The Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Sonny Kuku, says the Ojude Oba Festival has helped inspire development and strengthened unity among the Ijebu people.

Chief Kuku, who represented the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, at the 2026 edition of the festival in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, said he was pleased with the growth of the annual cultural celebration.

“It is very gratifying for me that what we started is getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” he told Channels Television.

According to him, the festival has become more than a cultural gathering, serving as a catalyst for development and social progress in Ijebuland.

“Ojude Oba has opened the eyes of the Ijebu people to the fact that we need to develop more. It has also opened our eyes to social welfare,” he said.

Kuku noted that the festival’s core purpose remains paying homage to the Awujale on the third day after Eid al-Kabir, while fostering unity among people of different faiths.

“It is a uniting factor. Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers come together and pay homage to one person,” he added.

Thousands of people from across Nigeria and the diaspora attended this year’s festival, the first since the death of Oba Adetona in 2025, celebrating the enduring legacy of the revered monarch and the spirit of unity that continues to define Ojude Oba. (Channels TV)