Osun State Governor, Asiwaju Ademola Jackson Adeleke, has assured the good people of Iba in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state of full government’s participation and support in the next edition of the celebration of the wave-making Oriki Yoruba Festival in December next year.
The governor’s endorsement is sequel to the celebration of the festival which took place with pageantry in Iba Town when Oba Eburu of Ibaland, Oba (Prof) Adekunle Adeogun -Okunoye Oyedeji led eminent dignitaries and culture enthusiasts from different walks of life to participate in the Yoruba cultural renaissance.
An array of distinguished Nigerians, home and diaspora, academics of no mean repute, frontline traditional rulers, culture connoisseurs, poetry chanters professionals and up-coming chanters, special adviser to the state governor on traditional matters Hon. Oloke Kehinde Alexander graced the occasion.
Obviously impressed by the rich content of this year’s offerings, they unequivocally stated that the festival resonated with the governor’s agenda of cultural reawakening reinvigoration and reorientation and would, henceforth, be adopted as the state government ‘s project.
Oba (Prof) Adekunle Adeogun -Okunoye Oyedeji, while welcoming the participants, reiterated his commitment to rejigging the fast-fading panegyrics which, in the day of yore, served as a medium of education, entertainment, socialisation and value reorientation, drawing a line between culture and religion.
Apparently, Iba is a gold mine waiting to be tapped but for government to reap abundantly, there is need for a massive infrastructural renewal and expeditious rehabilitation of the road networks.
This, the monarch stressed, would shore up the state of Omoluabi’s internally generated revenue.
The keynote speaker, Prof Olukoya Ogen the Director UNESCO Cultural Programmes, commended Eburu’s intervention through Oriki Yoruba Festival.
He enjoined the guests to take advantage of the paradigm shift, especially the traditional rulers, insisting that it was time to put an end to unnecessary supremacy battle and work assiduously towards impactful administration of their communities.
He also canvassed exploration of entrepreneurial dimension to the Yoruba culture by making it not only a medium of entertainment but also a sellable commodity.
Gone, he said, were the days Obas were always at the receiving ends but time to embrace what he called monarchical philantropism was now.
Oriki Yoruba Festival, in keeping with tradition, kicked off with the well-attended Mountaineering programme which climaxed with rendition of panegyrics, other side attractions as well as award presentation for notable figures in culture/academic arena, while outstanding chanters got monetary rewards.
The superlative performances signalled greater tomorrows so much that no force under the sun can extinguish the enviable Yoruba Culture and tradition and the cultural renaissance that the Oriki Festival would continue to exemplify in Ibaland.
