The Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) has said that the annual Olokun Festival shall in the near future become a major tourist attraction for international tourists and a major boost to the sustainable development of tourism in the country, calling on corporate organisations and Nigerians in general to join hands with it in promoting Yoruba traditions and culture.
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams-led OFF, the umbrella body of more than 20 traditional festivals, established in 2005, has consistently organised more than 20 cultural and traditional festivals every year in the country.
Barrister Yinka Oguntimehin, who is chairman of the 2024 edition of the Olokun Festival, said this on Tuesday at a media briefing that took place at the Oodua House, Ikeja, in preparations for a week-long event expected to attract over 20,000 participants and guests from across the world.
The event, which will fully commence on October 15, 2024, with a prayer to Almighty God at Oodua House, Ikeja, among others, will end with the grand finale held on October 22, 2024.
Speaking on the festival, Oguntimehin, who is also the Asoju Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, said the annual event, which commenced in 2002, with this year’s being the 22nd edition, had been successfully organised without any break since then after the first and second editions, which were held at the Alpha Beach, before being permanently moved to Badagry.
He said OFF embarked on the journey to organise the annual event at a time when it observed that the Yoruba race was losing touch with its culture and traditions, declaring that the successes recorded through the festival, which he said is spiritual “with a basketful of blessings,” were “beyond the funfair that you see and enjoy at the grand finale.”
“This year marks the 22nd edition of the Olokun Festival. It may interest you to note that we have successfully organised the festival without any break since 2002, after the first edition, which was held at Alpha Beach.
“We embarked on the journey at a time when we observed that the Yoruba race was losing touch with their culture and traditions.
“The Olokun Festival has recorded unprecedented successes in the last 22 years. It is, therefore, a thing of joy that we are seeing many other pseudo-groups following in our footsteps. But we have set a standard that is difficult to meet, if not impossible, in cultural festival celebrations that spread across the length and breadth of Yorubaland.
“The Olokun Festival Foundation is indisputably the only non-governmental organisation in the country that has consistently organised more than 20 cultural and traditional festivals every year. It is important to note that we have achieved this feat without the support of any outside or corporate organisation.
“We envisage that the annual Olokun Festival organised by the Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) shall become a major tourist attraction for international tourists in the near future. It will be a major boost to the sustainable development of tourism in Nigeria.
“Let me, however, use this opportunity to extend an open invitation to members of the general public or corporate organisation that may be disposed to joining hands with us in this beautiful journey of cultural promotion. Our doors are open to you all,” he said.
“Twenty-two years after we began the journey, the Olokun Festival has grown in leaps and bounds to attain international status. The festival has truly attained global status, attracting tourists from across the globe every year. Today, cultural enthusiasts from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas look forward to attending the Olokun Festival.
“The reason for this is not too far-fetched. The Olokun Festival is beyond the funfair that you see and enjoy at the grand finale. Olokun is a spiritual festival with a basketful of blessings for its deities and all attendees of the festival,” he added.
Oguntimehin, while speaking on nature, which he said God created for the benefit of humanity and, therefore, the need to “make serious effort as humans not to destroy nature on the platter of religion or greed,” noted that Lagos State is perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of this gift of nature in Nigeria.
According to him, the major advantage enjoyed by the state today is the fact that it is surrounded by water, which most people might be ignorant of, saying that the state was so blessed that it has access to both the lagoon and the ocean, while “only a few cities in the world are as blessed as Lagos.”
“The state is enjoying double blessings from both Olokun and Olosa, the deities that control the seas.
“Without mincing words, we are proud to say that we have benefitted immensely from our relationship with Olokun. Like I said earlier, we have grown, and we continue to grow. The records speak for themselves.
“We are particularly happy today that Olokun has given us an image that is globally recognised. The Olokun Festival Foundation has become synonymous with highly reputed traditional Yoruba festivals spread across Yorubaland. It is indeed a good thing to be so recognised by the global community.
“And for this year, in what has become the tradition to kick off all our activities with prayers to the almighty, we shall begin the 2024 edition of the Olokun Festival with Prayers to the Almighty on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at the Oodua House here. The prayers will be conducted in the three main religions, namely traditional, Islam, and Christianity,” Oguntimehin said.
“For this year, as I stated above, the deity has mandated its devotees to gather for a vigil between 1 am and 3 am on the eve of the grand finale. There will also be special prayers for Yorubaland by Olokun at 10 am.
“This year, the OFF has decided to get more of the indigenous communities in and around Badagry more involved as participants. In doing this, plans are in place to organise the logistics of bringing them to the grand finale,” he added.
Oguntimehin said this year’s Olokun Festival will feature a fashion show, a beauty pageant, a boat regatta, an Olosa gala night, Ayo Olopon at Sultan Beach, a visit to Oba Akran of Badagry, and a spiritual prayer with Olokun deity, among others.
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