Kunle Adelabu
The ancient town of Ikorodu in Ikorodu Division of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria, has produced many illustrious sons and daughters who has made giant strides locally and internationally and received recognition in diverse fields of human endeavours but none has been so honoured with Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen of England.
This was what made the reception in honour of Mrs Olasubomi Iginla-Aina, MBE and the ‘Omomurewale’ of Ikorodu Kingdom, at the Ayangbure palace on Friday, December 14, 2019, an auspicious occasion which was very pleasing to the His Royal Majesty, Oba (Engr.) Kabir Adewale Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu and his Igbogbo counterpart, His Royal Majesty Oba (Barr.) Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali, the Adeboruwa of lgbogbo, and scores of other prominent individuals who were in attendance.
Olasubomi was honoured by the Queen of England recently with the British third highest national honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire for her tremendous humanitarian work.
At the reception organized for her, Olasubomi, who is from the prominent family of Anibaba in Ikorodu and the first Diaspora Ambassador to Nigeria, First National Assembly Ambassador to United Kingdom and first female student to emerged as the Students’ Union President of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, was also honoured with a honourary chieftaincy title of ‘Omomurewale’ of Ikorodu Kingdom by the Ayangbure of Ikorodu.
She was also presented a mini statue of Asa Arokolo which has been the symbol of Ikorodu Division’s traditional heritage and has been the main souvenir which the Ayangbure of Ikorodu usually present to highly placed individuals that visit his palace.
Asipa of Ikorodu Kingdom and the Vice Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos East Senatorial District, Asipa Kaoli Olusanya, in his keynote address at the reception, intimated the honoree with the traditional background of Ikorodu town and her own traditional quarters and stated that her achievement emphasized the importance of investing in the education and training of children, particularly the girl-child.
The former Commissioner of Agriculture added that the traditional rulers and entire Ikorodu people are proud of Olasubomi’s achievements which he said is the first in the annals of Ikorodu history.
“When you have children, you must invest in their education; trained them because you will never know which of those children will bring out the glory of the family like you have done today in bringing out the name of Anibaba and the glory of Ikorodu on the world map”, Asipa Kaoli stated.
“One take away from this is that in the very long past, we paid little priority on the education of a girl-child. We always pray to have a boy-child thinking that when we invest our money in training a girl, she will end up in her husband’s house.
“But today, it is important that we prioritise the education and training of the girl-child and the girls have proved it that they are home and society builders and more honest and accessible unlike their male counterparts”.
“There is no way that they will mention your name with MBE and tell your story without linking it to Ikorodu. We are happy that you have brought out the name of our town.
“We are proud to receive you in the palace and that’s why you can see many of our elder statesmen, chiefs and other dignitaries are here to receive you and our dear kabiyesi would go to this extent in showing you his hospitality with this reception.
“I don’t know if there is any other person that had been so honoured as member of the prestigious British Order. I doubt if there is any history about anyone regarding that such award. This is first in history” , Asipa Olusanya stated while acknowledging the importance of Olasubomi’s feat.
“For the Queen of England to have honoured you, she must have seen something very encouraging and special in terms of your contributions to the society. This is why we are celebrating you today.
“We like to celebrate success because you are successful and a pride to Anibaba, Iginla, Ikorodu, Lagos State and Nigeria, that’s is why you were honoured by The National Assembly and I am sure that the Lagos Governor would also be willing to receive you.
“We are proud to associate ourselves with what we have seen in you. Our girl-child needs a mentor and role model. We want to hear their narratives too in positive light like you. That’s why we are here today to celebrate you”.
While establishing the importance of Olasubomi’s traditional quarter (ltunpate), Asipa Kaoli stated that the area has the custody of ‘Eluku’, the most cherished tradition in Ikorodu Kingdom, while he enjoined her to always identify with her culture and Ikorodu township.
The Agbaakin of Ikorodu Kingdom and former Commissioner for Information, Lagos State, Otunba Ayodele Elesho, in his remarks challenged Olasubomi to make Ikorodu people feel her humanitarian works.
“We want to feel your impact here in Ikorodu. We want to see you in action here. We want to have you more here in Ikorodu”, Otunba Elesho challenged the honoree.
“We are appreciative of what God has done in your life and we want you to bring your laudable programmes to Ikorodu”.
Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Semiudeen, stated that Olasubomi was honoured because of the honour she has brought to the country.
“You are being honoured today because of the honour you have done to Ikorodu and Nigeria at large”, the royal father stated.
“Seeing a lady that is one of our own bagging such a prestigious honour meant for highly placed people that has contributed immensely to humanity is worthy of our celebration.
“She has a mission in life which is to help and advance humanity”, Oba Kasali stated.
His Royal Majesty, Oba Kabir Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, while commending the honouree for the feat she has achieved, also acknowledged the roles of her family, Anibaba family, in Ikorodu.
“I thank you all for coming here to honour and celebrate my daughter”.
While recounting the contributions of the Anibabas in Ikorodu development, the royal father stated that:
“Your forefathers had done very well for Ikorodu. They had done great things not for any selfish end but for Ikorodu’s greatness and today, you are benefitting from the fruit of their labour with this honour”, Oba Shotobi stated.
“We have also seen real humanitarian and philanthropic activities in the likes of other Anibaba’s like Otunba Steve Anifowoshe.
“Olasubomi has wined and dined with the Queen in England and today, she is here to wine and dine with Kings and the people of Ikorodu.
“I am proud and elated in joining Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS) and other Ikorodu people in honouring her. The glory she brought to Ikorodu Kingdom and Nigeria cannot be bought with money”, the royal father stated.
A fulfilled Ayangbure of Ikorodu also acknowledged other families that have made giant strides and significantly contributed to the development of Ikordu, Nigeria and humanity in general.
“The first and first of many things had happened in the history of Ikorodu. We have the generations of the Bensons and others making giant strides in advancing humanity and now, the Anibabas are not left out. I want to congratulate her. If we are starting to be pointing to important families and names in Ikorodu, we are going to mention the likes of Adamson, Ogo-Oluwa, Erogbogbo, Allison, Gbadamosi, Ogbara, Benson and now you have added to the achievements of Anibaba family by bringing glory to Ikorodu”.
To underscore his joy over Olasubomi’s feat, the revered monarch announced the conferment of the ‘Omomurewale’ chieftaincy title on her.
“For this, I want to bestow a chieftaincy title of ‘Omomurewale’ on her. She has earned it and God has bestowed it on her. I have consulted with my chiefs and other stakeholders and we have agreed to honor her with the chieftaincy title”, he stated.
Oba Shotobi also enjoined other prominent members of the Anibaba family that are contributing to the development of other communities to come back to Ikorodu and contribute their own quota towards its development.
While emphasizing that chieftaincy titles are not for sales in Ikorodu Kingdom, he announced that the old sum (one pounds, one shilling) which his ancestors used to demand when conferring chieftaincy titles on people is what he would collect as payment for the chieftaincy honour he conferred on Olasubomi.
Meanwhile, Mrs Olasubomi, in her response, gave thanked God for being able to stand before traditional rulers and eminent individuals in Ikorodu division and be honoured.
While recalling her near death experiences during her leadership days at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, stated that:
“I give God the glory for being in your midst today. It pleases Him to spare my life. If not for God, I would have been buried or being on the street just like any other person. I really thank you all for the honour”, she stated.
“When I got to the main entrance of the palace, I saw a big banner welcoming me and on getting inside the palace premises, I saw another one with my name and the picture I took with the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I said to myself that it can only be God. Honour and promotions do not come from the north, neither from the east, west or south, but from God.
“I cannot start counting all what God has used me to do in life. I started my humanitarian activities early in life. It’s always been what I love to do and it has been a divine calling. I always like to be among the people that provide solutions to people’s problems.
“All that have been said about me are to the glory of God”, he stated.
Speaking on her project’s achievements, Olasubomi stated:
“All that have been stated about Light Up project are just tip of the iceberg. Before you could be honoured with MBE, you must have done things beyond and above and I thank God for using me to achieve beyond and above. God has used me in projects that have assisted many.
“Our project, through Bag of Hope , made the largest impact in the world. It broke the world record. We are using the project as a tool to create awareness on the right of girl-child. Our vision is to get to all countries of the world. We have visited seven so far.
“The Bag of Hope has made so much noise everywhere I had gone to but that is just one tiny project of all the Light Up projects. We have affected 15, 000 young people on the project already. When I conceived the project, my intention was to start it in Nigeria which I did and to the glory of God, it broke the world record”.
She stated that her team has been working in Nigerian prisons to train inmates on tailoring and other skills and also providing motivational and counselling sessions.
She revealed that uniforms that inmates are wearing in prison in Abeokuta are made by Light Up.
Speaking on the funding of Light Up projects, Olasubomi stated:
“Normally, we gets funding in UK for our projects, but here in Africa, there is nothing of such and I have been using everything that I have to fund the projects here in Africa and all to the glory of God”.
She dedicated her MBE award to the poor and disadvantaged.
“I dedicated my MBE award to the poor and disadvantaged in Nigeria. I have taken pictures with the award with the poor people on the streets, even though it was from the palace and l am so happy that I have taken it to the lowest. I have also brought it to the highest (Ayangbure palace) today”, she stated while presenting the MBE award to the royal fathers and other eminent people at the event.
Other eminent personalities that graced the occasion were Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo, Pro-Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Kunle Ade Wahab, Chairman, Ikorodu Division Human Resource Development Board (IDHRDB), Prof. Tajudeen Olukayode BawaAllah, pioneer Dean of the School of Transportation of the Lagos State University (LASU-SoT), Aremo Adeniyi Ogunniyi, the Aremo of Ikorodu, Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, Chairman, Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS),Sheikh Yahya Oshoala Ajagbemokeferi, the Chief Imam of Oriwu Central Mosque, Otunba Lam Gbadamosi, the Baba-Oba of Ogijo, Otunba Steve Anifowoshe, Alhaji Monzor Olowosago, the Publisher of Oriwu Sun Newspaper, Engr. Luqman Erogbogbo, Otunba Akin Awomodu and many more.
