A former Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, who is also the first West African to head the highest decision-making organ of the agency; Professor Michael Omolewa is going to deliver a paper at a lecture scheduled as part of a reception in honour of the recently installed 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba Land, Aare Gani Adams.
The reception which promises to be an atmosphere of cultural showcase, fashion display, entertainment variety and music is expected to have in attendance, prominent Nigerians, Obas and chiefs, top government officials, foreign diplomats, culture enthusiasts and media executives among other notable personalities.
It will hold in Lagos on Friday, 23rd February, 2018 at the Blue Roof, Lagos Television; Ikeja by 2.00pm.
Going by his reputation as an education historian, culture enthusiast and erudite scholar who has greatly contributed to the preservation and promotion of Black heritage, it is being expected that Professor Omolewa’s paper dwelling on the essence and stool of Aare Ona Kakanfo in Yoruba nation will contribute immensely to the academia.
Omolewa – an emeritus professor of adult education at University of Ibadan, a national honours winner of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) and former deputy chair of the governing board of the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada, worked tirelessly during his two-term tenure at UNESCO to facilitate the recognition of Osun Osogbo scared grove in Osun State as a world heritage site in 2005.
In 2007, he proposed six other Nigerian sites namely Arochukwu Long Juju, Surame Cultural Landscape, Idanre Hills, Ogbunike Caves, ancient Kano City Walls and Alok Ikom Stone Monoliths for global recognition. Also, the UNESCO Category 2 Institute for African Culture and International Understanding established in Abeokuta was through his efforts.
