By Sade Adewale, Ondo

The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Adeyemi Federal University of Education (AFUED) Ondo, Dr Samuel Akintunde, has stressed the need for Yoruba indigenes, home and in diaspora to identify with their culture to prevent it from going into extinction.

Akintunde made the statement while presenting a paper at the 2023 Annual lecture, organised by a Yoruba youth organisation, the Oodua Youth Coalition (OYC), in conjunction with the Student Union of Obafemi Awolowo University-Ile-Ife, in Obafemi Awolowo University ( OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun state.

The event which was held at the Ajose Lecture Theatre, OAU, Ile-Ife, featured a cultural display and presentation of awards.

Speaking on: “Preserving Yoruba Culture, Safeguarding A Rich Heritage from Extinction”, the DVC underscored the importance of culture and described it as one of the veritable means of identifying people, and authenticating their history.

He described Yoruba people as unique and highlighted the importance which they ascribed to Ifa divination, as part of their cherished cultural practice.

The Acting University Administrator noted that because of the recognition that the Yoruba people placed on Ifa in the olden days, they always relied on it “for direction on individual, communal issues and solutions to social challenges.”

Speaking further on what differentiates the Yoruba people from other tribes, Dr. Akintunde described Yoruba people as idealist, and firm believers in what he termed the universality of humans, noting that massive intra and inter-movements across settlements made the “Yoruba people greatly heterogeneous”.

The Acting University Administrator, also stated that the people of Yoruba race, have two unique means of identifying their relations, these include family panegyric and giving of tribal marks, stating that while the former persists among the people, the latter is almost going into extinction”.