The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has called for the revival of community-based values as a means to transform society.
He said this at the launch of a book titled, Letters, Kinship And Social Mobility in Nigeria, which was held at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, during the week.
The book, which was authored by Prof Olufemi Vaughan, currently the Alfred Sargent Lee ‘41 and Mary Ames Lee Professor of African Studies at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, is said to contain more than 3,000 letters compiled in a span of 80 years and received by the author from his late father, Abiodun Vaughan, in 2003.
Makinde, who was the chairman on the occasion, underscored the importance of shared Yoruba kinship values and education as critical messages of the major letter writers in the book.
He called on the people of Oyo State and Nigeria to engage important community-based values derived from the past to help change and transform contemporary conditions.
This was even as the governor stressed the importance of keeping good records from the past to assist in understanding current social, political, and economic conditions.
He also encouraged Nigerians in the Diaspora to lend their support to the development and progress of the country.
The governor, who attended the event with his deputy, Bayo Lawal, and many members of the State Executive Council, promised to order many copies of the book to be shared to public secondary schools, universities, and local government areas of the state.
The writers of the letters include Mariam Vaughan (1866-1972), Samuel Vaughan (1887-1985), Dorcas Brainerd (1894-1973), S. A. Oloko (1894-1984), Rachel Akinloye (1898-1993), Jadesola Odebunmi (1902-1996), Abiodun Vaughan (1907-2004), Bamidele Brainerd (1916-2004), Adisa Akinloye (1918-2007), and Gladys Vaughan (1920-2014).
Some of the guests at the event were the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun; Archbishop of Ibadan Diocese (Anglican Communion), Most Rev’d (Dr) Joseph Akinfenwa; Bishop, Diocese of Ibadan North, Rt Rev’d William Aladekugbe; Bishop of Oke Ogun Diocese, Rt Rev’d Adewale Adebiyi; and Bishop of Oke Ogun Diocese (retd.), Rt Rev’d (Dr) S. O. Amusan, among others.
