.as OFF holds 14th Annual Eledumare Festival
By Our Reporter
Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, and
Founder of Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF), Iba Gani Adams, has called on the
Nigerian Tourism Development Authority to collaborate with the Foundation in organising the annual Eledumare Festival, saying that the festival had the potentials of boosting the nation's economy.
Iba Adams made this call on Sunday at a press conference in Ikeja, organized by the Foundation to announce this year's event, scheduled to hold for 21 days from Sunday March 15 to April 7, 2026, saying that beyond spiritual praise, the festival also serves to promote the Yoruba culture and traditions, and boost tourism.
The Yoruba generalissimo, who was represented by the Parakoyi Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Prof. (Chief) Kolawole Raheem, and Chairman, 2026 Eledumare Festival Organising Committee, said that "the festival not only pays tribute to the Divine, but also showcases the rich cultural heritage and traditions that define us as a people in Yorubaland."
Iba Adams, while making the call, sadly noted that tourism in Nigeria is an underutilised hidden cash cow when compared to the oil sector, which the government currently considers as it's major income earner.
According to him, while many nations have taken tourism to levels where it contributes averagely about 10 percent to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it only contributes a mere 3.6 percent to Nigeria's GDP, according to 2022 data, declaring that it was high time the country diversified her economy beyond the oil industry and look into tourism as a potential income generator.
"In terms of promotion of tourism, Eledumare Festival is one festival that promotes local tourism immensely. And if our government is really serious about promoting tourism, this festival is one that can become (classified) like the Rio Festival in Brazil, the Notting Hill Festival in the United Kingdom, the Holi Festival in India, the cultural Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, the Songkran water festival in Thailand, and other important festivals across the world that celebrate culture, music and tradition, attracting millions of tourists.
"To promote local festivals and use them to drive tourism in Nigeria, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority must actively develop and promote Nigeria as a travel and tourism destination to encouraging Nigerians to take holidays within the country and to attract international visitors. This must definitely include promoting local festivals as unique cultural attractions.
"The government must also, as a duty, encourage the development and improvement of tourism amenities and facilities such as hotels and ancillary services that support festival tourism. This infrastructure is essential to accommodate tourists attending local festivals.
"The NTDA, must specifically promote and market tourist attractions, including festivals, historic sites, museums, parks, game reserves, beaches and holiday resorts. This includes publicising local festivals to both domestic and international audiences," he said.
"Tourism in Nigeria is an underutilised hidden cash cow when compared to the oil sector, which the government currently considers as it's major income earner.
"For instance, while many Nations have taken tourism to levels where it contributes averagely about 10 percent to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it only contributes a mere 3.6 percent to Nigeria's GDP, according to 2022 data.
"It is high time we diversified our economy beyond the oil industry. We have to look into tourism as a potential income generator for the country.
"We should organise our festivals in such a manner that the international community would see the various festivals, and get attracted to come and spend holidays in Nigeria. And Eledumare Festival can be one of them.
"In fact, recently, we saw a list of festivals that were projected as prominent festivals in Yorubaland, and Eledumare was Number 5 on the list. On our part at OFF, we are determined to do more so that within a period of six years, Eledumare Festival would be projected as the Number 1 festival in Nigeria.
"We also envisage that in the future, this festival would have gained prominence such that the Federal Government will deem it fit to declare public holiday to celebrate the Eledumare Festival," he added.
Iba Adams, while noting that OFF had been passionately promoting Eledumare Festival for 14 years, stated that this year's festival would witness various communities coming together to host diverse aspects of the festival, adding that it will begin on Tuesday March 17, 2026 with Prayer to Almighty God at Oodua House, Ezekiel Street, Ikeja, Lagos, while the grand finale is scheduled for April 7, 2026.
"This will be followed by other vibrant and engaging programmes, including sporting events such as boxing competitions, football tournaments, beach soccer, taekwondo, table tennis, as well as traditional games like draft, ludo, and ayo olopon.
"Additionally, there will be Harvest of Praise and a fashion show. As usual, our humanitarian outreach will form a significant part of this year’s festival, with a day dedicated to widows.
"Visits have also been planned to schools for the blind and the motherless babies' homes. Through these humanitarian initiatives, we will be extending care and support to those in need in the society," he said.
Speaking further, the Yoruba generalissimo stressed that at the core of the Eledumare Festival is a heartfelt expression of gratitude to God for His magnificence and the blessings bestowed upon people's lives.
According to him, beyond spiritual praise, the events have also served to promote the Yoruba culture and traditions, boost tourism, and stimulate commerce within the host communities, saying that it had equally played a vital role in fostering lasting peace within the Yoruba society
"Since we started the Eledumare Festival, Yoruba people have started progressing remarkably on all fronts - in politics, in commerce and trade, and even in the Diaspora.
"There have been a progressive change in fortune for the Yoruba people. Without doubt, we have been feeling the blessings of Eledumare in Yorubaland since we began celebrating this festival.
"In terms of commerce, the festival always attract trade worth billions of Naira because the festival holds in different communities for 21 days, engendering tremendous commerce within the host communities.
"On another hand, the Yoruba has also grown in terms of political influence in the country. This is definitely not a happenstance.
"In terms of security, though we do not have a perfect situation on our hands, the Southwest region is still the safest in Nigeria. Insecurity is not as widespread as it is in other regions of the country," he said.
Besides, Adams emphasised that Yoruba sons and daughters in the Diaspora were also doing well in all their endeavours, recalling that Olokun Festival Foundation was the first organisation that started celebrating the Eledumare Festival, a 21-day festival, in the whole world.
This was just as he revealed that OFF had been organising the festival without sponsorship from anybody or grants from any government, saying that they had always used their hard-earned money every year, and that in return, God had always blessed them; from the leaders to all the followers across all the organizations.
"This is a festival that we have organised for 14 consecutive years without failing. Even during the COVID-19 outbreak, we still held the festival.
"At this juncture, I want to use this opportunity to call on all corporate organisations to join us in organising the festival. I can assure you all that whatever you use to support the festival will come back to you in multiple folds," he said.
Also in attendance at the press conference were Chief Duro Oke, Chief Oyinlola Awe Ambassador Gbenga Onasanya; Protocol Officer, Office of Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Prince Samson Oseni, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Mr Olawunmi Ojo, among others.
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