 We're glad to know you're still there. It's still the run-up and we're hoping that you're having a wonderful time. Remember that we have less than 10 days, as it is, to the general elections. The presidential and national houses of assembly elections are coming up on the 25th of the month, this month. So, like I said, we have less than 10 days. It's a matter of 10 days and a few hours to that time. So, preparations, you should be rounding off everything that you need to do to make sure that that day is a success. Well, we have in the studio here a young man who is an author, a youth advocate and a patriot. When I met him, first of all, I saved his name and added Euroba language. That's how it was. So, I'm glad to introduce to you this morning, Olu Taiyo Irohtiola. Welcome to the program. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be on the show. I can't forget the first time we met and we were so passionate about the local language and I was like, okay, this works. I like someone who is proud of the language he was born into and a local language at that. Are you still doing that kind of advocacy till now? Yes, I have not stopped. The fearful thing for me is that currently I see that a lot of white people are coming to learn what we are actually ignoring and it poses a danger for the future, most especially the upcoming generation. If it's not taken, the white people will come back to teach them and that's what I think we need to guard against. That's why I stand to represent the culture, whenever I have the opportunity. I speak it, whenever I have the opportunity. I'll be it. I mix it with English so that at least I'm available to everybody who would want to listen to me. Please, don't speak it here. My entire Euroba is there. We are concerned about Nigeria and I also know that you like being positive, like staying positive and optimistic about things. But the election is coming. General election, like I said, is less than 10 days to that general election. The first one that is to me the decider or everything because a lot of people will realign after the first election, trust me. But what do you feel generally about the coming election? Are you excited? Why? Are you not excited? Why? So let's know. So the upcoming elections for me, it's full of mixed feelings. You know, a young person like me, I have a lot of friends who used to believe in Nigeria. But currently all of them are left because their faith in the country keeps waning by the day. And it's not their fault. It's a function of what is happening, what you can see in the system and in the community. As such, everybody is now saying, okay, if it means that I need to be a second class citizen elsewhere, I better be rather than being in my father's house and be made a slave by people that were all born free. I don't know if you get what I mean. So the coming elections signals two things. Number one, it signals either the beginning of a new country or it signals the end of the beginning. I don't know if you get that. So if you look at it this way, young people will still have a little trust in the system or believe that they could make a difference. If care is not taken after the elections is over, you see them changing chairs. That means if that difference is not made in this election. Exactly. If we can get that difference, people will take to their heels again. And where they are going, it pays them more because what we have around us here is that youthful population. And we are losing that youthful population to the place wherein many of them are old people. So at the end of the day, it's going to come back to us like a flip to say we thought we had a lot of youthful generation and now losing it to Western countries where they have a lot of old people. So someone's gain is definitely the loss of another person. That's it. But the youth seem to be of one voice talking about the kind of Nigeria that they want to have. Okay, so your friends have left and you know why they left. And you, maybe if you have the chance as well, you will be speaking here, you will be in the UK or somewhere else. But now, that's just a joke. Now, if you're talking with one voice, what is the kind of Nigeria that people in your demographic are looking at? What kind of Nigeria do you want to have beyond this election? Because a lot of people have said that this is the deciding. Like you just said, it signals a lot of things. It could be the beginning of a new dawn, a new Nigeria for all of us. But what new Nigeria, what is that definition of a new Nigeria from your perspective that we should be looking out for or that you as a person are looking out for? So for me as someone, the definition of a new Nigeria is a country where we all have access to basic things that make us feel human. And what are the basic things? Social amenities, security. Those are the things that make you feel human. The roads. Now, I give an instance. The tourism industry in Nigeria is not thriving all because you don't have good roads. For instance, very close to my home community that's at Aduawa'i, we have the suspended lake there. How many people from Lagos who comfortably say they are going to Aduawa'i? Which is just about three hours away. Suspended lake? Yes. That's just the second in the world. No, that's just the second in the world. Really? The third one is in the US, one is at Aduawa'i. Just those two in the world, I think. So how many people will go there? In my home community, there are a lot of hilly places that you will see things that will marvel you. How many people will go to OKO to see OKO? So we have all the treasures that we want to go see in Kenya. We have all the Yankari game reserves. We have everything. But how many people are confident enough to hit the road to say I'm traveling to Yankari to spend my holiday? So if we have the opportunity to travel locally without fear, if you have the opportunity to go anywhere, you are sure you can get jobs without aligning with maybe any political party or having somebody from your kinsmen who is maybe the head of that institution before you get a job. You know, the number of people out there who are jobless is massive. And these are the things that are making people be like, if I cannot get substantial living here, I better go to somewhere else where I will do many other jobs but I will still be able to make a living. Yeah. So living and the backside of it is that many elders come to tell us the story of when they were growing up. Oh, we were not yet done in the university before they started giving us employment letters and all the rest. And this is the same generation that grew up to mop up all the employment letters just for their children and their grandchildren. All these things are painful and they are not giving people the confidence to say, this is my home. This is where I belong. If we all can make a living, businesses are finding it difficult to thrive all because of multiple taxation all because there are other factors that come into being. Okay, it's overwhelming. The problems are overwhelming. But we are in this Niger and hopefully, like you pray, everybody else is praying as well that after 25th of February or after May 29th, we will see a government that is really for the people because without that, there is nothing that, no matter who wins actually, no matter who wins, so long as he will be strong enough physically and intellectually and then he will listen very importantly to what the people are crying for. Then the new Nigeria is possible. But right now let's see, you are an otto. So let's talk about the challenges that people in your sphere face because everything we have in this country and in any country for that matter is a matter of policy. Sometimes you flourish, sometimes you don't. So in your sphere, in your space, what are some of these challenges that you are hoping with the new administration that could address so that people will flourish more? Okay, so being a writer, part of what makes writing interesting is when it is used for pedagogy. That's for academic purpose. The first thing is that, yes, we agreed that the world is shifting towards e-books and digital and all the rest but there's nothing that feels like holding a hard copy of a book with you, being able to underline, to highlight, you know, all those things are there. But currently the publishing industry in Nigeria is close to dead because we don't have publishers who are ready to invest again in the creative works of people. No matter the quality of the work you do, it's just only a few that would say, okay, let's take a dive with you. If we survive, we both survive. If we perish, we both perish. That is one. Number two is even the cost of publishing itself. So currently now in this generation, you will find out that people are the ones who publish their works themselves. You rarely have a publishing house that is willing to support. So you are the writer, you are the publisher, you are the marketer. But you also are the only one enjoying the money. The money, and that's why the distribution, the reach of the books are quite limited because it depends on your reach. But what kind of government policy can make things like that easier? So it has to go, one, into supporting the publishing houses. Now, why I'm starting from the publishing houses is number one. A lot of government agencies, a lot of governments have publishing outfits, but they would not support the creative industry because what they see more is publishing publications that will only speak to their own audience. That's what they are more concerned about. Propaganda machine maybe. You said? Propaganda machine maybe. Well, if you say that. I will say that. So that's one. Number two is giving room for those who are writers to even experience a new lease of life, even with writing. Currently now, even if you look at the books that win awards around us here, they are largely the books of Nigerians living overseas bringing it in to sell, to market. There are some certain publishing houses that prefer to even publish their own types of books because they've made their name outside, they are just bringing it in. That's another issue. Another issue again is how it's accepted even for academic purpose in schools. These books are not, you have to lobby again to even find your books used in the curriculum no matter how good the content is. Okay, talking about a good content of the book. I know you just wrote one that I'm interested in. Okay, but we won't have time to discuss that. Just wait on. We'll take a moment, take the news and then we'll return to wrap up so that we kind of open the eyes of the people to the importance of what you wrote and what government can do for these things to be at the disposal of everybody who needs it. We'll take a short break now. We'll be back in a moment. Stay with us. You're welcome back. It's still the run-up and it's a Valentine's Day. So happy Valentine's to you, whoever you are. But don't cause trouble today. It's a day of love. Let's love everybody. And especially our politicians know that if we will vote you, it's because we love you. So you have to reciprocate that love. So start to cook up a love story that will tell about you after your administration if you get the ticket or if you are voted in today. So that's what today is for you. And show some love not just to your girlfriend, boyfriend, your wife or husband. There are people who need your love even more than this circle of people I have mentioned. People that do not expect anything to come from you should be able to feel your presence today. I'm not talking to the politicians. I'm talking to everybody else now. It's a Valentine's Day. Okay, we're still here with Olu Tayo Ironteola, an auto, a youth advocate, a patriot. And we were just talking about some policies that will make the ground so fertile for especially people in the creative industry. And I am happy that he's doing something, not just writing the regular things, but also writing about history, which at some point was removed from our curriculum now. So it speaks to the fact that maybe our educational system needs some shaking up a little bit to make it a little bit better than it is right now. So Tayo, we're still here. You're writing history that people don't want to read. What has the experience been like? Researching to write this book that you wrote the Okehu. Okehu, yeah, I got it. The Okehu Exodus, because I'm sure you researched it and what were the reactions of people that when you were researching and now that you're finished and it's in the market, how are people reacting to it? Okay, so let me set the ground for what actually led to the book. The Okehu Exodus is a historical play of something that happened between the colonial masters and the indigenous people of Okehu. By the way, Okehu is in Oil North Senatorial District of Ohio State. What actually happened was the mother of a king at about 1916, 1917. So it took a lot of work. So I've been able to put together the details that make up the play. It's a play, actually, because I want people to engage it from just the raw history that we've had over the years on Okehu. So the characters existed. However, I had to create some new ones to join it to make it quite interactive, quite lucid and quite contemporary in its language so that everybody can sit into the story. You can see yourself in the story as you are reading it. You will also find yourself in it. All right, so why I said you will find yourself in it is this, is that Okehu as it were is an amalgamation of about 11 communities because of the invasions of the Daumai and the Fulani of old. That whole story of the Fulani and Daumai invasion. So all the communities came together around a hill called Okehu Aoro, a very massive hill, very, very massive, yes. And people from those communities lived in the caves as of that time to escape all the trouble. But when the colonial intrusion came into being, the people of Okehu Aoro, they were not finding it comfortable. The white men ordered that they should start digging pit latrines around their house which they considered as something not healthy. They gave women the opportunity to go to the court to seek divorce. They started immunization just like some certain parts of Nigeria are not still yet receptive to immunization today. When it was starting way back then, they saw it as something that wasn't healthy. Amongst other things that happened. So people felt like the king was in Kunayvans with the white man and that led to Regicide. The mother of the king, his wife, and the hair parent. That's the Aremo, the mother of them. Then the white man now commanded them to say, go back to your former location which is the upper part of the land before you get to the hill. The hill is located in a slope. So it's not somewhere that is easily accessible by somebody who doesn't understand the terrain. And to make you relate more with it, there is a saying that they used to greet themselves with, Ekwa Mokesu. Which is if you are going up the hill, they will tell you, well done, you are mountain. If you are coming down the hill, it's a welcome to the valley so that you have an understanding of what it looks like. So all of those things were the things I creatively put together in the play. You mentioned something, history as it were is not something that a lot of people engage with again in this generation. And I can tell you that some people, like you said, because I am a cultural advocate, people think it's because of my cultural advocacy that made me go deep into writing the story. But the thing is this is that there are some other stories that are not being told about Nigeria. And that's why we find out that the white man would always tell us that they discovered the... Exactly. So where was the source of the water that people in that community were drinking before they came? So we need to tell our stories, original authentic stories and share it to the world to say, okay, so if we keep those stories untold, nobody will hear it. And that's what happened with the OKO exodus. To tell people that, okay, the white man came, intruded into our lifestyle, and this was the result that he gave. And eventually people were still punished for it. However, I would like to say that the reception had been very, very wonderful by people who appreciate the sense of the history of a young person who could dig deep. Yeah, that was really what triggered me. Now, because the aim of this is to make sure that the next administration that comes looks at critical issues that will make us be proud of our country and history is one of those things. Now that you are here as a young person, some people will be shocked that you are even talking history. But make a case for history in our educational system generally if you were given the opportunity to advise the government on how to make sure things like these are available to people who need it. What would you tell the government? Because that's the crux of the whole matter. Okay, first and first, I would implore the government to invest more in archiving our history. Now, some years ago, I was able to read the last book of Ken Saruiwa. And do you know the interesting thing? These were the collations of letters that Saruiwa wrote to Reverend Sister to tell her of his condition in the prison. And currently, I think it's in Norway or one eastern country, all those letters had been preserved for any type of person wants to say it. We need to appreciate our own researches, document them for the next generation. We need to take it seriously. And we need to go back to building of libraries to ensure that people read. Now, the good thing about libraries is that it does not need to... It's not for one person. It breaks that limitation of saying, I don't have funds to buy books, to store books, but I can go somewhere to access books. And if we don't read, definitely we can grow. Because at every point in time, you would see that those people would take time to read. They are the ones which run out much more quality information that you would be like, oh, so this thing really exists. But it's just because the person has access to a book somewhere. So we need to invest in our educational system. Another thing is this. We need to encourage those in the academia. Those in the academia are doing a lot of work, doing a lot of research, and they will still be the ones that will not get paid for eight months. They will still be the ones that will try. Valence. No, no, no, actually. The thing about the academia now that you see is it's a full-time role that cannot be mixed with anything. And they deal with the lives of people. So they need to be taken much more seriously academically. Now going back to speak to those who do researches and put it in creative formats, I think it's something that must be encouraged, that must not be stopped, and that people should be motivated to do it. When we have that, we would find out that a lot of quality products will still come out of Nigeria. I give another instance. While I was speaking with somebody from Shagham after writing this book, he also mentioned that communities in Shagham also came together as a result of the same Fulani Daoma invasion that I mentioned. But this is also an information that is not readily available. So let people be motivated to tell stories of where they are from. Now, being a cultural person, I would now say it this way. We've discovered that some people are telling the stories that will suit their families as well. No, don't turn to stories. Thank God for you that you've emerged from those miracles of life. You've come up to the pedestal. You've grown. You're not a big person. But let's tell the story as it is so that everybody would appreciate the fact of what is not. Thank you. Okay, well, yeah. I'll let him just digress a little bit because we needed that background. If someone this young is talking history, there are other people who will even be younger that need the history more than he does, like me and everybody else. Maybe we're at an old school. We know some of these things, but the people who are coming behind need more. So if the next government is coming, while thinking about physical infrastructure, we should also think about the mental and intellectual infrastructure as it is and build our educational system. Like he said, a reading people is a growing people because if you don't read, you don't grow. So government, if we, and by government, I mean the people that we are going to elect, when you come in, if you're going to be in the legislature, make bills that will make sure that education is paramount. People who are educated will definitely progress more than the people who are not educated. We'll look at the educational system and we'll tell our stories like he said. Anybody who is telling our story should be encouraged, whether in a classroom or whether outside. And the creative industry also contributes a lot to making the world have a perception that we want them to have about us and making our people also be proud of who we are and what we can become or what we have become, even from the rubbles, as it were. Thank you so much for coming on the show. It's always a pleasure to have you on any show at all. Thank you so much for the opportunity and thank you to PLOS TV for giving something very qualitative to the African audience at all times. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day. Thank you. Okay, that's how we wrap it up on the show today. We do hope that you had a wonderful time. Let's do it again tomorrow. God willing. My name is Nyam Gul Aghaji. Bye.