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All roads lead to the ancient city of Ile Ife on Saturday, December 11, 2021, for the installation of the Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga as Afurugbin Ola of Ife (Lead Sower of Wealth and Prosperity of the Source), which will be conferred on him by the Arole Oduduwa & Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the palace’s Director of Media & Public Affairs, Comrade Moses Olafare, said Oba Ogunwusi, who doubles as Co-chairman, National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN), found Sanginga worthy of the prestigious chieftaincy title in recognition of his unquantifiable contributions to food security and Agro-economic development in Africa.
Saginga, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who has spent a large part of his career in Nigeria, is the first African to lead IITA in the over 50 years of its existence.
“In furtherance of his Africa Must Unite Mission, the Ooni of Ife and Natural Head of the Oduduwa race worldwide, Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, after wide consultations will on Saturday, 11th December, 2021 honour the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculturen(IITA), Ibadan, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, a globally respected African citizen from Democratic Republic of Congo with a prestigious chieftaincy title as the Afurugbin Ola of Ife (Lead Sower of Wealth and Prosperity of the Source).
“Since his assumption as the IITA’s Director General in 2011, he has served creditably with exceptional commitment to initiatives which has placed the African continent on the global stage especially in the agricultural arena.
“Over the past 50 years, IITA Ibadan through its various programmes, provided farmers in the continent with innovations that promoted food and nutritional security and safety, increased food production, raised yield of major food crops, reduced poverty levels, decreased postharvest losses, promoted mechanization of agriculture, and generated job and wealth creation for young people and women in the agricultural sector, among others,” the statement read.