Yoruba pollsters in Nigeria have variously returned three prominent sons of the land as “Man of the Century”, “Man of the Decade”, and “Man of the Year”.

An announcement made a few days ago by Irohin Odua, the pan-Yoruba media online stated the pollsters had resolved by their overwhelming votes that the three outstanding Yoruba personalities have made unequalled contributions to the upliftment of the glory and grandeur of the Yoruba people.

Pollsters voted the sage and founder of the modern Yoruba nation, Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the Yoruba Man of the Century, and respectively listed the erudite playwright and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka as the Yoruba Man of the Year 2014, with Pastor TB Joshua as the outstanding Yoruba Man of the Decade.

A statement signed by the Editorial Board Chairman of Irohin Odua, Prince Babatunde Adeleke, added that “every generation brings forth, like a star never to dim, icons that stand tall like a colossus.”

The statement noted further that “the Yoruba has a long, cherished history. In the early part of the 9th Century, we had an organised system of government. By 10th century, the Yoruba already had a city state, Ile-Ife, which flourished through the golden ages. Our forebears exchanged trade with Europe and the Middle East, as far back as the 11th century.

“We are a proud nation that has produced icons over generations. We had produced men and women in peace and war time; icons in the field of trade and commerce. In the 18th century, spurred by technology and the art espoused in war, Ogedengbe, the Ekiti-Ijesha war general was invited to England for a state visit by the King of England,” the Board Chairman asserted.

Affirming that Pastor T.B Joshua had brought honour to his people, the Yoruba, perhaps, in measures inestimable, Prince Adeleke disclosed that, through tonnes of email correspondents sent to Irohin Odua, Pastor TB Joshua received commendations for his meritorious services to mankind.

He stated, “We see in his handiwork, a quiet revolution to transform the world in ways unimaginable. Since we blew the whistle for nomination, we have received incalculable, baffling testimonials from royals and ordinary street folks leading us to a hidden light in a dark, malicious world where the poor remain the dreg and the end butt of repression, neglect and perpetual want.”

The Board Chairman described Professor Soyinka as a “stainless steel and the most righteous of the living Yoruba faithful.”

Irohin Odua was established as the first pan-Yoruba news medium with an outreach of over half a million of mostly Yoruba people across the world.