Ooni rallies monarchs to tackle out-of-school crisis in Southwest, Kogi, Kwara

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has unveiled plans to tackle truancy and the out-of-school menace among school children in the Southwest region of the country.

As part of efforts to achieve this, the monarch inaugurated a Foundation for Traditional Rulers’ Intervention on Truancy Prevention, School Enrollment, and Engagement in the six Yoruba states, including Kogi and Kwara states, ahead of his 50th birthday anniversary in October this year.

A statement by the Ooni’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, on Wednesday, disclosed that the initiative was inaugurated at the Ile-Ife palace of the foremost traditional ruler.

Headed by Oba Adekunle Adeogun-Okunoye, the Eburu of Iba, Osun State, the Foundation includes other traditional rulers across the six South-West states as well as Kogi and Kwara states, including the Onigogo of Igogo (Ekiti State), Larooka of Wanikkin Ife (Osun State), Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile (Kwara State), Adeboruwa of Igbogbo (Lagos State), Oloba-Uso of Oba-Uso (Ondo State), Onpetu of Ijeru (Oyo State), and the Olujumu of Ijumu (Kogi State) as Directors, while Olafare serves as Deputy Secretary of the Foundation.

According to the statement, Oba Adeogun-Okunoye explained that the Ooni established the foundation in fulfilment of his quest to ensure that the traditional institutions in Nigeria, particularly in Yoruba states, work for the masses, especially by complementing government efforts in curbing truancy and the out-of-school syndrome in society.

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He said, “This organisation is a creation of our father, the Ooni of Ife, in his capacity as the overall leader of all the traditional rulers in Yorubaland, which covers the present six South-West states as well as Kogi and Kwara states. We’ve been tasked with the responsibility of implementing a program for traditional rulers’ intervention in truancy prevention, school enrollment, and engagement, in the Ooni’s readiness to complement the efforts of the government at all levels in addressing major social problems of truancy and out-of-school children.”

The committee’s Chairman, who also serves as the Foundation’s Director General, added that Ooni Ogunwusi has based the program on the ongoing agitation of the traditional rulers for a constitutional role and the persistent efforts of traditional rulers to work with the government on addressing challenges, especially those that directly affect youths and girls.