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TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY OTUNBA (DR) GANI ADAMS AT THE LAUNCHING OF OODUA PROGRESSIVE UNION ITALY CHAPTER, HELD TODAY SATURDAY, 25TH OF JUNE 2016.
I greet you all, great sons and daughters of Oduduwa, I celebrate with you, the arrival of a movement, the movement which is already felt in 70 countries , making your country the 71st chapter,
I welcome those who are related to us by marriage, work, business and indeed all form of relationship.
When the pressure for the launching of this chapter started, I was amazed by the rapid expansion of the membership drive and eagerness to know what the Oodua Progressive Union is all about.
Why that of Italy came up even before some other chapters who have been yearning to have their own chapter launched is a clear result of determination, focused expectation and the vast networking the identified leaders of this chapter exhibited.
I must commend the leaders of this chapter as i welcome you to the official launch of Oodua Progressive Union in Italy.
Italy, commanding a long Mediterranean coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine.
Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins.
Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance treasures such as Michelangelo’s “David” and its leather and paper artisans; Venice, the sinking city of canals; and Milan, Italy’s fashion capital.
No doubt Italy is rich in cultural preservation; the migrations of Indo-European peoples into Italy probably began about 2000 B.C. and continued until 1000 B.C.
From about the 9th century B.C. until it was overthrown by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C., the Etruscan civilization was dominant.
By 264 B.C., all Italy south of Cisalpine Gaul was under the leadership of Rome.
For the next seven centuries, until the barbarian invasions destroyed the Western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., the history of Italy is largely the history of Rome.
From 800 on, the Holy Roman Emperors, Roman Catholic popes, Normans, and Saracens all vied for control over various segments of the Italian peninsula.
Numerous city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, whose political and commercial rivalries were intense, and many small principalities flourished in the late middle Ages.
Although Italy remained politically fragmented for centuries, it became the cultural center of the Western world from the 13th to the 16th century.
Italy, slightly larger than Arizona, is a long peninsula shaped like a boot, surrounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic.
It is bounded by France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia to the north.
The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula’s backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary.
It pleases me, that a country with long lasting history as Rome is today modifying the birth of Oodua Progressive Union (OPU).
Let it be stated clearly, the concept of OPU is to have a platform which will seek to unite Yorubas all across the globe under one umbrella, it is the desire of the Union to have all Yorubas to have one identity and one voice, we seek a Yoruba platform that will boost and sustain the agenda of cultural promotion,language orientation and all the positive sides of the Yoruba race.
Like i always point out, OPU Italy needs to get to work towards bringing in more Yorubas spread across Italy so that those who are resident here can join the pool of other 70chapters that are already networked under the OPU Platform.
OPU is non political and non religious, we respect the choice of individuals as regards what they chose to worship neither do we restrict the choice of political direction any member chooses to adopt.
The major concern of OPU is to generally embrace the coming together of Yorubas based outside Nigeria to come together and push a common front and the developmental projects that will shore up our common race.
History is kind to the people of India,China, Japan,Jews, because their people in Diaspora saw the need to come together and have an agenda that will emancipate their people at home, today these races have taken their place on the world list of prominent races.
Yorubas can boast of over 50Million people spread across Nigeria while the population all over the world is put at over 250Million, such a race if well positioned cannot be pushed to the background.
It is obvious that the Nigeria political elites may not be forth coming in our quest for proper positioning,
it therefore becomes our responsibility to tow the line of established races to unite under a common front and activate what our founding fathers laid down and even lost their lives for i the process.
This is a clarion call to all sons and daughters of Oduduwa,to rise up and face the challenge and confront the vices that is separating us and come together in focus and purpose.
There is no better time than now, the beat coming from Nigeria to the world is the request that the country should be restructured, we need to plan ahead of a restructured Yorubaland where the OMOLUABI and ALAJOBI tenets will become order of the day.
This is not too big a mission if we have dedicated and committed platform cordinating the movement.
It is my hope that in the next one year,we will have a bigger Union with larger membership.
Oodu Agbe wa o.
Otunba (Dr) Gani Adams
Convener Oodua Progressive Union.
