0
0
By Sola Rotimi
Indigenes of Ogori resident in Kwara State gathered on Sunday to celebrate the annual Idu New Yam Festival, organised by the Ilorin Branch of the Ogori Descendants’ Union (ODU).
Community leaders used the occasion to reaffirm that traditional cultural celebrations do not conflict with modern religious faiths, describing cultural preservation as an essential identity marker that transcends religious affiliations.
Addressing misconceptions surrounding traditional rites and contemporary religious practices, the Chairman of the Union, Elder Emmanuel Ajikambi, emphasised that the Idu festival and related cultural events are strictly social heritages.
”We are simply preserving a heritage passed down to us by our ancestors,” Elder Ajikambi said. “Even in foreign countries, people preserve their culture. The English people who brought Christianity to our country still have their own culture; they did not wipe it away because they became Christians. Both Christians and Muslims in our community love and participate in this celebration because it is not prohibited.”
Highlighting the social structure of the event, Union member Mrs Catherine Muhammed explained that women play a central role in the festival, adding that beyond preparing the newly harvested yams, women extend hospitality to both indigenes and non-indigenes as a means of fostering communal unity.
Prof. Benjamin Olubolaji, a professor of medicine specialising in anaesthesia at the University of Ilorin and the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, noted that cultural festivals serve as vital bridges for unity and intergenerational knowledge transfer across the diaspora.
He explained that ODU branches in Lagos, Abuja, Lokoja, and other parts of the country actively celebrate the festival annually to keep young people connected to their roots.
”Whenever Ogori people gather across the nation, they celebrate this festival annually,” Prof. Olubolaji said. “When we do this on an annual basis, the culture is passed from generation to generation. Just as Ovia Osese has gained international recognition, efforts should also be made to internationalise the Idu festival so it reaches a global audience.”
He added that following the Idu New Yam Festival, the community also prepares for Ovia Osese, a traditional rite that initiates young girls into womanhood, emphasising that these practices form the bedrock of Ogori’s social fabric.
Echoing these sentiments, youth member Mr Daniel Angwi stressed that cultural traditions carry moral and ancestral values that keep communities grounded regardless of time.
”He who forgets his source will surely dry up,” Angwi said. “The value and lessons learned from this culture are not something we can do away with.”
The event featured traditional dance and music, culinary exhibitions of newly harvested yams prepared by Ogori women, and a communal feast open to all attendees.
