By Patrick Onuoha
Globacom has once again been announced as the lead sponsor for this year’s edition of Ojude Oba Festival of the Ijebu people of Ogun State.
Speaking during a press briefing on Monday to announce the forth-coming event, Globacom’s Commercial Coordinator, Business Enterprise, Folu Aderibigbe said that it is of utmost importance to provide a veritable platform in which Nigerians can express their diverse cultures. This he explained, will help to preserve our long held traditions.
Aderibigbe added that “the new wave of modernization in our country has made our young people to believe that age-old cultural activities which are mainly synonymous with Africa are primitive and should be exterminated.”
According to him, “the so-called modern lifestyle and values cannot be said to be a good replacement for the teaching of morals among our youth which our cultures and traditions offered through the ages. The challenge has been further compounded by the decision of educational authorities to abolish the teaching of History in our schools. We therefore wish to align with the school of thought which has appealed to our leaders to reintegrate History as a subject into the country’s academic curriculum as it is often said that someone who does not know where he is coming from will not know where he is going.”
He lamented that westernization has brought about a near erosion of our cultures and values, and that the youths have been negatively influenced.
“What is prominent now among our youth are borrowed cultures and poor imitations of Western ways which are detrimental to our identity as a race. This trend has also culminated in near annihilation of our local languages in a way that parents would rather teach their children English than our own language.
Mothers no longer use our language, proverbs and local ballads to tell the stories of our past in a way that underscores the importance of those past occurrences towards charting a path for our future”, Aderibigbe lamented.
As a wholly Nigerian brand he said, “we owe it a duty to the present generation and posterity to collaborate with all men and women of noble intentions to sustain the renewed drive towards the cultural Renaissance of our great nation, that is why Globacom enthusiastically backs the custodians of our cultures like the organisers of Ojude Oba Festival.”
He reiterated that Globacom will continue to support the government’s effort at promoting commerce and tourism. The company has been described to be in the forefront of supporting and promoting the Nigerian culture.
“In addition to our continued support for Ojude Oba Festival, we wish to assure all Ijebu sons and daughters of our unflinching commitment to providing them with high quality telecom infrastructure that will continuously enable them to communicate seamlessly with loved ones and business associates,” Aderibigbe enthused.
Otunba (Barrister) Wahab Osinusi expressed appreciation to Globacom for its partnership which he described as “mutually beneficial”.
He disclosed that the theme of this year’s celebration, Ojude Oba: Our Culture, our Pride was conceptualised ” to reflect our belief in ourselves and optimal utilisation of our rich culture towards attaining an enduring economic development.”
According to him, the festival is Ijebu people’s gift to the nation that is constantly in search of peace, harmony and development. He also enthused that the Ojude Oba model was worth bequeathing to Nigeria. The festival holds from September 11-14, 2016, at the Oba Awujale’s pavilion in Ijebu Ode.