Ogun Prepares For The 2025 Ojude Oba Festival

The 2025 Ojude Oba Festival will serve as a platform to advocate for the creation of Ijebu State, with Ijebu-Ode as its proposed capital.

This was announced by Chief Olu Okuboyejo, Chairman of the Ojude Oba Festival Organising Committee, during a briefing at the Awujale’s palace in Ijebu-Ode on Monday.

Represented by the festival coordinator, Dr. Fassy Yusuff, Okuboyejo emphasized that the push for Ijebu State has gained significant momentum, urging collective support for the cause.

“We are most probably aware of the persistent clamour for the long overdue creation of Ijebu State, with the capital in Ijebu Ode.

“Ijebu remains the only oldest province yet to be transformed into a state, aside from its strategic location, land mass, population, accessibility, peacefulness, hospitality and rich cultural heritage that has always singled us out amongst the crowd.

“With the ongoing smooth and unbiased legislative processes almost reaching its peak, it is our fervent hope and collective desire that the Ijebu State of our dream with its capital in Ijebu Ode shall come to fruition.

“Just like we have done in the past, the voices of Ijebu through our various cultural organs like the Regberegbe, Baloguns and Eleshins, Egbe Olojas and other traditional institutions will again be echoed at the 2025 Ojude Oba Festival.

“The caption shall be the creation of the long overdue Ijebu State with Ijebu Ode as capital,” Okuboyejo said.

He noted that the annual cultural festival is expected to draw approximately two million guests and tourists to Ijebu land, with around 200 million people worldwide watching via live streaming.

He said the theme of the festival, “Ojude Oba: Celebrating Our Roots, Preserving Our Future, hinged on the unwavering focus of the Ijebu on their rich cultural heritage.

Chief Olu Okuboyejo explained that the Ojude Oba Festival originated with the arrival of Islam in Ijebu land, noting that the reigning monarch at the time encouraged his subjects to allow Muslims to practice their faith freely without obstruction.

To express gratitude for the monarch’s tolerance, Muslims began paying homage to him on the third day after Eid-el-Kabir, a tradition that Okuboyejo said has evolved over the years into the widely celebrated Ojude Oba Festival, embraced by Ijebu people both locally and in the diaspora, as well as millions within and outside Nigeria.

He described the festival as a gift from the Ijebu nation to Nigeria and the world, serving as a remarkable example of religious tolerance, coexistence, and harmony.

Okuboyejo announced that the 2025 edition is scheduled for Sunday, June 8, 2025, pending the moon sighting, and will feature a distinguished leader as the special guest of honour, to be unveiled by the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, to enhance the festival’s significance.

Expected dignitaries include Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, his wife Bamidele Abiodun, and the Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, among others.

The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Sesan Fagbayi, praised the festival as a symbol of cultural revitalization that fosters unity and harmony, assuring that the government is committed to making the 2025 edition a memorable experience.