Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr) Sikiru Adetona, has announced the cancellation of 2021 edition of annual Ojude Oba Festival scheduled to hold next week after Eid-el Kabir celebration.
In a statement released on Thursday and signed by the coordinator of the festival and Baagbimo of Ijebu, Chief Fassy Yusuf, the monarch attributed the cancellation of the annual fiesta to the detection of deadly COVID-19 Delta variant in Nigeria “and the negligible number of people that had taken the anti-COVID 19 vaccine”.
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The statement titled, ‘2021 Ojude Oba Festival Cancelled’, partly reads;
Rather than expose peoples who will converge in Ijebu Ode from all over the world to participate in the ancient and unique socio-cultural and religious festival of the Ijebu nation, with its parade of traditional-age groups and the spectacular durbar with unsurpassable equestrian display, to avoidable and preventable health hazards, the monarch directed that the 2021 edition be cancelled.
This is the second time in its known history of more than one Century that the festival that unites Muslims, Christians, and adherents of other faiths will be cancelled. The Ojude Oba Festival is normally held two days after the Eid-el Kabir (Ileya).
The monarch, however, thanked his subjects for the peace and progress in Ijebuland and prayed for more economic and social prosperity.
Oba Adetona further charged his subjects as well as visitors to Ijebuland “to ensure they wear their nose masks, wash their hands regularly with soap, keep social and physical distances at public places, get vaccinated against the pandemic, and adhere to other medical protocols as directed by the federal, state, and local government authorities”.
He also prayed for the return of peace and prosperity to all troubled areas of Nigeria.
The Awujale thanked all the sponsors of the festival for the mutually beneficial partnerships that have ensured the unparalleled success of the annual festival in the past, while also hoping that the 2022 edition would be a reality.
He further thanked his subjects for their unflinching love, affection, loyalty, and solidarity in his 61 years on the throne as Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland.
The monarch expressed regrets that COVID-19 would not allow him to host his usual guests and visitors, but assured all that he is in high spirit and will be celebrating Eid-el Kabir with his family and very few others as dictated by medical protocols.
Oba Adetona prayed for the return of peace and prosperity to all troubled areas of our great and beloved country, Nigeria.
Ojude Oba Festival is one of the biggest culture fiestas celebrated in the South-West region, attracting top multinationals as sponsors with culture enthusiasts attending from different parts of the world.
