Post by dansoye1 on Dec 12, 2015 13:23:59 GMT
Olokun Festival Foundation Will Continue To Promote Culture And Heritage –Gani Adams
Posted on Dec 12 2015
CHIEF promoter of Yoruba culture and founder of Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF), Gani Adams, has promised that his organisation will continue to celebrate and promote the Yoruba culture. He made this known during the Oya festival, which held at Ira Grammar School, Ira, Kwara State, at the weekend.
“What we are doing today is to celebrate the annual Oya festival which is not a jamboree but a celebration of Yoruba tradition and cultural values that are dear to us,” he said.
Gani Adams, also the convener of Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), described Oya Akanbi in Yoruba history and cosmology as a virtuous woman and wife of Sango, the god of Thunder. Oya was born in Ira, a popular town near Offa, Kwara State and as a river goddess, River Niger (Odo Oya) in the northern part of Nigeria, which belongs to her.
“In Brazil, Oya is known as Yansa, while, all over the world, she is known as the beauty queen of the cemetery, who is passionate, fierce and an agent of change. She is determined, disciplined and a powerful woman who also controls the wind and lightening, just like her husband, Sango.” He added further that “the Oya, which we celebrate today, in her lifetime was the best thing that could happen to any man because she gave her all to her husband. She was a powerful woman, known in Yoruba parlance as ‘Obirin bi Okunrin’, which means a woman like a man. As a mother, Oya remains the mother of all. She was a mother to all her nine children including Egungun and her four-sets of twins.
As a custodian of morality, she also gives succour to all adherents by giving them the desires of their hearts and protecting them from danger. Oya was independent, unpredictable, fierce and beautiful. She was a role model with great qualities and characteristics.”
The benefits derived from the celebration of Oya and other festivals in the country, he said, included spiritual, economic, social and political. Guest speaker from the Department of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Prof. Ayo Akinwale, in his lecture, “Culture and the Traditional Beliefs of the Yorubas: Where are We?”, described culture as something that is to be learnt from one generation to another.
The academic added that, in preserving our culture, it was important for all communities to sponsor major traditional festivals within their communities. He commended the Olokun Festival Foundation for organising various festivals in the country and that their efforts will be sustained, which will not be a waste of time at the end of the day.
“Major festivals in each community should be treated like what other tribes do to their festivals, which is an opportunity for all sons and daughters to come home to celebrate with their people. Also, during festivals, funds are raised for the growth and development of the community, which allows members of a town know themselves and live in harmony,” he stressed.
Dignitaries who graced the occasion included Oba Abdul Wahab Oyewole Oyetoro, the Onira of Ira land; Oba Joseph Moronfoye Okunola, the Onigbaye of Igbaye; Chief Executive Officer of Ibuoye group of companies, Ibraheem Ibuoye, among others. Oodua Cultural Troupe and their counterparts from Kwara State, as well as up-and-coming musicians thrilled guests with cultural displays.
www.kwaranews.com/olokun-festival-foundation-will-continue-to-promote-culture-and-heritage-gani-adams/
Posted on Dec 12 2015
CHIEF promoter of Yoruba culture and founder of Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF), Gani Adams, has promised that his organisation will continue to celebrate and promote the Yoruba culture. He made this known during the Oya festival, which held at Ira Grammar School, Ira, Kwara State, at the weekend.
“What we are doing today is to celebrate the annual Oya festival which is not a jamboree but a celebration of Yoruba tradition and cultural values that are dear to us,” he said.
Gani Adams, also the convener of Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), described Oya Akanbi in Yoruba history and cosmology as a virtuous woman and wife of Sango, the god of Thunder. Oya was born in Ira, a popular town near Offa, Kwara State and as a river goddess, River Niger (Odo Oya) in the northern part of Nigeria, which belongs to her.
“In Brazil, Oya is known as Yansa, while, all over the world, she is known as the beauty queen of the cemetery, who is passionate, fierce and an agent of change. She is determined, disciplined and a powerful woman who also controls the wind and lightening, just like her husband, Sango.” He added further that “the Oya, which we celebrate today, in her lifetime was the best thing that could happen to any man because she gave her all to her husband. She was a powerful woman, known in Yoruba parlance as ‘Obirin bi Okunrin’, which means a woman like a man. As a mother, Oya remains the mother of all. She was a mother to all her nine children including Egungun and her four-sets of twins.
As a custodian of morality, she also gives succour to all adherents by giving them the desires of their hearts and protecting them from danger. Oya was independent, unpredictable, fierce and beautiful. She was a role model with great qualities and characteristics.”
The benefits derived from the celebration of Oya and other festivals in the country, he said, included spiritual, economic, social and political. Guest speaker from the Department of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Prof. Ayo Akinwale, in his lecture, “Culture and the Traditional Beliefs of the Yorubas: Where are We?”, described culture as something that is to be learnt from one generation to another.
The academic added that, in preserving our culture, it was important for all communities to sponsor major traditional festivals within their communities. He commended the Olokun Festival Foundation for organising various festivals in the country and that their efforts will be sustained, which will not be a waste of time at the end of the day.
“Major festivals in each community should be treated like what other tribes do to their festivals, which is an opportunity for all sons and daughters to come home to celebrate with their people. Also, during festivals, funds are raised for the growth and development of the community, which allows members of a town know themselves and live in harmony,” he stressed.
Dignitaries who graced the occasion included Oba Abdul Wahab Oyewole Oyetoro, the Onira of Ira land; Oba Joseph Moronfoye Okunola, the Onigbaye of Igbaye; Chief Executive Officer of Ibuoye group of companies, Ibraheem Ibuoye, among others. Oodua Cultural Troupe and their counterparts from Kwara State, as well as up-and-coming musicians thrilled guests with cultural displays.
www.kwaranews.com/olokun-festival-foundation-will-continue-to-promote-culture-and-heritage-gani-adams/