The Yoruba World Congress has explained that the decision to change the name of the group was born out of the desire to run the organisation in line with the philosophy of the late Yoruba Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led Egbe Omo Oduduwa.
Recall that YWC, on Sunday, announced that it changed its name to Ilana Omo Oodua.
The development was contained in a statement by its President-General, Prof. Banji Akintoye; and the Chairman of the Communique Drafting Committee of the Congress, Prof. Wale Adeniran.
The statement added that the change of name was necessary because most Yoruba traditional rulers and leaders had kicked against adopting an English name to lead the struggle for the liberation and freedom of Yoruba people.
It reads, “We who have been known in the past one year as the ‘Yoruba World Congress’ under the leadership of Prof. (Senator) Banji Akintoye, hereby announce the change of our name to Ilana Omo Oodua. We have three important reasons for this change of name.
“Some of our Yoruba elders and wise men have been suggesting to us that when we decide to choose another name for our organisation, we should emulate our fathers of the Awolowo generation who, when they created an organisation in 1945 for promoting Yoruba progress and prosperity, chose the name Egbe Omo Oduduwa.
“We have therefore chosen a name that is meaningfully close to Egbe Omo Oduduwa and that powerfully expresses our Yoruba people’s dreams and desires of today – the name Ilana Omo Oodua.
“This new name helps tremendously to clarify our vision, our goal, and our path to our goal. First and foremost, our most important goal is self-determination for our Yoruba nation. And as we struggle towards that goal, we shall operate with peaceful and law-abiding ways and means.”
