Barack Obama To Honour Ooni Ogunwusi As NYC Declares Yoruba Day - Culture

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, was on Friday facilitated by the indigenes of Ile-Ife, Osun State, occupant in the United States.

The ruler, with his escort, was gotten at the J.F. Kennedy Airport, New York, by pioneers of Ife indigenes and different Nigerians in the US on Thursday.

A New York City Senator, Kevin Parker, and the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, said the city had secured a declaration to proclaim Monday, June 13, 2016 as Yoruba Day.

They said the activity was to respect the ruler.

As indicated by an announcement, the Ooni has likewise been charged to visit President Barack Obama at the White House, where he will get a honor.

The announcement included that various projects had been booked to respect the customary ruler while in the nation.

As a component of exercises in his visit to the US, the Ooni will on Sunday, June 12, 2016, be the Special Guest of Honor at the prestigious Odunde celebration.

The celebration, which advances the way of life of the Yoruba race, was made in 1975 by Lois Fernandez and Ruth Arthur, and pulls in around 500,000 individuals yearly.

The occasion will give a chance to the ruler to interface with the more than 3,000 Ife indigenes in the US on the best way to create Ile-Ife.

The announcement said, "around the same time, the Museum of the Contemporary African Diaspora Arts will get the ruler in a private gathering and in addition an open discussion session.

“Expected at the event will be Brooklyn Borough President and a New York City Public Advocate, Leticia James. The monarch will then move to the Mid-West and other parts of the country to attend economic and leadership summits before being received by President Barack Obama through The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighbourhood Partnerships.”

The Chairman of the Grand Reception Planning Committee and one of the leaders of Ife Ooye North America group, Chief Olubunmi Awopileda, said, “All Ife natives in the US are excited and energised for this epochal occasion. It will be an occasion to showcase our very rich culture with our king as the symbol.”