Soyinka with Brazilian President
Afenifere, the foremost pan-Yorùbá socio-political and cultural organisation, has described both President Bola Tinubu and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka as shining embodiments of Yorùbá values on the global stage.
This is contained in a statement by Otunba Kole Omololu, the organisations National Organising Secretary.
Full statement:
Recent events underscore the unique prestige of the Yorùbá nation and the timeless power of its culture.
In faraway Brazil, during a state banquet, President Tinubu vacated his seat in deference to Professor Soyinka, addressing him with the dignified word egbon-elder brother.
This act, simple, yet profound, reflects the essence of Yorùbá tradition: reverence for wisdom, humility in leadership, and the omolúàbí ethic that demands respect across generations.
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History reminds us that such gestures are not without precedent.In 1987, the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was warmly received in Havana by President Fidel Castro of Cuba, an encounter that resonated as a spiritual reunion between the Yorùbá homeland and its vibrant descendants in the Americas. Across Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, the United States, and much of Latin America, Yorùbá culture continues to thrive,through faiths like Candomblé, Santería, Vodou, and Orisha traditions,where sacred words such as àṣẹ, adúrà, oríkì and Ọlọ́run are still spoken more than a century after the transatlantic dispersal.
Late Ooni,Oba Okunade Sijuade in a tetra tete with late Cuban Leader,Fidel Castro
Ooni Orisha, on his knee, prayed for rain to fall .The second day, rain fell, and newspapers carried this story
These global expressions affirm that no other African people possess such a wide-reaching, deeply rooted diaspora, one that has faithfully preserved its àṣà (traditions) and ìwà pẹ̀lẹ́ (gentle character).
Afenifere celebrates the Yorùbá spirit as resilient, dignified, and eternal,an inheritance that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Professor Wole Soyinka exemplify with grace.
Otunba Kole Omololu.
National Organising secretary Afenifere.
