The annual Isanbi Day in Ilisan Remo, Ogun State, would be celebrated with pomp and ceremony with the Ooni of Ile Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II in attendance, the monarch of the community, Oba Michael Olufemi Sonuga, has said.
The celebration which will feature activities including Obalufon dance, Egungun festivals and propitiation to deities will start on September 30 and end on October 8.
According to Oba Sonuga, the ceremony was designed to honour the ancestors of Ilisan Remo, for their courageous migration from their origin, Ile-Ife to Igborule, in the 16th century, which later morphed into the present Ilisan Remo as a result of massive transformation and development.
The forthcoming event was also conceived to mark the seventh anniversary of Oba Sonuga’s ascension to the ancient throne after several years of active legal practice.
The week-long activities will commence with environmental sanitation exercise, followed by an inter-denominational prayer session by the Christian Association of Nigeria and drama presentation tagged ‘’Theatre Night.’’
There will also be a scholarship award for youths, inter- primary schools’ games, Isanbi football competition finals, and a beauty pageant as well as carnival procession by clubs, associations or groups during which traditionalists will pay homage to the king, while ace Fuji music artiste, Adewale Ayuba, will entertain guests.
Oba Sonuga said: ‘’Our progenitor was Isanbi, a great grandchild of Ogboludirin, a venerable monarch who ruled for several years in Ile Ife and later migrated from Ife and settled down in a place referred to as Igborule. Therefore, no Isanbi, no Ilisan.
‘’ This year’s celebration is a landmark ceremony because a lot has been achieved since my ascension to the throne of my forefathers.”