The Deputy Leader of Afenifere, Chief Bola Ige, will give the keynote address at the June 12, 1999 Yoruba North American Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Several other Yoruba leaders are expected to attend this year’s convention in Atlanta. The newly elected Chairman of Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun and the organization’s new treasurer, Dr. Beko Rasome-Kuti will also participate at the Atlanta convention at which they are to speak about the Prospects and Problems facing Oodua Peoples Congress. Senator Abraham Adesanya gave the keynote address at the 1998 convention in Philadelphia at which Senator Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Olu Falae, and Governor Cornelius Tunji Adebayo were given Oodua Excellence awards for 1998. Fela Anikulapo Kuti was also given a posthumous award.

At this year’s convention, three distinguished Nigerians of Yoruba descent will receive the Oodua Excellence Award. Chief Alfred Rewane and Chief Moshood Olawale Abiola will receive posthumous awards. Professor Bolanle Awe is the third person to be honored this year. Professor Awe will be the second woman to receive the award in the last four years. Alhaja Kudirat Abiola received a posthumous award in 1996.

The theme of the Atlanta convention is Development of Oodua States in a Post-military Nigeria.

The Governor-elect of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina assured Yoruba professionals in the Washington area at a Town meeting at Howard University last week about the abiding commitment of the newly elected governors of Oodua states: Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo to the development of the Yoruba region of Nigeria.

Chief Adesina poured praises on the generality of Yoruba people who "had supported the cause of Yoruba development through thick and thin in the last six years." He assured his audience that all the six governors are duty bound to implement policies that will bring employment and education to the average Yoruba man and woman.

After thanking Egbe Omo Yoruba for its support for the demand for justice and autonomy for the Yoruba and other regions of Nigeria, the governor-elect called on Yoruba people in Europe and the Americas to help the new administrations, adding "if you have pencils, erasers, or books, please do not hesitate to send these to Oodua states in their efforts to return the glory of educational leadership to Yoruba land.

On the relationship between Yoruba governors and General Obasanjo, the President-elect, Chief Adesina assured his audience that the Yoruba people will not allow General Obasanjo to fail, adding that "Yoruba people are not asking for opportunities to dominate others, they are calling for equity and justice that will allow each section to develop at its own pace."

Washington was agog with activities two weeks ago when several Afenifere leaders attended a Yoruba Town meeting at Howard University after attending a NADECO meeting in Alexandria, Virginia.

A delegation of Yoruba leaders including Senator Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Governor Cornelius Tunji Adebayo, Chief Ayo Opadokun, Honourable Wale Osun, and Dr. Amos Akingba met with Yoruba professionals from Washington, Maryland, Virginia, Massachussetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and North Carolina at the Howard University Engineering auditorium. The Town meeting was organized by Egbe Omo Yoruba in North America.

At this meeting, Senator Adesanya assured the audience that Yoruba governors and legislators have been briefed by the Alliance for Democracy on the importance of working assiduously to return Yoruba states to their position of glory within the next four years. He confirmed that elected person is on oath to take as a priority the restoration of the Yoruba region of Nigeria to its traditional status of role model for other regions of Nigeria. "This task does not leave room for corruption and idleness on the part of governors, councilor’s, and legislators from Oodua states," added Senator Adesanya.

During his answer to a question on whether he would serve as a minister under Obasanjo’s administration, the Deputy leader of Afenifere, Chief Bola Ige, assured the audience that such a decision would be made by the Yoruba people. This confirmed Senator Adesanya’s earlier statement that participation by AD members in Obasanjo’s government will have to be determined by the party, not individual members.

In his closing remarks, the chief host of the meeting, Professor Segun Gbadegesin, the president of Egbe Omo Yoruba, reminded the visiting leaders that the completion of the elections must be seen as the opening of the channel to democracy and true federalism for which the Egbe has struggled along with others since the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. He assured the audience that Egbe Omo Yoruba in North America is for ever committed to the return and sustenance of true federalism and regional autonomy in Nigeria.