The Onibudo of Ayetoro-Budo Ota in Ado-Odo/Ota local government area, Ogun state, Oba Adewunmi Odutala has implored the federal government to make our local languages as compulsory subject in seeking admission into higher institutions in Nigeria.
Oba Odutala equally tasked the federal government to prioritize the welfare and security of Nigerians instead of “funding the luxury of those elected to serve and make life better and more meaningful for ordinary Nigerians.”
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the security apparatus in the country to be far more proactive in ensuring the safety and property of the citizens.
The monarch who gave the charge in his new year message to Nigerians noted that year 2023 is a year that will never be forgotten by average Nigerians especially the less- privileged which was orchestrated by the removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration.
Oba Odutala who commended the indomitable spirit of Nigerians at this trying period and capacity to endure and rise above all those adversities urged federal government to encourage local production of our local fabrics aimed at discouraging importation of foreign goods into the country.
The royal father equally tasked state governors to implement social welfare programmes to cushion the effect of the economy and eradicate poverty among the masses.
“Government should pay attention to little things that affect the lives of common masses. We should encourage locally-made goods in 2024. Invest in local manufacturers. The FG should stop importation of Ankara fabrics and facilitate establishment of their factory in Nigeria. If they want Nigerians to patronize them, they should settle down here.
“The federal government must encourage the speaking of local languages in government offices, schools and make local languages compulsory subject to gain admission into out higher institutions. It is only in Nigeria we train our children with foreign languages and we want them to do well academically, it doesn’t work that way, you can’t use another man’s language to train your children and expect them to excel. The level of intelligence is determined by how much vocabulary they can speak.
“Nations that teach their children local languages are better than us. What have we invented since we’ve been speaking English? 2024 must change. Government must fulfill all the promises they made. State and local governments should be ready to be accountable to the people in 2024 because we know the amount of allocation they get from federal government.
“So the state governments should think about the masses and stop blaming federal government for their failures. They should implement social welfare for their people. They should stop telling us Tinubu, Tinubu.”
