Glo To Light-up Ojude Oba

…As Telco calls for cultural renaissance 

Commercial Coordinator, Business Enterprise, Globacom, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe flanked left by the Chairman, Ojude Oba 2016 Festival Committee, Otunba Wahab Osinusi and member of the committee, Chief(Mrs.) Bisi Osibogun at the press conference organized in Ijebu Ode on Monday to announce the commencement of the festival.

Globacom, national telecoms operator and grandmasters of data, has announced its sponsorship of the 2016 Ojude Oba festival.

At a press conference held in Ijebu Ode on Monday to unveil plans for this year's edition of the festival, Globacom called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to save Africa's culture from near extinction.

The company’s Commercial Coordinator, Business Enterprise, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe, said that there was an urgent need to provide strong platforms for Nigerians of various cultures and traditions to express themselves and preserve such cultures from being lost to globalization.

“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,” he observed.

“Unfortunately, this has become an ill-wind that will blow no one any good because  the effort to downplay our cultures and traditions has also come with the jettisoning of sound moral values which were the hallmark of traditional African societies,” Mr. Aderibigbe added.

He noted that, “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.”

Unabashed modernization, he argued, had so much influenced our youth in a negative way that the balance between African culture, social values and modernization had been eroded.

“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,” the Globacom official said.

"We at Globacom believe that 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.

“This is why Globacom enthusiastically backs the custodians of our cultures like the organisers of Ojude Oba Festival for the painstaking efforts they have made to celebrate our cultures and reinforce our values of integrity, hardwork, excellence and creed", he continued.

Mr. Aderibigbe declared Globacom's resolve to support the government in its renewed effort to promote commerce and tourism as alternative sources of revenue in view of the dwindling revenue from oil.

“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,” he affirmed.

In the same vein, the Chairman, 2016 Ojude Oba Festival Committee, 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.