IKARE DAY Speech BY PRINCE MOSHOOD AJAGUN
Let me start by thanking the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth and everything therein for bringing us to this day. I also thank Him for making us present here today from different locations.
I greet our Kabiyesi (Olukare of IKARE), Kabiyesi, ki ade ope lori, ki bata pe lese, esin Oba a jeko pe o. Igba odun, odun kan. Amin ase. I also use this opportunity to greet all other Kabiyesis and royal fathers here present, I specially greet our governor (or his representative) and all our invited guests and dignitaries. Please allow me to stand on the existing protocol to safe our precious time.
Ikare day has given us the opportunity to come together once again to celebrate and reason together. I pray that this year, Ikare day will be the beginning of a new dawn in our history. Many kingdoms have risen and fallen and each time a kingdom emerges or thrives, one thing is commonplace in such kingdom and that thing is the unity of its peoples while disunity causes the opposite. I specifically use PEOPLES in plural because of the diversity of our strength, interest, religion and gifts. Our progress is anchored on loving one another and unity of purpose. The desired development will certainly elude us if we cannot unite. No development will visit us once we lack trust among ourselves. We have seriously been short-changed as a result of tension, suspicion and often times violent fights among us due particularly to chieftaincy tussle. We should not allow the issue of chieftaincy tussle to balkanise or divide a hitherto united entity.
I wish to humbly remind us that Ikare is one room and cannot be partitioned or divided. It pleases God Almighty to make it one and so it was and so shall it be. I’d like to remind all of us that Ikare will outlive us wether we like it or not. A time is coming when all of us here present will be no more, no matter how old we become eventually. Ikare foundation was laid on a single pillar by Batimehin and as at this time, history has not taught us of any faction. I hereby humbly request we make and use this Ikare day as an avenue to bring everyone together – Ikaado, Edoh, Iyometa, Oorun, Ilepa/Okoja and many others for the progress of our kingdom.
Ikare is everything to us and we should be everything to Ikare. Ikare is our religion, political party, economics, social relations, interest, security, culture and above all our unity. What I am saying is that it is important to have only one religion which must be Ikare. Ikare should also be the only political party we have. I mean, we should prioritise our togetherness above other things. Let us live in peace and unity and it is in this brotherhood that our joy will know no bound. When we travel outside our domain, we do business with other tribes and races without problems. Why should it be difficult to do the same with ourselves? We certainly have greater strength when we come together and work together in peace and tranquillity. We must remember whatever we do today becomes history tomorrow. If we are facing the wrong direction, we don’t have to continue, we have to change direction first before going forward. I implore us to use this day to change our direction and prepare to move Ikare higher and higher. Let us all discard our differences and embrace unity, trust and live with each other in peace and all other things will fall in place. To achieve all that I have been saying therefore, I implore all of us to bury our personal ambitions for the GREATER IKARE. Ile Ikare a gbewa oo.
I sincerely thank the organisers of this event and wish them glorious Ikare days as the years go by.
Thank you and God bless.
