Konjwa spoke in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Saturday, at the grand finale of the 2023 edition of the annual Olojo Festival, which climaxed with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, adorning the sacred Are crown.
Konjwa, who attended the ceremony with a large delegation, also urged Africans living outside the continent to return home and assist in providing solutions to challenges confronting the continent.
Lamenting the division in the continent, the royal father called for the protection of the culture and traditions of the people and demanded an immediate end to infighting among Africans.
He said, “We have been so concerned about the issue in the entire Africa, that us Africans, we are so divided and we were wondering what was the problem about us as South Africans. Why Africans do not unite?
“We can unite in the entire of Africa, mind you, together we stand, divided we fall as Africans. So we need to unite and protect our indigenous, protect our tradition.
“Everywhere, stop this thing of fighting your brother. We are one, so it was man-made for us to not unite, so they are scared of us the enemy is behind us and is busy exploiting us and then encouraging us to kill one another. It is because of their thinking that we cannot stand on our own, so now we need to go back to our traditional leaders.
“I am with His Majesty (Ooni of Ife), who is my colleague within the Sovereign Congress of African leaders in the whole of Africa. Let us unite Africa.
“Wherever you are as Africans, let’s come back to our homes. You don’t need to run away from your home. Our problem is our problem that we need to solve. Nobody else we solve our problems unless African brothers and sisters.
“We shall solve our problems on our own by uniting. Let’s stop this thing of being selfish not giving Visas because we are there to promote African leaders.”
Also speaking, Osun State Commissioner for Political Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Dr. Biyi Odunlade, said the essence of Olojo Festival was to showcase the cultural values of the race.
He said, “The Essence of Olojo festival is to celebrate us as a race. Celebrate our language, our culture and traditions, hence, the people rally around the Ooni to ensure that our culture and traditions are adequately preserved.”
