By Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York
— Jul 31, 2015 11:22 am
The City of Dallas, Texas in the United States has given a Honorary Citizenship Award to the paramount ruler of Ondo Kingdom, Oba (Dr) Victor Kiladejo, Osemawe of Ondo as a result of his outstanding achievements as a monarch in Ondo state.

The award was presented to the Ondo monarch by the Deputy Mayor of Dallas City, Mr. Erik Wilson, at banquet hall of the Dallas City Hall.

By this Honorary Citizenship Award, the monarch, Oba Victor Kiladejo, automatically becomes a honourary citizen of Dallas in the State of Texas, United States.

While receiving the award, the monarch who was flanked by some of his chiefs, leaders of Ondo Community in Dallas as well as the Spokesperson for the Ondo Vision 2015 (Diaspora Unit), Mrs Kemi Fadojutimi, said that his community would work hand in hand with the City of Dallas in order to ensure developments in both cities.

Oba Kiladejo added that his leadership as the paramount ruler of Ondo Kingdom was making efforts to ensure that the town becomes a mega city by the end of 2015.

He expressed gratitudes to the government of Dallas City for the honour bestowed on him as a honourary citizen of the region.

Kiladejo however urged the authorities of Dallas City to take a visit to Ondo in order to behold the potentials therein.

In his response, Deputy Mayor of Dallas, Mr. Eric Wilson, thanked the monarch for deeming it fit to visit his office, stressing that his City would be looking forward to engage in developmental projects with Ondo Kingdom.

Also speaking, Mr. Oshin Oking Habib, Social Director of the Ekimogun association in Dallas, said that the association would continue to promote the good name of the town.

The Monarch also held a meeting with officials of the Office of the Mayor of Desoto City where discussions on how to establish a strong trade relationship were held.

Kiladejo being a medical doctor also visited the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research as well as the University Teaching Hospital in the City.

DOZENS of Nigerians turned out to the launch of the Ondo 2015 City Vision in north London yesterday as the paramount ruler and Osemawe of Ondo Oba Victor Adesimbo Kiladejo brought his fundraising campaign to the UK.alt

Tagged Ondo City Vision 2015, the programme launched by the monarch is designed to convert Ondo from a provincial Nigerian town into a modern city. As part of an ambitious programme to turn Ondo into a major and modern city, Oba Kiladejo has embarked on an ambitious fundraising campaign across the diaspora to raise funds for the development of the town.

During his meeting with Nigerians in the UK yesterday, the monarch said the programme would involve the building of housing units, three city gates, tree planting, road dualisation and the establishment of three radio stations. According to Oba Kiladejo, Ondo is the only town in Nigeria with three universities and the subsequent expansion this will lead to means that its infrastructure needs to be upgraded.

Oba Kiladejo said: "We need our community to be known as Ondo City because if you look at Benin and Kano for instance, they were not as developed as they are today before they became cities. We want to earn that right too and we want to make Ondo a sustainable city by 2015 and beyond.

"Our present governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has been very cooperative as many of our roads are now dualised and we now have buses that take primary school children to school and back. We have the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, the Federal Adeyemi University of Education and the Wesley University of Science and Technology but now want to build on this by constructing housing estates and industrial estates and a group of Israelis have promised to help us with mechanised farming."

Chief Tadese Akinwande, one of the major organisers of the project, added that so far, 4.5m km of trees have been planted around Ondo and over the next four years, they will give the city a new look. He added that Ondo also has several information and communication technology centres and there are plans to convert one of them into a digital library.

According to Oba Kiladejo, the three radio stations for which licences have been got will soon become operational, turning Ondo into an ideal metropolitan centre. He called on all Ondo indigenes to donate generously towards the project as they had a vested interest in making their home community a place to be proud of.

Anyone wanting to contribute towards the project can find out more details on www.ondocityvision2015.org, while anyone in the UK wanting to contribute towards the fund can pay into the Ekimogun Descendants UK and Ireland account with Natwest. Its account number is 64752402 and its sort code is 601334.

Janet Akinmboni, the president of Ekimogun Descendants UK and Northern Ireland, assured anyone who contributes that they will be able to see details of their payments online within 24 hours. Oba Kiladejo added that the accountability was so strict that not a kobo was spent without getting authorisation and so far, none of the money contributed has been spent yet.

At the event, dozens of UK diasporans contributed generously towards the project, including Britafrique founder Michelle Akintoye-Odumuyiwa, Nollywood star Theodora Oyebade-Ibekwe and her husband Ayodapo Oyebade. Oba Kiladejo will be off to the US next, where he will speak to the disapora community in Dallas, on Saturday, August 1 2015. At the Blue Cypress Hotel, Arlington- Texas. For more information, contact the planning committee at ondocityvision2015@gmail.com

God bless the oba!
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