My mission is to liberate Yoruba race-Gani Adams

[Ogi]

Liberating Yoruba Race, My Mission - Gani Adams

Gani Adams, the Odua People's Congress (OPC) national coordinator, is a reporter's delight any day. Adams, the chief promoter of 'Olokun Festival,' is reputed for assisting members of his Yoruba race that come his way as he was seen doing when our TRAINEE REPORTER, Anthonia Soyingbe, was at his house last week. He spoke on his passion for the Yoruba ethnic group and traditional religion, among other issues. Excerpts:

You have always been spotted on white these days. When did white colour become your trademark?

One of the problems with us (human beings) is that we don't study what appeals to our star and so we make mistakes. I know what suits my star and it has always paved ways for me. I know that white represents: peace, success and tranquility. And so it has always paved way for me. There is peace around me, as happiness radiates around me form time to time.


At what point did you discover that this colour suits your star?

I don't know what time in particular, but through series of research, I got to know that white is the colour that suits my star.


Do you have any moneymaking venture apart from activism?

No, my job is just like that of a pastor or an Islamic cleric, who gets financial assistance from their followers from time to time. I don't know how to make money. All I know how to do is activism. All I am after now is how to liberate my people from modern day slavery. There is no activist that is a successful business tycoon. I know little about how to make money. I don't have time to do business. From time to time, my followers and even non-member of OPC come to my aid. I have a registered company. If I want to start business, I will employ some of my followers to take good care of it. I don't think of any other thing now than on how to liberate my people. I don't think it can be possible for me to combine activism with business. I have the contact and the link but I don't have time for that now.


Will you likely drop activism for something else?

I can never drop activism for anything. Even if I start the business formally, I will put people in place to handle the business perfectly. I don't want anything to weigh me down in the activism because the struggle is my life. I prefer to be a hero to be wealthy. I have a vision for the Yoruba's because we will soon get to the promise land.


Coming into your house, one notices a large number of able-bodied men. Are they all your employees or your followers?

Some of them are my workers; some are followers while others are my relations.


Why didn't you get them an accommodation so that you can, at least, have privacy with your nuclear family?

I am a man of the people. You don't fill any form before you come into my house and my gates are wide opened, 24 hours daily. Many people have told me to allow people fill some forms before they come into my house, that it is security risks for me to allow anybody into my house without checking on them. I know it is a security risk and I am ready to compromise it because I am a grassroots leader and I know that my security is in the hands of God. I want people to have access to me whenever they want to. I don't turn a person back rather I attend to everyone that comes into my house. I don't see people staying with me as a burden rather I appreciate it when people are around me. I am contemplating having a very big apartment where I will house them all. But nevertheless I will still miss them. My wife, initially, was unable to adapt to this because of her background, but I have trained her and now she is very much used to all these. I am only sacrificing because for you to be reckoned with in the society, you have to make some sacrifice and this is the sacrifice I am making.


You should as well assist these guys financially, especially, those that are of age so that they can fend for themselves and their families.

I am not a leader who doesn't want his followers to progress. Most of these guys are my staff and I pay them. They go to their families twice every two weeks. I am not manipulating them. They all have one responsibility or the other. It is not possible for anyone to come into my house and be idle. I assist them whenever the need arises. There is a rule on ground in this house, I don't take anything alcoholic drinks and I don't smoke, so I don't think it is possible for anyone to come into my house and drink or smoke. I don't condone that at all. Whenever I travel with them, I don't allow anybody to sleep in the car rather we all sleep in the same hotel. I make them all comfortable. I give them whatever they want. So there is no room for them to betray my kind gesture to them. They all eat three square meals daily here except those that are on leave. The only thing I don't buy for them is recharge card.


Your wife once complained that you are not always available at home, has the story changed now?

I am trying my best. When you are doing a job like this, I don't think you will always have time for yourself and your family but the little time I am at home, I make it up for her. She is coping now. I am not only working for myself now. But what I am doing now my wife and my children's children will all benefit from it. The likes of late Awolowo, late Adesanya and others didn't have time for their families when they wanted to liberate their people but at the mention of their names now everyone knows who they were and what they represented during their lifetime. Their name will open any kind of door for their children anywhere in the world. I know activism will open greater doors for my family in the future.


Since you are not always at home, who keeps your company whenever you are outside your home?

God and the struggle mates keep my home.


Who are the struggle mates?

The fellow leaders, my aides and those I met during the meeting.


Not the babes?

I am not given to women because I have my wife who is an embodiment of everything I want in any woman.

As a traditionalist, do you envisage that you will marry another wife in the future?


I can't predict that. If I am destined to do that, I will. But I don't think that I will want to do that.

You are quite famous and influential in the society even when you are not a businessman. What do you plan to do with the fame in the nearest future?

I don't even think about that. I don't have plan for that at all because I believe God just chooses to be kind to me. So, having anything in mind as regards that is tantamount to something else. God is the God that knows the end from the beginning. I don't choose things rather things choose me and I am not an opportunist. I worked for everything I have in this life. I have the zeal and I know that God still has better things in stock for me. More so, I have not achieved my goal, which is to liberate my people through the struggle.


As a traditionalist what are your thoughts on the prevalence of harmful traditional practices?

There is no perfect traditional practice. The problem we have now is that majority of us are religious illiterates; an average Nigerian believes that the only religion that can take him to heaven is Christianity and Islam. I have traveled to different countries of the world and I know how people there jealously guard their tradition. No nation or race can be successful by ignoring its traditional system. God has a purpose for creating us the way we are and so I don't believe that people should neglect their tradition because of western civilisation. Talking about the harmful traditional practices in Yoruba land, I will blame us (the Yoruba) for that because we have neglected our origin. The problem we have is that we abandon our culture and tradition, and the nonentities are capitalising on that to make a mess of it. Look at Saudi Arabia, the only resources they have is oil but the country is not recognised because of its natural resources rather it is recognised because of its religion. America, as a nation of the world, still refers to Israel because of its religion. They believe in their religion and they didn't allow anybody to toy with it. When we talk of tradition, our responsibility is to get close to the people that manage the traditional institutions and deliberate on how we can repackage our tradition for a general acceptance. Nothing will change by criticising the culture. But if we get close to them we can correct the wrong practices. We should try and repackage our tradition for general acceptance. The irony is that we go to them and acquire power from them, and only go back to our churches on Sunday to testify without attributing the miracle to them and later we talk ill of them. To me, that is absurd and insincerity. And God will punish anyone that is not sincere. Islam was repackaged. That is why everybody is going for hajj annually; the process of hajj has just a slight difference from the process of ifa. You, as a Yoruba, have you ever been to Ife before?


No I haven't been there.

Can you see yourself? You don't know anything about your origin. That is why the illiterates make mess of the tradition. I was coming back from my hometown recently and they were celebrating Ogun festival and I saw some young men who blocked the road to extort money from motorist. I felt bad because they were making mess of the tradition. I knew that many people would be frustrated when they saw that. We have to call our traditional leaders who are the custodians of culture because I believe that most of the faults come from them. They are to educate people. There is a negative notion that says anybody that practices traditional religion will not go to heaven. They have to correct that. Before the coming of the colonial masters, our forefathers recognised Olodumare. We know that there is a difference between God and the deity and we call the deity either Irunmole, Sango, Obatala, Osun etc. They are all deities and nobody calls them God, which is Olodumare. There is a difference between devil and the deity. God sent him (devil) to this world and I am very sure that God would have banished him away from this world if he knew that he has no stake in the world. Yoruba is a well-organised race but western civilisation is blind folding us against our tradition. I personally practice the three religions. I have my Bible and Quran and at the same time I worship Osun and other deities. I have an altar at the back of my house where I worship the deities. For any professor to be vast in Nigeria, he has to be acquainted himself with the traditions of our land because the deities will always inspire him to do that.


The Holy Spirit can as well inspire them to do that, right?

That is where you make the mistake again. Is Osun's spirit not holy or are you telling me that Oduduwa was not holy? All the deities in Yoruba land are holy. Sango, Obatala, Oya and other deities are holy and unblemished. Holy Spirit of the Israelites has no usefulness in Yoruba land. Go and read all the histories of the deities and you will know that they are all holy. We have sold our birthright and we are being misled about our heritage.

[NextLevel]

Ogi

Help me out here - why is it news that the head of a group founded on ethnicity has goals attached to ethnicity?

NL

[denker]

Originally Posted by NextLevel

Ogi

Help me out here - why is it news that the head of a group founded on ethnicity has goals attached to ethnicity?

NL

Ogi, dis na commonsensical hypothetical question...i tell you any attempt to answer it gonna make you look more stupid....infact dat your post has no face value...you better busy your mind with wetin you go bring for table for rapid modernization of great Alaigbo...au revoir!

....i command you with immediate effect and alacrity to stop forthwith dis frivolities....you dey hear...?

[Ogi]

Originally Posted by NextLevel

Ogi

Help me out here - why is it news that the head of a group founded on ethnicity has goals attached to ethnicity?

NL

NL,

It is not so much as ethnicity or having ethnic-oriented goal; but the fact that this guy appears to some as a natural Asiwaju - liberator. So why so much ado about installing an Asiwaju when one is already starring ''us'' in the face?

[MrOneNaija]

Is it not weird that the sinister and barely literate Gani Adams is reportedly talking of liberating the Yoruba race? Liberation from what or whom?

[RAYNOSA]

Gani Adams might be the next Asiwaju.............This might be the reason for this comments.

[VOR]

Originally Posted by RAYNOSA

Gani Adams might be the next Asiwaju.............This might be the reason for this comments.

Ema gba mi ke! who get headache, who dey drink panadol?

[omakingbogun]

Originally Posted by RAYNOSA

Gani Adams might be the next Asiwaju.............This might be the reason for this comments.

Yer right....... Asiwaju Gbogbo Agbero t'ile t'oko worldwide

[EezeeBee]

Is it correct to refer to the Yoruba as a 'race'?

[Ogi]

Originally Posted by EezeeBee

Is it correct to refer to the Yoruba as a 'race'?

Otunba, Asiwaju Gani Adams is a racist