NEW DAWN IN YORUBA NATION,IMOLE ODUDUWA DEBUTS

'Dayo Kayode (Ph.D)
The Founder, convener & President of IMOLE ODUDUWA:

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

A new Yoruba Socio-cultural group, Imole Oduduwa has begun its operations in Lagos,Nigeria

In an exclusive news interview, The Convener, Founder and President of the body, Dr Dayo Kayode told the News office Desk of Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos, Nigeria that the new body which is not political will strive to bridge the gaps perceived in the lives and welfare of the Yoruba people.

Dr Kayode told this reporter that the new body has started to generate a huge interest from as far back as October,2015 when he initially muted the idea behind Imole Oduduwa.

He revealed exclusively to this reporter that a lot of his friends in the Diaspora especially  in the United Kingdom, Canada  and the United States were very much excited about the impact the project will make both in the short and long terms.

Dr Kayode also explained to this reporter that the new body will work hard to partner the think tanks, opinion leaders of note as well as body of intellectuals in Yoruba land towards the economic emancipation of  Yoruba race while building up the youths to alleviate  poverty.

According to him, efforts will be made by the body to revive the lost cultural norms and  values in Yoruba land through mentoring.

The aviation expert turned socio-cultural activist affirmed that the highest point of the activities of Imole Oduduwa will be in its forging a common front with others on every issues that concern the Yoruba race.

He added that Imole Oduduwa will gear its efforts to strengthening the continuity of the Nigerian nationhood rather than its disintegration.

The Yoruba people (Yoruba: Àwọn ọmọ Yorùbá) are an ethnic group of Southwestern and North central Nigeria as well as Southern and Central Benin in West Africa. The Yoruba constitute over 40 million people in total; the majority of this population is from Nigeria and make up 21% of its population, according to the CIA World Factbook they are   one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language, which is tonal, and is the Niger-Congo language with the largest number of native speakers.^[7]
The Yoruba share borders with the Borgu in Benin; the Nupe and Ebira in central Nigeria; and the Edo, the Ẹsan, and the Afemai in mid-western Nigeria. The Igala and other related groups are found in the northeast, and the Egun, Fon, Ewe and others in the southeast Benin. The Itsekiri who live in the north-west Niger delta are related to the Yoruba but maintain a distinct cultural identity. Significant Yoruba populations in other West African countries can be found in Ghana,^[Togo, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings, one of them includes relatively recent migrants, the majority of which moved to the United States and the United Kingdom after major economic changes in the 1970s; the other is a much older population dating back to the Atlantic slave trade. This older community has branches in such countries as Cuba, Saint Lucia, Brazil, Grenada,^[13] and Trinidad and Tobago.