Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is set to turn the first sod of the Yoruba World Centre at the University of Ibadan (UI) on November 23.
Shola Oshunkeye, director of media and publicity of the International Centre for Yoruba Arts And Culture (INCEYAC), announced this in a statement sent to TheCable Lifestyle.
According to Oshunkeye, the vice-president will be joined at the event by south-west governors; Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife; and Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo.
He said the three-in-one occasion will feature the opening of the centre’s temporary abode, the presentation of a full documentary on the Yoruba World Centre, and the laying of the first foundation at the permanent site by the vice-president.
Oshunkeye said when completed, the centre will have a standard library, an archive, a museum, a recreation, reconstruction and digital centre; a broadcasting and film village, and an artificial forest (zoo).
Also speaking, Alao Adedayo, a member of the board of trustees of INCEYAC, said the centre will serve as a one-stop-shop that offers old, new, recreated, and reconstructed materials for those interested in Yoruba history, arts and culture, as tools for nation-building, national cohesion, and mutual understanding.
Adedayo, who doubles as the publisher of Alaroye Newspaper, added that the project was inspired by the fact that there’s currently no single institution housing resources to facilitate research into the history, arts and culture of the Yoruba people.
“Being the largest user of Yoruba language (in print) in the world today, and because of our daily interactions with the language, arts, culture and history of the people, through our newspaper-ALAROYE, we can confirm that there is no such institution in the entire world,” he said.
“In addition to providing a good ambience for researchers, the Yoruba World Centre, as a knowledge centre, will help Nigeria and Nigerians in the onerous task of nation-building.”
Adedayo enjoined all Yorubas at home and in the diaspora to support the centre.
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