Ikale, Ilaje, Apoi and Ijaw CommunitiesAgbii omo Ikale o !,
Mo ki ghan dede o Ikale. On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Ikale world Congress (IWC), it gives me great pleasure to introduce the new IWC website to all Ikale sons and daughters. I have been directed by your Executive committee to introduce you to your website at www.ikaleworldcongress.org.
Your new website is aimed at serving as the communication arm of the IWC and in doing so informing and harnessing our efforts for the growth and development of Ikaleland.
This new website, an upgrade from our previous site is still at the preliminary stage of development. We therefore look forward to your feedback on the reliability and validity of our contents. We also seek Ikale sons and daughters to serve in the editorial board to oversee content management, with view to ensuring quality of materials in this medium. Kindly write to us and state your interest in the membership of the editorial board.
Please e-mail your feedback to the Executive Committee at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Ikale A gbe wa o,
Tunji Ogunmola
IWC Publicity Secretary
Ikale, Ilaje, Apoi and Ijaw Communities
The Ikale World Congress Launches New Website
Ikale World Congress President Speaks on OSUTECH
Ikale this is the time to put our act together...
About a year ago when I was informed about the stoppage of work at OSUTECH, I called some individuals (connected with Dr. Olusegun Mimiko’s administration) especially at home. I was assured that this was a temporary thing just for the Governor to put things in place. Then I had no doubt to believe otherwise because I could not fathom why ANYBODY will stop this project. The governor himself came out some months latter to douse the rumor going round that he was not interested in the project.
On a second thought I tried to let the governor know the feelings of Ikale by sending an e-mail to him. The contents of the e-mail also showed up on Ikale world congress face book page when responding to one of the contributors- Tai Arowojolu-Alagwe
Mine was titled “You cannot appreciate the worth of something until you lose it”
I essentially quoted Dr. Olusegun Agagu on the amount of work done and the readiness of the institution to take off.
I concluded by saying that
“Yes, putting politics aside the south senatorial district deserves this tertiary institution. Ikale should lose no sleep on this because I am so sure that the current government of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko will definitely do the right thing for this district. Why?
• Let us hope that the stoppage is temporary and has to do with the governor freezing the state accounts, since the Governor will defreeze the accounts this week Ikale should be rest assured that the project will be on course.
• I happen to know some powerful Ikale in his administration and I am sure these Ikale will not rest until the University comes on with full steam.
Let us tarry awhile and see what is in place before we take the next step.
Before ‘Ikale arise’ the south senatorial district will be grateful to Dr. Olusegun Mimiko if he could make a categorical statement on the situation of this institution. We know you will do the right thing for Ikale.”
It seems we have tarried awhile, we have seen what is in place so what is the next step Ikale?
Uren ye onukan, Ikale a gbe wa o
Odimayo Durojaye AkindutireThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
646-209-5158
There is a sense of exhilaration from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, "We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail."
Jovan Olafioye, an Ikale Son Rocks Canadian Footbal League
When Jovan Olafioye was paraded like a baby pachyderm at a tryout camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earlier this year, Wally Buono admits it was his elephantine size which first attracted him to the prospect.
"Who found him?" says the B.C. Lions coach, rhetorically. "I did. He was 355 pounds. I said, 'Jovan, it really would be helpful if you could get down to 330.' When he came to training camp, I didn't recognize him. It was as if we'd never met. He had totally changed. He's a very conscientious guy."
Today , the Lions 6-6, 313-pound right guard is only 88 per cent of the young man he used to be, having dropped 42 pounds from the time Buono first saw him. But his appetite for contact remains undiminished.
"He's a physical gift," says centre Angus Reid. "He's a big, strong, powerful man who likes to hit people. All I have to do is tell him who to hit. That guy won't be getting up for a while. He has all the tools that you need, and the guy has major enthusiasm. When we watch film, we just enjoy sitting back and watching him obliterate people. You're just going to see him get better and better as he figures out the details of the game."
At 22, the youngest player on the Lions will be making only his fifth career start in professional football Friday night in Edmonton against the Eskimos. Like most O-linemen, Olafioye doesn't attract a lot of attention, except among the players, coaches and cognoscenti who have watched him grow in pass-blocking leverage and run-blocking impact week to week.
Sure, the Lions offence is a work in progress and defences keep coming and coming at them, particularly the Saskatchewan Roughriders whose different alignments and blitzes left Olafioye's head swimming in a 37-18 loss to the Riders on July 10. However, quarterback Travis Lulay was the first to acknowledge that he stayed upright throughout B.C.'s 24-20 loss to Toronto last Friday, a game in which the Argos failed to register a sack. Lulay is an adroit scrambler, but he succeeded in completing 68 per cent of his 40 pass attempts because nobody got to the quarterback very often.
They did their job quietly, efficiently and, on occasion, spectacularly, such as the time Olafioye pulled and blocked for Lulay on a rollout pass that covered 66 yards, only to have it dropped by Emmanuel Arceneaux at the other end.
"Jovan is a special athlete," Lulay says. "I don't think he knows his own strength. The veteran guys said that early on in training camp. Big 63 there ... once he figures everything out, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. He's a naturally strong and athletic guy with a nasty attitude. He attacks guys. He was worried about making mistakes, early in training camp. I just encouraged him, 'If you make a mistake, at least do it at 100 miles per hour.' Honestly, it's been a blessing to have him here. It's going to be fun to see when it all starts to click for him."
While Olafioye's future prospects have the Lions drooling in anticipation, he left NFL teams with dry mouth after his final collegiate season at North Carolina Central. Olafioye was a conversion project, going from the defensive line to the offensive line in his junior year, and he was still trying to get the hang of his new role by the time he graduated. The Detroit native did get an invitation to the NFL Lions' rookie camp in 2009, but he didn't progress beyond that.
"They [Detroit Lions] said that I had all the speed, physical attributes, the athleticism, the motor to play with them," Olafioye says. "But they were looking for somebody to play right now. I was more of a project, because I'd only been playing O-line for two years. Every Pro Day I did, they loved me. They just didn't like my technique. Like I told them, 'I've only been at this for two years.' "
Snafus have occurred, of course, because of Olafioye's professional inexperience. When the regular season began, Jovan and the man immediately next to him, right tackle Jon Hameister-Ries, had a cumulative total of zero career games in the CFL. But Olafioye and Hameister-Ries are looking so comfortable after just four games that veteran right tackle Sherko Haji-Rasouli, who has been out with a knee injury, might have trouble getting his old job back.
The move of Dean Valli from centre to replace injured left guard Andrew Jones seems to have freed Valli of the anxiety and responsibility for making calls just before the snap. He can just play, allowing Reid to stand over the ball and make the quick study of the defence, something he has been doing for 10 seasons.
"Angus gives me a lot of guidance," Olafioye says. "Man, Angus knows everything. Any time you have a question, he has the answer. I think I've progressed since I got here. Every game I play, I learn something new."
Right now, he's like a sponge, which is an unfortunate analogy is some respects, considering that a sponge is soft and Olafioye plays anything but a powder-puff game.
"He's short on experience, but he's got the smash-em-up part down pat," Reid says.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/smashing+physical+gift/3331214/story.html#ixzz0vEw5fDRG
IWC President, Opens Up on the Scholarship Award
Since the launch of Coastal NEWS early this year, people have emailed us, spoke to us on phone and even in our recent interview with Oba Earnest Adeoye ldepefo, the Majuwa of llutitun, the question in everybody's heart is "What's going on with the IWC Scholarship Award program?". Coastal NEWS contacted the IWC President and a few executives of the IWC to comment on the status of the scholarship, what they had to say then was that "we are working on it, when it is time, we would make an official release" .
A few minutes ago we receive an email via the IWC facebook group, about the scholarship programme and here is the full text. Please endeavor to leave a comment and let us know what you think.
>>>“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” Will Durant
"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave." Henry Peter Broughan
“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people” Chinese Proverbs quotes.
On behalf of the financial members of IWC, Board of directors and the executive members I apologize for the delay. It is not that we do not have genuine reasons for this delay-being the first time, distance, communication gap between US and Nigeria, desire to do things differently and thoroughly, global financial constrain e.t.c, keeping the applicants in suspense was not part of the calculations but it did occur. It is better late than NEVER. I hope Ikale will appreciate what we had to go through in order to get to this level. We are happy to say that the final announcement is just weeks away.
Of more than 1500 application forms distributed through our Obas, and our local government offices, the following 14 out of the Ikalemejedinlogun (towns) gave us feedback (by returning application forms).
1. Aiyede
2. Aiyeka
3. Ajagba
4. Akotogbo
5. Erinje
6. Igbodigo
7. Igbotako
8. Igogan
9. Iju-Odo
10. Ikoya
11. Ilutitun
12. Irele
13. Ode-Aye
14. Okitipupa
Note: As at the time of this release we have not received ant application form from the following towns- Iju-Osun, Igbisin, Iyansan, and Ome
Screening/collation was done at the following levels
• Collection and collation
• Initial screening of package for ‘quantity’ completeness
• Secondary screening for quality completeness
• Screening for authentication
• Verification of personal/family/educational information
• Grading of essay
• Collation/shortlist
• Final selection
This is the first time we will be doing this and for the fact that we have to undergo the rigorous steps above you can now see why it has taken us this long. We have gone through this learning curve and we believe that by the time we go through this again things will be less cumbersome.
IWC nay Ikale is grateful to our Obas for their total support for this program, they took it upon themselves to disseminate information and distribute the forms. We are equally grateful to our two local government offices through their leaderships. Mr. Bola Olagbegi was the anchor in the publicity and distribution/collection of the forms. Thanks
Even in this trying period Ikale is still blessed with individuals that are dedicated selfless and above board in their actions. Chief SK Ogunboye, Abayomi Akeremale (Commissioner of police), Biyi Ikujuni will forever be remembered for painstakingly going through the many application forms with standardized criteria to have our short list and Ayo Lijirin for his invaluable critiques of the basis of the shortlisted candidates and for making it possible for us to have the hard documents of the shortlisted candidates at this time. At the appropriate time when Ikale history is reviewed/written posterity will be at hand to do justice to your contributions. Note: Professor Isaac Akindutire was contacted and he accepted to participate in this exercise but distance was a big problem. Thanks
Again it should be understood that this is the first time IWC will embark on something like this, that this is not an award by an individual, that we have to do things differently, if we do then we should see the delay as part of a process. It might be late in coming we have to make sure that we get it right. To the applicants we apologize for the delay, and to those doubting the implementation of this scheme, we say watch out.
Message from the President of Ikale World Congress, Dr. Durojaye Akindutire
The formation of Ikale World Congress (popularly known as IWC) is not borne out of share separatism idea, or to fight over who leads Ikale (although leadership has been the bane of our development), it is formed to show that with concerted efforts and appropriate service oriented ideas and programs, we can start showing others that maintaining the status quo can be retrogressive. It should be our abiding and guiding faith to transform Ikale to an enviable group that makes things happen in all fields of life.
One thing that should be known is that IWC has come to stay-how/why:
- It has been registered in the US as not for profit organization
- Efforts are being made to register affiliates in and around the world especially Nigeria and Europe.
- This grassroots effort for the development of Ikale will be serviced by credible people who are willing to give their very best to Ikale.
- IWC is NOT AFFLIATED WITH/TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY
For now we should be:
- free to discuss within our fold
- raise our (IWC) awareness by inviting other Ikales to join in our discussions (please let us be civil and positive in our discussions)
- Get ready to launch this project at HOME by next year in a big way
- We are in the meantime fine tuning our website (www.ikale.net) to make it more functional and interactive. We will in no distant future formalize our membership by filling our membership form.
Nothing comes easy; being a young organization we should expect some hick-ups, if we are building an enduring structure for our dear Ikale, we should be able to endure these initial hick-ups, focus on the ultimate goal- “transforming Ikale to an enviable group that makes things happens in all fields of life.”
Make no mistake about it; the task ahead is going to be difficult. We are aware of comments that may diminish our enthusiasm about this projects- “It is not worth it” “It cannot work,” “they will fight,” “one section will marginalize the other”, “they will mismanage the group,” e.t.c.
We have no way of denying the above if we maintain the status quo. But do not forget that WE need to learn to do things differently; we need to place service above our personal agenda, and above all this group is supposed to be homogenous in at least one thought -“transforming Ikale to an enviable group that makes things happen in all fields of life.” We are poised not to repeat the mistakes of the past, IKALE nay IWC WILL BE PLACED ABOVE INDIVIDUAL TOWNS.
Let us go Ikale, we are blessed, we are capable and together we CAN transform Ikale to an enviable group that will things happens in all fields of life.
Uren ye onukan. Ikale a gbe wa o
The Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi Progressive Union in Dallas, Texas to donate Medical Equipment
At the last year, end of the year meeting of Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi Progressive Union, DFW held on December 9th 2009 at the residence of Mr and Mrs Durojaiye it was agreed and concluded plans that medical equipment that could be useful to our people back home be donated to hospitals in Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi areas of Ondo State Nigeria.
The meeting was well attended by members, friends and children. There was plenty of food and drinks for everyone, gift exchange, group photographs and networking. It was a very memorable event.
Of note is the President's end of year speech, find an extract below:
"Two years ago, our organization's birth was a milestone in the long quest of Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi. But the bold and brilliant dream which excited those founders of this organization still awaits consummation. It is that unique self-definition (Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi) which has given us an exceptional appeal, but it also imposes a special 
obligation. But if we are to continue to be distinctively Ikale, Ilaje and Apoi, we must continue to make that term comprehensive enough to embrace the legitimate desires of a civilized and enlightened people. We cannot permit ourselves to be dwarfed by slogans and phrases. It is not the adjectives, but the substantives, which is of real importance. It is not the name of the action, but the result of the action, which is the concern.
As a president, you have given me a great responsibility- to be worthy of you. I enter on it with a zeal from a thorough conviction that there was a greater necessity for devotion, for virtue and patriotism. your strength can compensate for my weakness; your wisdom can help minimize my mistakes. To match the magnitude of our tasks, we need the energies of our members, with that we can build a great cathedral."
