-Containing COVID-19: Ooni of Ife in the pantheon of great monarchs
By Omoniyi Ibietan
His Imperial Majesty, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife, has demonstrated his position as a leading light in the pantheon of great monarchs as he donates modular locally-made motorised fumigators to all states of the Federation and the FCT as part of the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The monarch, who just concluded the first phase of his tour of the Federation at Ekiti in South West geopolitical zone to oversee the demonstration of the fumigation process, said the fumigators will be deployed to decontaminate particularly high density areas in support of efforts of governments to flatten the curve and eliminate the spread of the Virus.
Oba Ogunwusi stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had been foretold at the World Ifa Festival – ‘Otura Meji’ – held on 6th June 2019, but many people did not heed the oracular warning.
The Ojaja II, founder and chairman of Gran Imperio Group, who showcased some natural herbs on his LinkedIn page, has challenged researchers in Nigeria and beyond to explore making natural herbs into clinical medicines and also to extract them both for vaccination and cure of the disease caused by COVID-19.
The Ooni stated that Nigeria should emulate the Republic of Cuba, which has held dearly to the tenets of the Yoruba culture and ancestry, especially in relying on the blessings of nature for medical exploits, which explains the Nation’s status as the best abode of medical care in the world.
By this act of benevolence, one in sequences of the monarch’s expressions of philanthropy, he has eloquently expressed the imperative of harnessing the promises of tradition and modernity to expand the frontiers of human civilisation, a thematic massage in Wole Soyinka’s gripping play, THE LION AND THE JEWEL.