Adenuga, others harp on grassroots governance at Awujale lecture

Keynote speaker at the Globacom-sponsored Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance Lecture, Professor Ayodele Olukotun (2nd left), Globacom’s representative at the Lecture, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe (1stleft), with the panel discussants, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu and Mrs Olukotun, at the event held in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, on Friday.

Adenuga, others harp on grassroots governance at Awujale lecture

Globacom Chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., and the current Chair of the Oba Adetona Professorial Chair of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Professor Ayo Olukotun, have thrown their weight behind the need for effective local government administration as an antidote to Nigeria's under–development.

In a goodwill message delivered on his behalf by Mr. Folu Aderibigbe, at the 3rd Annual Oba Adetona Professorial Chair Lecture, Dr. Adenuga said that Nigeria needed to adopt the right approach to leadership at the grassroots, adding that "if we get it right at the local government level, we would get it right at the top as all politics is local".

He recommended the inculcation of the noble values of honesty, hard work, integrity, probity and good character enshrined in the "Omoluabi paradigm" for the entrenchment of good governance in the country. "Omoluabi" is a cultural concept of the Yoruba people used to describe a person of diligence and integrity.

Also speaking on the theme "Grassroots Governance, the soft underbelly of Nigeria's political architecture", Professor Olukotun who delivered the lecture on Friday, submitted that local governments in the country had failed and should be replaced because of the manifest development gaps in the country. He challenged Nigerians to provide redemptive alternatives to what is currently in existenceGlobacom’s representative at the Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance Lecture, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe (middle), with the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, and Awujale’s wife, Olori Kemi Adetana, at the 3rd Annual Professorial Chair in Governance Lecture sponsored in honour of the Awujale by digital transformation leader, Globacom, in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, on Friday.

The lecture was held in Ijebu Ode on Friday to commemorate the 85th birthday of the Paramount Ruler of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.

In a keynote remark, Oba Adetona who was also marking his 59th year as King thanked God, the people of Ijebuland and Globacom for the huge support that had birthed great development and progress in his domain.

He prayed especially for long life, good health and continuous progress for Dr Adenuga who sponsored the lecture.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Professorial Chair, Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja, recalled that the first lecture delivered by Professor Akin Mabogunje in 2016 x-rayed the role of money in politics.

Ayanlaja announced that Oba Adetona had created a N1 Billion Trust Fund of his personal money for the maintenance of the Awujale's Palace in perpetuity. He added that the official residence and the office of the Chair of Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair on Good Governance at the Olabisi Onabanjo University would be ready for commissioning in three months.