Ooni preaches cultural renaissance at Chatham House

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has advised Africans to uphold their cultural values against all odds.
According to him, the continent has a lot to learn from Asia, which, he said, had continued to put its culture first despite its relationship with other races.
The Ooni said, “Asians are still holding on to their heritage. We Africans should not lose ours. We need to know the roles of culture and this is achievable by involving  our traditional rulers in the day-to-day running of our systems in Africa. For instance, you must know your history, in order to know where you’re going, which is your future.”
The monarch made this call at the Chatham House, London, United Kingdom, last Thursday, when he spoke on ‘Inclusive Governance and Community Engagement: The Role of Traditional Rulers’.
He said there was the need to respect ideas from experienced people, especially parents and traditional rulers, who are the custodians of the people’s cultural heritage.
He noted that he imbibed the spirit of responsibility from his mother. He thus urged African youths to also imbibe such accordingly, saying it would prepare them to contribute meaningfully to the development of society.
“Traditional leaders were the forces behind everything we are benefitting from today because they set that pace in Africa before the advent of modern-day government,” he said.