Gov. Dapo Abiodun on Friday in Ijebu-Ode said the state government was going to explore having a state-wide festival that would help enhance the state’s overall growth.
Abiodun, while speaking at the 2023 Ojude Oba festival, said the annual festival has been a beautiful experience and a historic event of global reckoning.
”This is why we are going to look at having a state-owned festival like this which will bring overall growth to the state,” he said.
The governor stated that the Ojude Oba festival had helped to enhance the cultural values of Ijebu people, saying it was a unifying factor in the entire Ijebuland.
“It is an opportunity to display our hospitality to the world. It promotes our tourism sector.”
Abiodun went on to promise to continue to ensure that dividends of democracy get to all the nooks and crannies of the state.
He also called on the people of the state to give maximum support to President Bola Tinubu, saying he had started on a good note with the programmes initiated so far.
In his speech, the festival’s Special Guest of Honour, Dr. Clement Okeowo, the Chairman, Gibraltar Construction Company, noted that Ijebu people were known for promoting culture and also being industrious.
He used the occasion to call on the Federal government to fix the remaining portion of the Sagamu-Benin expressway, and particularly the Sagamu-Ijebu Ode axis.
Speaking also, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe , the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), noted that the Ojude Oba festival remained a boost to tourism development in Nigeria.
He explained that the festival has remained a brand for the Ijebu people both home and abroad, saying that it has continued to bring development and growth to the Ijebu community.
