Yoruba nation in disarray - Daniel

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/mar/31/601.html

THE Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, has described the Yoruba nation as one in disarray, contending that the people had no common agenda in sight. Daniel, who spoke on Tuesday at the meeting of the South-West governors and traditional rulers held at the Governor's Lodge in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said that it was high time the Yoruba race stopped basking in the past glory when the past was daily turning into indictment in this present age.

He noted that Yoruba people were blessed with a good physical environment and rich culture, adding that they also had both human and natural resources to be a leading race.

The meeting had in attendance governors of Osun and Ekiti states, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Mr Segun Oni respectively; the deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Alli Olanusi and Chief Adebayo Faleti, who represented Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State.

Traditional rulers in attendance included the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr) Sikiru Adetona; the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba (Dr) Michael Adeniyi Sonariwo.

Daniel said politics must be used for the overall development of the citizenry and not for personal impoverishment, adding that it should be a means of bringing the much-needed Yoruba unity and progress.

According to Daniel, "should we continue to sit idly and look while our race is losing out in Nigeria's political economy? Politics must be for the development of our people and not their impoverishment. Politics must never be allowed to polarise us.
"Rather, it must be a means of bringing the much-needed unity, development and progress to Yoruba race. Our past leaders used the instrumentality of politics to give us leverage in the national politics of Nigeria," he added.
At the end of a closed door session, the Aloko of Iloko-Ijesa, Oba Oladele Olashore, disclosed that a committee was set up to discuss on the unity of Yoruba nation.
The monarch said the meeting was not a political one, adding that it was about developing the Yoruba race.
He said he hoped that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, would attend the next meeting.
The monarch commended the convener of the meeting, Governor Daniel, for the initiative and said the traditional rulers were ready to work with the governors in the South-West to ensure unity and development.
Earlier, eminent Yoruba leaders and governors converged on the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, to celebrate the 20th remembrance anniversary and launch of the complete musical works of the doyen of Nigerian theatre, the late Hubert Ogunde.

Source: Nigerian Tribune (

NH teacher, 100, gets degree a day before dying

AP – This undated black and white photo released by the Carpenter Family on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010, shows … By KATHY McCORMACK, Associated Press Writer Kathy Mccormack, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 26, 11:30 pm ET
CONCORD, N.H. – It was Harriet Richardson Ames' dream to earn her bachelor's degree in education. She finally reached that milestone, nearly three weeks after achieving another: her 100th birthday.

On Saturday, the day after receiving her diploma at her bedside, the retired schoolteacher died, pleased that she had accomplished her goal, her daughter said. Ames had been in hospice care.

"She had what I call a 'bucket list,' and that was the last thing on it," Marjorie Carpenter said Tuesday.

Ames, who turned 100 on Jan. 2, had earned a two-year teaching certificate in 1931 at Keene Normal School, now Keene State College. She taught in a one-room schoolhouse in South Newbury, and later spent 20 years as a teaching principal at Memorial School in Pittsfield, where she taught first-graders.

Through the years, she had taken classes at the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth Teachers College and Keene State to earn credits for her degree. With her eyesight failing, she stopped after retiring in 1971 and was never sure if she had enough credits.

Her wish for a degree became known when a Keene State film professor interviewed her a couple of years ago for a piece on the college's own centennial, which the school celebrated last year.

The school decided to research her coursework and see if it could award Ames her long-sought diploma. The offices of the provost, registrar and other departments worked quickly in the last month to determine, that indeed, it could.

"She wanted to be the best that she could be," said Norma Walker, coordinator of the Keene State College Golden Circle Society, an alumni group for classes that graduated 50 or more years ago.

Walker said when she mentioned to Ames during a recent visit that the college was working on the degree, Ames started to cry and said, "'If I die tomorrow, I'll know I'll die happy, because my degree's in the works.'"

College officials, including Walker, drove the document to Ames' bedside on Friday.

Walker, who first met Ames in 1997 at an alumni gathering, said she enjoyed listening to her talk about her students and how she encouraged them to read.

"She's the kind of person that every parent would want their first-graders to have as a teacher," very loving and caring, Walker said. She will read Ames' diploma at a memorial service this Saturday, "if I can do it without crying."

Paula Finnegan Dickinson of Gilford, who was Ames' student back in 1956 and became an educator herself, regarded her as a mentor and dear friend.

"Mrs. Ames, along with Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff, became our friend," Dickinson said, recalling the "Dick and Jane" series that was used in class reading groups. "With her enthusiasm, these characters came to life. ... Mrs. Ames showed us how reading opened the doors to other experiences we in Pittsfield might never have known."