The Chairman of Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Professor Siyan Oyeweso has urged families in Ile-Ife to come out and document their history.
The foremost historian in his keynote address during the book presentation and launch of ‘The Obalufon Phenomenon in Ile-Ife and Yoruba History’ at the Oba Sijuwade memorial hall, Enuwa, Ile-Ife, disclosed that the book was about the giant stride and legacies of the Obalufons in the history of Ile-Ife and Yorubaland.
Oyeweso, while commending the Obalufon royal dynasty and the scholars who wrote the book, said the book adopted a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach to history.
He said: “The book adopted what we can refer to as a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach to history as documented in very detailed terms, the early history of Ile-Ife.
“What we can call the nationalisation of Ile-Ife and Yoruba Culture, that is Obalufon. What we are holding the Ife people to is to document their history across time and space so that history will not be lost.
“Ile-Ife families have a lot to do concerning history. They do talk but they don’t document it. We had the Ife history series before, but we don’t have that again. We should find a way to bring that back.
“I want to urge all the families in Ife to come forward to document their compound history because if they don’t do that themselves, other people will be saying what is not correct about them”.
The book reviewer, Professor Gbenga Fasiku, Director Institute of Cultural Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said Obalufon could be described as the architect of modern Ile-Ife and Yorubaland.
“Obalufon could be said to be an architect of modern Ile-Ife and Yorubaland. These assertions could be backed up by the gaps filled by the Obalufon dynasty in Ile-Ife and Yorubaland.
“In conclusion, I commend the vision of the Obalufon dynasty for commissioning the documentation of the extraordinary exploits of Obalufon in the history of Ile-Ife, in particular to the human race in general,” he said.
