(OPINION) Olokun Festival Foundation and the need to promote Yoruba cultural identity

By Kehinde Aderemi

When Olokun Festival Foundation was established in 2002, the intention was to have an organisation that will promote Yoruba cultural identity.

Today, the culture promotion outfit is fulfilling its purpose and the tide is changing gradually across Yoruba land.

Yes, Olokun Festival Foundation came on board at a time when Yoruba culture, tradition, and heritage were going into extinction.

It came to rescue the situation and bring about a new lease of life and a better approach to sustaining what the Yoruba had lost in terms of its culture, tradition and heritage.

Olokun Festival Foundation’s success story is not a flash in the pan, it is largely due to the vision and efforts of the visionary leader, Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation and  Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, whose vision brought back those lost values and heritages of the Yoruba race.

So, since its inception in 2022, OFF has been a major player in the promotion of Yoruba cultural festivals.

The foundation, under the amiable leadership of Iba Gani Adams has been promoting over 22 festivals annually across the South-West of Nigeria.

It has also provided the platform for the promotion of Yoruba culture and tradition using various cultural fiestas to champion the cause of cultural rebirth.

Not long ago, Brazil adopted the Yoruba language as one of the official languages.

It is interesting to note that in the future, other South American countries are still going to join in spreading the Yoruba cultural values and identity to the global community.

This is a major achievement for lba Gani Adams, the Olokun Festival Foundation and other Yoruba culture promoters that have been championing this cause.

It goes on to tell us that even if the Yoruba didn’t appreciate what they have, prominent countries in South America appreciate what God had endowed us with in Yoruba land.

Last month, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, was in Brazil to inaugurate the annual African Traditional Religion day.

The first-ever National Orisa Day in the South American country was a major breakthrough in a foreign land that also had the backing of the law.

Apart from this, the foremost Yoruba monarch officially presented a Certificate of Yoruba Territory to Quilombola territory in Brazil, making the city the first outside Africa to receive the title.

This has always been the dream of the Olokun Festival Foundation.

It is the dream of the foundation to spread the gospel of Yoruba culture and tradition across the globe.

It has always been the vision of the OFF to bridge the gap between  Yoruba race and the rest of the world through cultural integration and globalizing Yoruba culture in the diaspora.

It has always been the mandate of the foundation to celebrate Yoruba cultural festivals across the South-west region and even beyond.

Over the years, Olokun Festival Foundation has been celebrating over 28 festivals across the South-west.

These festivals include Olokun Festival in Badagry, Lagos State, Olumo Festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Oke’badan Festival in Ibadan, Oyo State, Osun Osogbo festival in Osun State and Okota Festival in Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State.

Others are the Grandmothers festival, Eledumare Festival and Odo-Erelu Festival which is celebrated annually at different locations in Lagos.

Not resting on its oars, the Olokun Festival Foundation cultural revolution train had travelled from Lagos to Oyo, to Ogun, to Osun, to Ekiti, and Ondo states preaching the gospel of cultural reawakening.

Happily, the success recorded by Olokun Festival Foundation is as a result of the consistent efforts of the Oodua People’s Congress under the leadership of Aare Gani Adams that uses the foundation as a vehicle to drive the vision of the organization.

With the past records of successes spanning the years, I think it is worthy to appreciate the gesture of the leadership of the foundation for trailing the blaze without giving in to the obvious challenges.

Recently, the OPC through the Olokun Festival Foundation began a 21-day programme in celebration of the annual Eledumare Festival.

This year’s Eledumare Festival was the 11th edition packaged with various daily activities that lasted for the whole of the 21 days.

These programmes include prayer to Almighty God, a Fashion Show, humanitarian services like a visit to the motherless baby homes, a widow’s empowerment programme, sports competitions like Taekwondo, table tennis, football, Ayo Olopon, boxing, photo exhibition, harvest of praise.

It is instructive to note that the “Prayer to Almighty God” was a religious encounter that was organized by the OPC to sustain the spiritual bond between the Yoruba socio-cultural organization and God.

The “Harvest of Praise” was another spiritual event that showcases the OPC’s liberalism in religious affairs.

Apart from this, the OPC had, for more than two decades, been organizing the Ramadan lecture annually to take care of the ideals of their Muslim members.

So, for Olokun Festival Foundation, it is all about promoting the cause of Yoruba cultural renaissance.

If a country like Brazil can support the lofty idea of sustaining Yoruba culture and tradition, it is a great challenge for all the South-West governors to rise from their slumber and look inwards and see how they can support the Olokun Festival Foundation and other culture enthusiasts in championing this cause of Yoruba socio-cultural rebirth.

Let me say it for emphasis that cultural transformation is a project for a prosperous Yoruba land.

And it shouldn’t be the only burden of OFF. Both the government and the corporate organizations in the South-West must be involved in the promotion of Yoruba culture and tradition.

.Aderemi writes from Lagos