By Solih Ridwanullah
THE Òoní of Ife must have shared thoughts with Walt Disney when he quit talking and started acting within his powers. In the words of the American icon, “The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Change starts with action.” Rather than joining the scores of public commentators to lament the state of affairs in the country, he took the path of Disney by acting. Even though he did so within his area of jurisdiction, the breeze of his change is blowing positively across the South-West. In the Aramako area of Ekiti West, the king’s messenger amidst an entourage was seen spreading the message of the king in the market. His message was loud and precise: “no more middlemen! no more petty trader market association!” He didn’t stop there; he proceeded to announce the prices of food items as agreed by the traders. He appealed to marketers to comply with the order. They went around the market crusading against the sheer exploitation of the middlemen and their accomplices in crime. This single act forced down the prices of food items to some extent.
While hiking up the hill to my lodge few days ago, a similar call was voiced out via a public address system. This time around, in Okemesi, Ekiti State. The campaign against the exploiters took a new turn. It wasn’t limited to Market Square but spread across the length and breadth of the community. The same contents. As early as 6:00 am today, another round of messages was passed across the board with warnings of sanctions against defaulters. This single act, if maintained across the 36 states, could curtail the market-made inflation in the country. This wouldn’t have happened without the input of the Ooni of Ife. Give him his flower! Oriade takes the credit for this wonderful intervention. He was the first to introduce this in Ife. He looked at the market structure and saw the invisible hand of middlemen and their allies in prices skyrocketing. He arrived at this as a temporary measure to nip artificial inflation in the bud. When others saw the ripple effect of his action, they quickly emulated it and spread the crusade in their respective domains and territories. Such is change. It’s a contagious phenomenon. More reason we should all strive to be an agent of positive change as John F. Kennedy rightly said, “One person can make a difference and everyone should.”
This has made several others think outside the box. The tone is ‘it is high time we swung into action’. What years of lamentation can’t do, a single decisive action would. In Iwo, a different method was explored to control food prices for the benefit of commoners. An Islamic movement, headed by the Mufti of Yorubaland-Sheikh Daood Imran Molaasan established an Islamic market. The prices of food items were moderated by the movement to ease the purchasing power of the hosting community. In his words, the Mufti said actions are ongoing to make their farm product serve the country as a whole at a reasonable price. Even though the direction of any country lies heavily on the ruling class, there is a degree of what the citizens can do to make a country livable for all. Margaret Mead said it better. In a book titled ‘The World According to Margaret Mead’, Nancy LutKehaus quoted Mead to have said in an interview, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world”. Indeed, they can as Ooni did, with others toeing his humane path.
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