
The whole community virtually attended the event in aso ebi. Chiefs, women, children were all present to savour the festivities and to show solidarity with their monarch and youth.
