WELCOME ADDRESS AT THE REMO DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS DINNER – A NIGHT WITH THE AKARIGBO
NOVEMBER 27, 2019
AT THE LAGOS COUNTRY CLUB, GRA IKEJA
BY OTUNBA `TUNJI LAWAL-SOLARIN, CHAIRMAN REMO GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
(REMOGDF)
His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi, Torungbuwa II, the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Your
Royal Highnesses, the Kabiyesis that make up the various towns of Remoland, distinguished sons and daughters of
Remoland, Ee so e!!! Welcome to An Evening with the Akarigbo!
On behalf of RemoGDF and the Finance & Strategy Directorate, I welcome and thank you for your unflinching support in
bringing development to Remoland in various and individually unique ways. We salute for efforts and doggedness.
Since His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi, The Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland, mooted the idea
of a cohesive development entity and vehicle for the division, many individuals here tonight, and some who are unable to
join us, have single-handedly funded all the Foundation’s activities through personal donations. Their support has enabled
the Foundation engage with various stakeholders, pay ad hoc staff allowances, and attend to other daily operational
requirements.
This tremendous support given directly to the Foundation’s vision has also enabled us attain an appreciable level of clarity,
the brand is gradually being recognized and its impact felt across the division, even at the state level.
We are here tonight to celebrate you, say a big “Thank You” and encourage you not to tire of your zeal and passion for
Remoland.
We are also using this occasion to give many more Remonians the opportunity to give back to the community on a larger
platform. It is indeed an emotionally-fulfilling act to do charitable acts. A single broom stick cannot do anything by itself
as it is practically useless, but a bunch of broomsticks will clean a whole house from top to bottom. That is the thought
behind our gathering here tonight: Unity of Purpose. We are counting on your support to achieve the Remo of our dreams.
We want you to walk with us so we can go farther, deeper and more effectively. Together, we make history, rewriting our
narrative and affecting our trajectory in a deliberate, thoughtful, strategic and proactive fashion. Together, we push the
boundaries of our imagination and efforts.
Our dear Aare GGG will take us down memory lane of how much we have been able to achieve is a space of 18 months.
You will learn about our 20-year Development Plan for Remoland. The Finance and Strategy team will walk you through
the Remo Development Partners program and appraise you of our immediate plans. A video showcasing the potentials of
our land will also rekindle your love for Remo. There is also time to engage the leadership of RemoGDF and Finance &
Strategy. Your contributions and ideas are critical at this point. We will also be requesting that you commit to contributing
your expertise, in-kind donations and financial support towards achieving our lofty goals. The evening rounds up as we
hear from His Royal Majesty and receive his blessings for our unity, progress and success.
At the end of this gathering tonight, we believe you will see why your support is so crucial in order for us to succeed as a
people, and with a united front.
Since RemoGDF started the planning process a few months ago, it has recruited a Chief Operating Officer to head its
administration and operations. By establishing additional two full-time program staff and two support staff positions, the
Foundation is taking steps towards stabilizing its internal administrative and governance structures which will ensure its
continued growth and program implementation readiness.
Some of the achievements of HRM and the Foundation in the past year which were made possible with individuals’ support
include:
Construction of the Passport Office
Construction of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Centre
Setting up of the Akarigbo Corporate Council and its Governing Council
Renovation of our Secretariat: currently ongoing
Currently in its second year of existence leading to the launch of various programs and initiatives, RemoGDF plans to
implement the following:
Set up a functional office before the end of 2019
Engage with potential individual and institutional development partners for strategic fundraising
Engage in organizational program planning and budgeting
Increase membership subscriptions to take care of administrative overheads and operational costs, including
those associated with staff growth
Establish systems for information, publicity, administrative and financial management
Of critical importance is our Annual General Meeting which comes up in February, 2020. This will be a gathering of all
Remo sons and daughters who subscribe to the membership of the foundation. The Head of Membership Directorate is
here tonight to walk you through that onboarding process.
Once again, please accept our highest regard and appreciation for your efforts in supporting His Royal Majesty and his
vision for Remoland through RemoGDF. We look forward to more fruitful engagements.
I sincerely thank you for your attention. Please relax and enjoy An Evening with The Akarigbo!
Remo a gbe dede eni ooo! Ase!
Otunba Tunji LAWAL-SOLARIN
27 November, 2019
UPDATES ON ACTIVITIES OF REMO GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION (REMOGDF) DELIVERED AT REMO DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS RENDEZVOUS WITH THE AKARIGBO & PARAMOUNT RULER OF REMOLAND, IN LAGOS COUNTRY CLUB ON WEDNESDAY 27TH, NOVEMBER 2019.
I greet this august audience most warmly and I feel privileged to give these updates on the activities of RemoGDF under the title; “THE JOURNEY SO FAR”
This update could be categorized under three mutually related segments viz; Where we are coming from, the station we are and the road ahead.
WHERE WE ARE COMING FROM.
The whole of Remo indigenes had risen in a stellar bond to herald with pomp,pageantry and panache the crowning of HRM Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi LLM,BL,FCA as the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland in December 2017.
Bolstered by the exceptional enthusiasm, the Akarigbo who ascended the throne from a background of finance-legal-cum- business savvy, in his acceptance speech, gave all the glory to the Good Lord, he paid homage to his predecessors, appreciated Remo Royal Fathers, indigenes alike and commended the solidarity of all Remo Communities, with an avowal that he will be leveraging on the discernible team spirit to make a difference.
Hardly had the euphoria of the coronation simmered that the Akarigbo in making good that pledge, dispatched a well defined and masterpiece-of-a-clarion-call-letter, to some carefully selected indigenes across Remoland, intensely inviting them to come on board and assist in his quest in conjunction with Remo Traditional Rulers to take Remo to the promised land.
At the formal inauguration of this Group in May 2018, HRM was loud and clear about what he, along with Remo Traditional Rulers crave for Remoland. In essence, they fervently desire that all Remo towns, communities and indeed our indigenes be bonded into one formidable and invulnerable Division in Ogun State, with a view to being in good stead to fostering development of all the nooks and crannies of Remoland, while simultaneously promoting the welfare and interests of Remo indigenes wherever they may be across the globe.
This charge represents our noble task to Fatherland, for which, all hands have since been on deck.
The stimulation of HRM was all inclusive as well as all embracing. It covers all spheres of our human endeavors. It couldn’t be otherwise given its spinoff which inter alia are;
To;
(I) Develop a socio-economic STRATEGIC PLAN for the transformation and development of Remoland in all segments of her human endeavors.
(II) Develop a REMO BRAND with its own unique identity and image viz;
(a) Remo as the most industrial friendly division in Ogun State.
(b) Remo as the safest and most security conscious division.
(c) Remo as the cleanest division.
(d) Remo as the most peaceful division.
The omnibus mandate of HRM also gave rise to the following derivables:-
The need to;
(1) Engage stakeholders, harnessing input from major stakeholders, leaders of thoughts and indeed everyone who has something to offer this Remo vision.
(2) Develop a plan within the geo-political context of position of Remo in Ogun State, south-west: Nigeria and Nigeria in general.
(3) Develop a template for effective relationship with State, Federal, Government and their Agencies.
(4) Establish a solid communication, mobilization, publicity, sensitization structure for the achievement of these objectives.
(5) Pursue investment drivers and opportunities across Remo division, to include Industrial development, Infrastructure, Employment generation etc.
(6)Showcase and propagate the social-economic potentials of Remo to all stakeholders in and out of the State.
(7) Build human capacity and structure for the achievement His Royal Majesty’s mission.
(8) Develop a strong data statistics, research of all information both economic, political, social and human for Remo land.
(8) Set up of Remo endowment fund.
(10)Set up of Remo Socio-economic summit.
(11) Set up of the headquarters and employ a COO and other staffers for diligent pursuit of this vision at an office within Remo Resource and Recreation Centre in Remo Central.
In the quest for a vehicle to vigorously and effectively actualize our goals, objectives and bringing our ideas to a quick reality, we came to terms with the need for a legal entity and that gave birth to Remo Growth and Development Foundation abbreviated as RemoGDF.
The Foundation has been duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. In line with the directives of HRM to make everything we do fully representational, HRM is the Grand Patron of RemoGDF, all Remo Traditional Fathers are Patrons, while the 9 member Board of Trustees had been carefully selected across Remoland. Sir Kesington A. Adebutu from Remo Central is the Chairman Board of Trustees, while Otunba Lawal Tunji-Solarin from Sagamu and yours truly from Remo North are respectively the Chairman and Co- Chairman RemoGDF.
Given the enormity of the task and for thoroughness, setting up a couple of Directorates pronto became a sine qua non. Eighteen Directorates were accordingly established to come up with well articulated state of affairs in all sectors of human capabilities, proffer solutions to them and come up with proposals and budgets, that would be staggered out on the basis of immediate-short-medium and long terms goals.
The outcome of the engagement with stakeholders across Remoland has enabled the Directorates to come up with well researched reports and that has metamorphosed into Remo 20 year Development Plan, which Ogun State Governor has severally acknowledged at different fora, as the best among similar documents he received across the State.
So far, we can say without being immodest that we have made considerable progress with this assignment. It has been very steady and unremitting actions on all fronts. We have had the Akarigbo In Council inaugurated with grandeur and the Membership has been inaugurated. We have propagated this renaissance to the United Kingdom at the 2018 Isokan Day which has now become Remo Day UK in August 2019. Both events were well attended by a good number of our best eleven, with the Akarigbo leading the contingent that included Remo Traditional Rulers and top echelons of RemoGDF. Even our State Governor was represented by the 1st Lady of Ogun State.
We now have RemoGDF UK branch and poised to extending the frontier to the United States of America, Canada and all countries overseas where we have reasonable number of Remo indigenes residing.
The membership of RemoGDF is opened to all well-meaning indigenes of Remoland and as of date our membership strength is close to 200, at the last count.
This in a nutshell represents where we are coming from.
THE STATION WE ARE
We have taken up RemoGDF Secretariat at Remo Resource and Recreation Centre in Remo Central, the remodeling of office is ongoing and scheduled for completion in a forthnight. The COO has since resumed duty and throttling at full speed.
With the conclusion of Remo 20 year Development Plan, we now have the essential product to market and advance to the next stage. The next stage of course is creating the wherewithal, by means of Trade Expo and Endowment Fund to prosecute the ideas and execute projects already articulated in the 20 year Development Plan, which Plan was conceptualized to positioning Remoland as the cynosure and the Division to emulate.
The nitty gritty on this shall be made clear to this audience in the Documentary that will follow this update, also during the intimation of the objectives of Remo Development Partners and the preview of the upcoming projects. All these are taking us to the next level.
This update would be seriously flawed without mentioning the Immigration and Passport Office as well the Alternate Disputes Resolution Centre (ADR). The Immigration and Passport office has been completed and handed over, while the ADR complex is also due for commissioning on the 5th of December 2019, as part of the activities lined up for the 2nd Coronation Anniversary of the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland.
All we have achieved so far had been made possible essentially by some of our public-spirited indigenes. In utter humility, they detest the mentioning of their names. These illustrious indigenes have been up and doing and at our beck and call in bankrolling our projects and activities. The event of this evening is no exception among their unending sponsorships. They are doing so, not because they are more of Remo than anyone else. It is perhaps they have embraced that admonition of Christ in Matthew 5 vs 16 to wit;
"Let your light shine before men for the world to know through you the glory of God, for no one lights a candle and puts it beneath a bushel"This is of essence because the Lord makes no mistakes. He has his reason for sending us to Remoland as her indigenes. Coupled with that, Only the Good Lord Himself knows why He has empowered us better than millions out there.
The truth albeit is; Nothing is free. Not even in Freetown. Ergo; To whom much is given much more is expected.
It goes without saying that every penny adds up to make a pound. In effect, everyone is welcomed to assist in realizing Remo dreams in whatever capacity and according to our endowments. It is by so doing posterity will be fair to us and we can then be counted among those that came, saw and conquered.
It couldn’t be otherwise because when we render help to our Community, we are deeming it as weak and we are making it strong. When we assist to fix ,we are seeing life as broken and helping to mend it. By the same token, when we serve we are seeing the Creation as a whole which indeed it is.
For correlation, the boxing legend Mohammed Ali once said; Service is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. Therefore, failure to discharge civic responsibility equates the person to the lifeless picture of a man hung on the wall. According to Mahatma Gandhi, they are both insipid. May we never be found wanting when it matters in the NAME that is above all Names.Amen.
Against the backdrop of information set out herein, I wish to conclude by enjoining us to have a very pleasant evening with our one and only Akarigbo and Paramount of Remoland, on whose initiative we are gathered for the onerous mission of making Remoland better than we met it.
I thank you for your patience.
Aare Kolawole Oyefeso
