Eminent Nigerians Call for More Promotion of Culture, Tradition

Eminent traditional rulers, policymakers and culture enthusiasts in Nigeria have called for more and better promotion of cultural values and heritage, as a way of projecting the diversity of the nation.

The personalities, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed; Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Aare Onakankafo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, spoke, on Saturday, at the grand finale of the 2021 World Sango Festival.

The event, which was held at the Festival Arena, Aafin Oyo, Oyo State, attracted cultural enthusiasts, traditionalists and Sango devotees from different parts of Yorubaland, home and abroad.

While speaking, Oba Adeyemi said many people who have died are not remembered because they did not make any impact while alive, noting that Sango reigned as the Alaafin of Oyo for only seven years, yet he made an impact on his people that are remembered to date.

The first-class monarch commended the Federal Government for putting in place various departments and agencies, among other things, to promote culture and tradition, as culture is about the way of life, attitude and relationship of people with others, noting that the celebration of the festival is a way of preserving the culture of the forefathers.

In his remarks, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, who was represented at the occasion by the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Rusewe, said the cultural heritage of the people need to be promoted through the numerous traditional festivals which abound in various communities, commending Oba Adeyemi for sustaining the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people through its promotion.

He described the annual Sango festival as a befitting cultural heritage in the history of Yorubaland, adding that Oba Adeyemi is an embodiment of knowledge who has been a good ambassador of the Yoruba culture across the globe.

Iba Gani Adams, on his part, stated that the Sango festival is a well-recognised cultural festival in Africa and the entire world, explaining that the celebration of the Sango festival is a generational festival that has been practiced for decades.

He urged the Yoruba people to embrace their cultural heritage, irrespective of their religious beliefs and charged traditional rulers,  as the custodians of culture and traditions in Yorubaland, to do more in promoting the culture of the people.

Adams further spoke of the economic benefits attached to the celebration of festivals, such as the Sango festival, noting that the Sango festival celebration would definitely boost the economic activities in the ancient town and the state at large.

The governors of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello and Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, who sent representatives to the occasion, also agreed that the promotion and development of cultural heritage are important for Nigerians.

Fayemi, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Culture and Tourism, Wale Ojo-Lanre, urged Nigerians, especially the Yoruba race, to embrace their culture and not let religious sentiments erode it, saying cultural promotion would unify and enhance the harmonious coexistence of the people.

On his part, Governor Bello, who was represented by Abdulmumin Okara, his Special Adviser on Agriculture, congratulated the people of Oyo Town for the successful celebration of the 2021 Sango festival.

He reaffirmed his commitment to supporting all activities that would promote the unity and oneness of the people of Nigeria and urged all Nigerians to keep on doing things that would sustain the harmonious and peaceful coexistence of all in the nation.

Nnenna.O