The House of Oduduwa advocacy

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

The advocacy against violence among youths resonated with His Imperial Majesty Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi and he did not hesitate to embrace the project which now operates under the auspices of the House of Oduduwa Foundation.

He is very concerned about youth involvement with violence- a situation he believes has been worsened by lack of employment opportunities.

The revered monarch, therefore, holds nothing back in helping to stem this tide. Interestingly, he is recorded as the first guest for the Violence Free World Show, VFW Show.

The half-hour television programme, anchored by veteran broadcaster and culture activist, Mr. Cally Ikpe, features iconic personalities, who would lend their voices to thumbing violence and also point the way forward. Other notable individuals have also been featured.

Sunday Vanguard  also gathered that the non violence advocacy programme would also honour individuals who have contributed to ensuring a violence free Nigeria. This is to be fused with the annual Nigeria Music Video Awards being the entirely youth inclined platform to impact the target audience.

The House of Oduduwa

Interestingly, the House Of Oduduwa Foundation  was born out of the philanthropic nature of the Ooni.

This philantropism  has manifested in several previous  contributions to the welfare of the less privileged and the development of the society.

His passion for people is apparent in the special attention he pays to the welfare  of everyone and continuous efforts to give back to the society, with special focus on the less privileged around him.

Many can attest to this fact. There have been  efforts through organized platforms saddled with the responsibility of giving back to the less privileged, one of which is the Gran Imperio Foundation.

The organization not only satisfies the corporate social responsibility of taking care of those of lesser means, it also expresses the passion to build a  balanced community, which  is the Ooni’s true calling.

The foundation seeks to bring succour to the grassroots and the people of Ile-Ife, and in extension the entire Yoruba race as a whole.

With the aim of touching lives positively through charity relentless service to humanity, the foundation seek to encourage the following: Support innovative approaches to existing social and educational structures for better impact on the welfare and development of children, adolescents and youths; encourage and support youth initiatives that foster the culture of volunteerism, social responsibility, creativity and self-actualization; provide education scholarships and bursaries to deserving   students particularly from vulnerable groups, disadvantaged families and marginalized communities and  encourage information/ communication technology programmes in deserving primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.

On the economic front, the monarch through the foundation aims at establishing vocational training and skills acquisition centres, while ensuring job creation for sustainable economic empowerment.

In addition, it seeks to encourage, fund and support community-based environment friendly projects that generate income and create jobs.

While it may be impracticable to achieve a hundred percent non-violence world, it is believed that campaigning against it with words and works  can keep violence low.