By Fathia Jimoh, Abeokuta
The Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo has called on traditional rulers in the Country to continue to project the cultural values of their people in order to foster unity and peaceful coexistence among them.
Oba Gbadebo who made the call in Abeokuta at the weekend during the commissioning of a multi million naira artistic decorations and the rebuilt of the Egba traditional Court of Appeal sponsored by Dr Adebola Akindele, in Ake Palace, Abeokuta, said, through positive projection of ones culture, many knotty issues among different ethnic background could be solved amicably
Oba Gbadebo said culture remains the only vehicle that can unite people and create avenues where peaceful settlements to issues can be achieved without resulting to war and acrimony.
The Ake rift resolution house otherwise known as Egba Court of Appeal,(Idi Ere)) is regarded as the place where all kinds of rift must be settled as far as the case is taken to that room, (Ejo ku S'ake).
The court which has been wearing a rickety look for decades was rebuilt and inaugurated amidst jubilations in and around the popular Ake palce in Abeokuta.
Speaking, the financier of the project, Dr Adebola Akindele who is also the Group Managing Director of Ville Business Solutions Nigeria Plc, called for the preservation of Yoruba culture appealing to all Yoruba sons and daughters to contribute to the development and sustenance of the Yoruba values adding that the government cannot do it all alone.
He expressed his satisfaction to the completion of the project saying that it is a fulfilment of what he had hoped to do to his town.
His words, "I am at home here , Abeokuta is my home. What we have here was designed by a Kenyan, 14 pillars in front of the house was designed and 12 at the back. It is an assignment from Kabiyesi to us when we came to him.
"I am highly fulfilled today, we didn't know it will turn out to be this attractive but we thank God it turned out to be this beautiful.
"We have to sustain, preserve and promote cultural heritage and tradition by ourselves because the government can't do it all alone. It is the responsibility of everyone."
Also the designer of the Ake Dispute Resolution house, Esther Odanga also told newsmen that the project was a challenging project adding that it has given her a platform to interpret the Yoruba culture.
The designer who is a Kenyan artist disclosed that 80% of the materials were bought in Nigeria while 60% of the workforce are drawn from different locations in the country.
She said, "It was really challenging and terrifying for me in the process of designing the place. It is a big platform for me as an artist to interpret the Yoruba culture and I discovered how rich the Yorubas are especially Egba culture is in Ake palace
"All the workforce both the palace staff and chiefs were very supportive.
"60% of the workforce are Nigerians especially from Egba and 80 percent of the materials were bought in the country. I am highly honoured to do the job and I thank the Alake for his support. The place has opened up the palace to the world. It is an opportunity for me to learn more."
An Ake indigene Razak Adeniji while speaking with our Correspondent said he feels elated because the dispute resolution house is one of the pride of the Egbas which has further promote unity amongst the Egba sons and daughters.
He said, "We must thank God and the financier of this project because this is one of our pride in Egba ,because speaking honestly it has promote unity among our people.
" Our people, I mean a core Egba person is not fond of taking themselves to the conventional court instead they will rather take their disagreement to the palace where it will surely be resolved by the elders popularly known as the 'baba idi ere'."
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