Why we will continue to participate in Twins festival —Twins

Recently, twins from all over Yoruba land converged in Igboora for the maiden edition of the Twins festival, weeks after, the euphoria is yet to abate in the sleepy town. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that many of the twins are eagerly awaiting the next edition of the festival.

Twin birth is celebrated all over Yoruba land and it is a part of the culture of the people. But when the Oyo state government gathered over 2034 set of twins together few weeks back for the maiden celebration of the Twins festival, many believe that it would be a one of a kind that will die a natural death. This however seems not to be the case as few weeks after, some of the twins that participated in the festival are still basking in the euphoria and have expressed their readiness to participate in the next edition of the programme.

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For them, the celebration cannot end and the recognition bestowed on them by the government especially on Igboora town which is now described as a pilgrimage ground for twins is one that has made it important for them to ensure the sustenance of the festival.

They do not believe they are being deified as a school of thought believes, according to them, “we are not being treated as gods, multiple births is a special grace that even science only makes an effort to explain. We are special and being recognized for this is not being turned into a god.

“Celebrating twins is a part of our culture as Yoruba people; it is a tradition that was passed from generation to generation based on the position given twins as special gifts from God. The celebration by the state government is a reinforcement of the fact that twins are still viewed as gifts from the almighty. We are not deities, we are special beings and for this recognition, many of us will continue to take part in this celebration,” Taiwo and Kehinde Awojobi told Nigerian Tribune.

On their part, the twin ambassadors for the festival, Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye in a joint interview with Nigerian tribune stated that the event should have started long before now as other nations with fewer twins had cashed in on the project. They lauded the Oyo state government for partnering with the people to make things work.

“This is one of the ways that destination can sell, we initiated this programme ten years ago and we know the potential is there for Oyo state to market this tourism programme; that is what is called twins tourism, twins can drive tourism anywhere in the world, we have gone to China, to the United States, we have cut across four continents and they have all developed their twins festival, why can’t we develop for our own nation? Igboora has the highest concentration of twins in the world.

“How can we sell Igboora to the world, we can use the twin factor; let people experience the environment, diet as well as genetic composition. It can solve the infertility problem in the world. This is a unique event which Oyo state just started in projecting the multiple births to the whole world and I promise that in the next five years there will be transformation in this town, the economic value will grow beyond our imagination.

“Next year, we are targeting 10, 000 set of twins for the festival, we are invited to china annually and their government gathers a thousand twins for the festival, we have much more than that in Igboora alone and we have a partnership with the Guinness book of records. This is unique; it is a tourism activity that will develop the state and the twins themselves, we will bring out talents and allow networking among twins, here they will get mentors among elder twins in different fields to help their lives because twins have an affinity for themselves,” they stated.

Nigerian Tribune spoke with many twins and their parents and though many linked the births to the soup (ilasa) and the tubers they eat, some think it is just God’s blessing as they eat same food but do not have twins though they desire it. Wasilat and Habibat Taiwo are examples of such, the identical twin sisters have no twins but their parents are twins.

“Our parents and grandparents are twins. In fact, we are the second set of twins for our parents and all our siblings have twins but we do not have. We ate same food our parents and everybody in this community eats but we don’t have twins and we don’t know why because we have plenty of twins in our family; we are what you can call the exception. We desire twins but we don’t have any. So we think God just gives who he likes,” they said.

Speaking on the festival, “we are glad to be part of this, it is a thing of joy that this is happening and we will always be part of this festival anytime it comes up.”

Niniola Surajat on her own part is not a twin but she has two set of twins as children. For her, I don’t know what is responsible, God just gave me because though my parents are twins, I am not and I do not eat different food from others. Though I think the diet may be part of the reason, I think God just gives us multiple births here in our community. And as a mother of twins, I will always ensure the come for this festival, it is not only to celebrate themselves but to thank God for making them wonderful gifts and also to learn from their peers that are doing well in the world. I can see twins that are graduates, I want them to see such and emulate them,” she explained.

Twin students also express their enjoyment of the festival. Some students from The Royal Master School in Lagos had a chance to participate in the event. There were two pair of twins among the students and they were inquisitive to learn what the festival is about.

The first set, a boy and a girl, Gloria and Benjamin Kio from Rivers state spoke with Nigerian Tribune. Benjamin described their relationship as twins of different gender as sweet and sour while Gloria described him as overprotective which other students confirm as he is said to send away any boy that stands close to his sister. Another set is Favour and Faith Ezumah who are each other’s best friend but stated that they are usually mistaken for each other.

But for all of them, the festival is one they will like to participate in every time it comes up. And with this determination, Igboora community in Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of Oyo state will annually come alive as twins gather to celebrate themselves and network.