Everything good that has a beginning must have an end.
This aptly describes the 2015 Olokun Festival, which theme was: “Traditional festival and the prospects of cultural dividends.”
It kicked off on October 1, with prayers to Almighty God at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja and ended with the grand finale on October 22 at the Suntan Beach, Badagry, Lagos State.
The festival kicked off with Prayer to Almighty God at Lagos Airport Hotel as a way of committing the 11 days event to God’s hand.
A press conference was held at the White House Hotel in Ikeja to highlight the programme of event, while the art exhibition came up at the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization, also in Lagos.
The next event was the Yoruba quiz competition, where students from various schools displayed their understanding of the Yoruba culture to the admiration of guests and participants.
The Army Children Senior High School, Ikeja Military Cantonment emerged as the winner, while the State Senior Secondary School, GRA, Ikeja came second and Estate Senior Grammar School, Ilupeju, Oshodi came third.
Also, Onayemi Olamide, an undergraduate of Babcock University, defeated 14 contestants to emerge as winner of the Olokun beauty pageant 2015 and won a car and money.
Other events that took place included Beach soccer, Boat regatta, Ayo Olopon and Olosa gala night at Badagry.
During the festival lecture, Dr. Enomhen Sylvester, a Senior Lecturer at the Lagos State University, Ojo and guest speaker, whose lecture was titled: “Cultural heritage and modernity in Nigeria,” said culture was the way of life of our people.
Sylvester said “culture was held in high esteem in Africa” and it was people’s ways of life.
He urged the youths to understand their cultural practices and ensure that they abide by then.
The Founder of the Olokun Festival and Oodua People’s Congress, Gani Adams, said the lecture was designed to educate people about the various advantages culture can confer on the desire for development.
Adams added: “It will also to help identify and highlight the challenges Nigeria’s cultural development faces in modern time.
“Our choice of theme is also informed by the need to direct our common consciousness to the positive and negative impacts modernity, civilisation continue to have on our culture.”
The Festival Foundation quiz competition was won by Army Senior High School, Ikeja.
The first runner-up was State High School, Ikeja and the second runner-up was Estate Senior Grammar School.
They went home with N70,000, N50,000 and N30,000 respectively and the questions centred on consonants, syllable and Yoruba numerical systems.
Other schools that participated in the competition were Ilupeju Senior Secondary School, Bolade Senior High School, State High School and Community Senior Secondary School.
During the meeting between 75 traditional rulers from the South West and Republic of Benin at the Olosa gala night of the Olokun Festival, Adams urged them to protect the culture and tradition of the land and not neglect it because of politics or monetary gains, adding: “This act has made some people to disrespect some traditional rulers while some of them have been dragged to court.
“Festivals belong to the traditional rulers in Yorubaland because it is your responsibility to lift the culture and tradition high in the land.
“You as the custodian of culture and tradition should not throw it away because of politics.”
Oba Ganiyu Adekunle, the Aseyin of Iseyin, urged traditional rulers to take heed of Adams’ advice.
Oba Adekunle also urged his colleagues to follow the prescription of Adams not to relent in their efforts to uplift the culture and tradition of the people.
The representative of the Akran of Badagry, High Chief A. Agoloto, revealed that the continuous celebration of Olokun Festival in Badagry by Adams has brought about many good things to the people of Badagry.
Such, the Akran said, included being the citing of the largest sea port in Africa in Badagry, the discovery of petroleum products and gas in about five places, which will last for more than 160 years.
At the grand finale, Adams, the Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation and Oodua Progressive Union in Europe, said the culture of religious observances and traditional festival celebrations hold a pride of place and are held sacrosanct by the Yoruba people.
He said: “Among our people, the respect for deities are anchored on the belief that their importance permeates all facets of the religious rites of the Yoruba.
“Likewise, the veneration of these deities through festivals call for our attention to their significance in sustaining unity, peace and prosperity in our communities.”
Talking about the Olokun Festival, Adams, who has been promoting Yoruba culture, said: “Olokun is derived from oni-okun (the owner of the sea).
“Olokun is the sea-god or ‘lord of the sea’.
“Olokun is the chief god not only for fishermen and everyone whose livelihood is eked from the sea, he is the principal deity of everyone that lives close to the sea.
“He is the Orisha entrusted with the care of the sea, which is a major source of water and economic survival for mankind.
“Part of the reasons we celebrate this festival is the name, Olokun, which is universal.
“In Edo language, Olokun is Olokun, while in Urhoboland, particularly Okpe, Olokun is Olukun.
“Among the Igbos, Olokun is Mmuo Mmili or Eze nwaanyi Mmili.
“It is Ndem Mmo among the Efik and the Ibibio, while in Gaa language in Ghana, it is Farr Ingmo.
“Beyond Africa, Olokun festival is celebrated in the Diaspora and it is among the belief treasures of the Yoruba that survived among the descendants of enslaved Africans in the Americas.”
On the theme of the festival, Adams reiterated that cultural and religious tourism can augment and provide alternative source of revenue for our economy because Nigeria is blessed with abundant resources.
Part of these resources are our religious and cultural festivals, which are capable of drawing tourists, which in turn would translate into attracting the foreign exchange required for economic growth and development.
The Dean of Arts, University of Lagos, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, in his lecture on the theme, noted that festivals are mostly celebrated to propagate the cultural heritage of a people and they come in various forms.
Falaiye said: “When a festival is a national one, it aims to imbue in citizens of that country the spirit of patriotism and solidarity.
“When it is religious, it promotes amongst the diverse adherents of that religion a feeling of brotherhood and universal affiliation relative to the other world.
“Festivals could be international when they express the commonness of humanity through the promotion of existential ideals.
“In the celebration of any of these festivals, interpersonal barriers and structures imposed by existential divides as well as the rules and norms of everyday life are suspended.”
The university don quipped that festivals, irrespective of their kind, are meaning-creating events.
Falaiye said: “They are social points where openness of mind and representation of the world are evident.
“They enable people reach out to, and appreciate, their history, by making them appraise their past and see how it affects their present, manage their past through critical reflection and visionary action, and thereby prepare them for their future.”
The Director General of CBAAC, Sir Ferdinand Anikwe, said: I am a great lover of the Yoruba culture and what Gani Adams has started other Nigerians should emulate him.
“It is good that when you attend other carnivals in the world, you would observe that those carnivals took off from Nigeria.”
The DG commended Adams for playing a role in the cultural sector in the country and that he should extend the culture to other ethnic groups in the country.
Anikwe said: “We have beaten the white man in our culture and we must continue to do it.
“We are trying to lead the world through our culture and our best is yet to come because culture will improve the Gross Domestic Product of the country.”
Also, the DG of the Nigerian Tourism Development Commission, Sally Mbanefo, added that culture contributes to the GDP of any country and tourism is the greatest employer of labour.
Mbanefo said: “Festivals like Sango festival is celebrated in over 40 countries in the world and Yoruba culture has been exported to other countries in the world.
“Let us not forget our language and whereever we find ourselves, parents should teach their children their language because it is their cultural heritage.
“A country without a culture is a country that has no history.”
Theatre groups such as Theatre Centrik, Oodua Cultural Troupe and Ajangbodi cultural troupe from Badagry thrilled the audience with their cultural dances, while Wasiu Alabi, popularly known as Pasuma, thrilled guests with his songs.
Guests in attendance included Oba Joseph Adeoye, Owa Ajero of Ijero kingdom; Oba Ganiyu Adekunle, Aseyin of Iseyin; Oba Yisa Olanipekun, Zaki of Arigidi Akoko; over 70 other Obas from Nigeria and Benin Republic; Ambassador Yomi Fash Lanso; Chief Victor Mobolaji Adewale, Deputy Coordinator, OPU Europe; other representatives of OPU worldwide; Maria Rodrigo from Spain; Iyanifa Ifatoun Marla from Brazil; more than 30 Arewa Youth Consultative Forum members; the Igbo Community in Lagos; and Badagry council of chiefs.