The 2025 Ojude Oba Festival will be used as a rallying point to demand the long-awaited Ijebu State creation, with the capital in Ijebu-Ode.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Ojude Oba Festival Organising Committee, Chief Olu Okuboyejo, at a briefing at Awujale?s palace, Ijebu Ode, on Monday.

Okuboyejo, represented by the coordinator of the festival, Dr. Fassy Yusuff, said the demand for Ijebu State creation had reached the crescendo, calling for all hands to be on deck.

?We are most probably aware of the persistent clamour for the long overdue creation of Ijebu State, with the capital in Ijebu Ode.

?Ijebu remains the only oldest province yet to be transformed into a state, aside from its strategic location, land mass, population, accessibility, peacefulness, hospitality and rich cultural heritage that has always singled us out amongst the crowd.

?With the ongoing smooth and unbiased legislative processes almost reaching its peak, it is our fervent hope and collective desire that the Ijebu State of our dream with its capital in Ijebu Ode shall come to fruition.

?Just like we have done in the past, the voices of Ijebu through our various cultural organs like the Regberegbe, Baloguns and Eleshins, Egbe Olojas and other traditional institutions will again be echoed at the 2025 Ojude Oba Festival.

?The caption shall be the creation of the long overdue Ijebu State with Ijebu Ode as capital,? Okuboyejo said.

He said the annual cultural festival would attract about two million guests and tourists to Ijebu land, with an average of about 200 million watching the event globally through live streaming.

He said the theme of the festival, ?Ojude Oba: Celebrating Our Roots, Preserving Our Future, hinged on the unwavering focus of the Ijebu on their rich cultural heritage.

Okuboyejo said the festival had its roots in the advent of Islam in Ijebu land, adding that the reigning monarch at that time prevailed on his subjects to allow for the adherents of the new religion (Islam) to practice it without any hindrance.

Okuboyejo said to appreciate the monarch?s kindness, Muslims, on the third day after the celebration of the Eid-el-Kabir, would come out to pay homage to him.

The 2025 organising committee chairman said that over the past years, the tradition blossomed into the Ojude Oba festival which, he said, had been widely embraced not only by Ijebu at home and in the diaspora but also by millions of people within and outside Nigeria.

He described the festival as the gift of the Ijebu nation to Nigeria and the rest of the world, being an outstanding model in religious tolerance, co-existence and harmony.

He announced that the 2025 edition would, barring a change, be held on Sunday, June 8, 2025, subject to the sighting of the moon.

Okuboyejo said the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, would unveil a unique leader as the special guest of honour to do justice to the festival.

Other dignitaries expected at the festival were Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and his wife, Bamidele Abiodun, and the Minister of Arts, CuIture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, among others.

The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Sesan Fagbayi, hailed the festival as a beacon of cultural rejuvenation promoting unity and harmony, adding that the government would make this year?s edition another memorable experience. (The PUNCH)

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