By Chris Onuoha
Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has urged Osun youths to embrace hard work, resilience, and perseverance as the path to success, while shunning laziness and criminality.
He made this charge while receiving Abidemi Praise Omopariola, an Erinmo-born visual artist and the newest Guinness World Record holder in portrait painting, at his office in Osogbo.
She was accompanied by His Royal Majesty, Oba Michael Odunayo Ajayi, Arowotawaya II, Elerinmo of Erinmo-Ijesa, and others.
Governor Adeleke commended Omopariola’s remarkable achievement, praising her for bringing glory to Osun State and Nigeria. He encouraged her to keep making the state proud on the global stage and charged Osun youths to emulate her resilient spirit, fighting spirit, and rejection of life’s shortcuts.
The Elerinmo had led the entourage to the governor’s office following a courtesy visit to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
In a joyous mood, the monarch described the event as a celebration of an Erinmo indigene who has elevated their community and Osun State. “As part of activities to honour our distinguished daughter, I led Guinness World Record holder Abidemi Praise Omopariola on a courtesy visit to Governor Senator Nurudeen Jackson Ademola Adeleke,” he said.
“It was a remarkable day of celebration, recognition, and inspiration, a reminder that excellence, determination, and resilience can elevate individuals from local communities to global prominence.
The entourage included Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security Babatola Faseru (Otunba Bobagbimo of Erinmo Land), Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) Osun State Chapter, Comrade Akinbode Olakolupo Oluwasegun, and members of the Elerinmo palace cabinet.
The group received a warm reception from the governor, joined by senior cabinet members including the Head of Service, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Commissioner for Information, special advisers, and Osun Tourism Board officials.
Abidemi Praise Omopariola, a UK-based Erinmo indigene, expressed gratitude to the governor for his commitment to Osun’s development. She shared her journey into portrait drawing, revealing how personal trauma led her to art as a healing tool. “See art and creativity as powerful ways to overcome trauma and find purpose,” she encouraged those present.
Omopariola set the record with an extraordinary 90 hours of continuous portrait painting.
