Text of Speech delivered by Otunba (Dr) Gani Adams, the Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) at the Annual Grand Mothers' Festival in Epe, Lagos

BEING TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY OTUNBA (DR) GANI ADAMS, CHIEF PROMOTER, OLOKUN FESTIVAL FOUNDATION, AT THE 2017 EDITION OF GRANDMOTHERS FESTIVAL, HELD TODAY THURSDAY 23RD OF FEBRUARY  2017  AT RECREATION CENTRE,   EPE, LAGOS STATE
I delight to welcome all of you to this year’s Grand Mothers Festival , being part of the annual programmes mapped out by the Olokun Festival Foundation, (OFF), to honour our mothers.
I am particularly very happy that we are gathered here again, to celebrate together.

Let me start by saying a very big thank you to our creator, Olodumare, the author and finisher of our faith. He is the creator of heaven and earth and unto Him only, every other power submits.
I also want to pay glowing tribute to everyone that has been contributory to the success story of our Grandmothers’ Day since we started.  An adage says, ‘Ewure to wole ti ko kago, iru won amaa deran a mu so.
Aguntan to wole ti ko kago, yio deran a muso’. Awa ti kago loni, ki enikeni ninu wa kio mase di eran amuso.
We are holding this festival to celebrate our women. They are our mothers. They are empowered from heaven by the God Almighty, with special spiritual authority to oversee the affairs of the world.
But due to ignorance, some of us have wrongly labelled women as the weaker sex. Some religion have also relegated women to the background, seeing them as mere compliments to men whom they believe have every authority to do and undo.

But facing the realities, women are stronger than their men counterpart in many areas, especially on spiritual issues.
Look around you, you will find that most successful societies in the world are those that give women a special preference in piloting their societal affairs.
It is therefore not surprising that there is visible prosperity in countries like the USA and UK, where women are treated with much respect.
Unknown to many of us, and sadly too, women form part of the instruments God uses in carrying out his plans for humanity.

If you see anybody that is being tormented by witches, it is because God allows it to happen, either as a punishment for that person or to teach some lessons which may never have been learnt if that thing did not happen.
Ignorance has eaten deep into us on some salient spiritual matters. Or how do you explain a black man who condemns witches down here but found it comfortable to celebrate the Halloween festival in Europe and America?
It is funny that these people have failed to realize that the Halloween festival is celebrated in honour of women with spiritual powers.
The special place women occupy in our society cannot be overemphasized.
Gone are those days, when women were generally regarded as wives whose only role is to see to household shores.
They were not accorded any better role, simply because the world was seen as a ‘Man’s world’.
But you will agree with me that, perhaps the most difficult job to do in the home is to raise a child.
And for me, raising a child is not an ordinary task. Look around you, any successful man you see is the product of a hardworking woman and mother.
Please, join me to give a loud ovation to our women and mothers. They have been wonderful, courageous, level headed, hospitable, loyal, brave, dogged, unassuming, accommodating persevering and cooperative. We honour you, our great mothers!
In medieval Yoruba society, we were told stories of women who contributed a great deal to the development of their communities.
The exploits of Moremi Ajasoro, Madam Tinubu, Efunsetan Aniwura, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, and several others, continue to evoke great feelings from us.
I want to challenge our women to take a cue from these great women and stand up, more than ever before, to take up the challenges of contributing more to the development of their communities.
And back to the issue of our Grandmothers. Researchers have shown that they are capable of doing good things.
We have heard stories about some mothers who deliberately become witches in order to offer protection for and give prosperity to their children.
Witches can be very benevolent and helpful to humanity if they find very good reason to be.
While it is true that there are bad witches, the truth is that there are also good witches who carry out assignments given to them by the Almighty.
Their being good or bad to you depends on what you have done and what you deserve.
Witches work with the spirits and air. And that is why most of what they do cannot be physically seen or attributed.
You will agree with me that it is same with science and technology.
In several ways, witches and technology work in similar ways. The only reason why we continue to see their bad side is because we have failed to realize their beautiful powers so as to accord them their due respect.
Be that as it may. Whatever treatment we give to women, who are our mothers, is part of the larger negligence that our culture suffers today.
Many people are suffering today simply because they have neglected the culture and traditions of their fatherland.
To the best of my knowledge, every Yoruba son and daughter come from a particular home that has some form of traditional rites that are performed for their new born babies.
But because of civilization, they have forgotten about these things, and making such children suffer untold difficulties in carrying out with life.
The Yoruba is a race that puts high premium on culture. Unlike many other races of the world, the Yoruba has kept their culture alive in every aspect of their daily lives.
At this point, I think it is important to know what culture is and its importance to man.
Culture is defined as the totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
These patterns, traits, and products are considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community or population.
Culture is the unique possession of man. Man is born and brought up in a cultural environment. Man is not only a social animal but also a cultural being.
Man cannot survive as a man without culture. Culture fulfils our needs and represents the entire achievements of mankind.
It is with these constantly at the back of our minds that we have rededicated ourselves to the promotion of Yoruba culture anywhere in the world.
Our children must know their heritage, speak our language, eat our foods and wear our clothes.
As a very good student of history, I have taken the time to study Yoruba history.
And I stand here without any fear of contradiction that the Yoruba are not as intellectually poor or backward as some people may want us to believe.
The African, particularly the Yoruba, possess a unique and robust understanding of the world long before the Whiteman stepped onto our soil.
From now on, I implore you, Yoruba sons and daughters, to carry yourselves with pride and raise your shoulders very high anywhere you go because you are noble children of the great Oduduwa.
As we gather here today to honour our mothers, I pray that they begin to smile on us and bring us good fortunes.
May we continue to experience peace and development in Epe, the entire Yoruba land and Nigeria in general.
I want to say a big thank you to all our members who have remained committed to the heavy task of promoting and preserving the great heritage of Yoruba race.
From members of the National Coordinating Council, to state, local government coordinators and every other member, I say a big thank you to you all.
And finally, I want to use this opportunity to once again call on our governments at all levels to begin to see culture as a veritable tool to drive the people and the economy.
More than any natural resources, human resources is the best that people can be blessed with.
It is the people that will make every other natural resources work in the best interest of the nation.
It is in this light that I want to plead with our governments at all levels to begin to promote and invest in the culture of the Nigerian people.
Thank you all.
Otunba (Dr.) Gani Adams,
National Coordinator Oodua People’s Congress
Chief Promoter, Olokun Festival Foundation
Chairman Gani Adams Foundation
Convener Oodua Progressive Union