•Tourists will fly into Osogbo next year, says Aregbesola
This year’s Osun Osogbo festival may have ended but the commerce that comes with the cultural and tourism event is still on-going, reports Evelyn Osagie.
Founded on an ancient covenant about 1370 years ago, the Osun Osogbo Festival has grown to become a monumental event that has gone from being another religious activity to becoming a mega-commercial one.
Over 1,000 years after, the ancient city of Osogbo, like an unseen hand of its goddess, has continued to draw many from within and outside the country. And it was that time of the year when the state witnessed a large influx of Osun devotees and tourists. For two weeks, the Osun State capital was their choice-destination.
They came for its water, its art and most especially its goddess. It was two weeks of carnival of festivities that began with the cleansing of the town called Iwopopo followed by the lighting of the 641-year-old lamp called Olojumerindilogun. This was followed by Iboriade four days later, which is the assemblage of all the crowns of past kings (known as Ataoja) for blessing. Highlight of the festival was by the procession, featuring the votary maid, Arugba bearing the sacred calabash allegedly containing the people’s prayers to the grove where it is dropped in the river.
For the people of Osogbo and their king, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun (Larooye II) it is not just period of reunion and rededication but also one of hospitality which has become a money-spinning sector.
And with the grove, which bears the handiwork of the late Susanne Wenger, being enlisted as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site since July 15, 2005, this has added life to its tourism activities.
So, the festival has grown from religious to an economic activity earning the state and its people revenue.
As Osun devotees and culture lovers celebrate and tourists felicitate, the town’s purse swells. While dancing and chanting, Oore yeye, their purses resonate with rich patronage.
Tourists’ participation at this year’s edition, according to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism and Culture, Mr Oladipo Soyode, doubled that of last year by 100 per cent, adding that hotels within the capital were fully booked so much so that many had to settle for hotels in the adjoining towns. It also affected the smooth flow of traffic in the face of ongoing roads construction. But that did not stop beehive of cultural and commercial activities.
With local and international brands on hand to entertain, the increase in tourists also spelt an increase in patronage and commerce. Even the local artisans were not left out in the business aspect. As the visitors moved from town to town , theartisans went out to outdo oneanother to catch these potential clients’ eyes.
Determined to tap the potentials that the festival, and by extension, the sector holds, the governor added a musical concert, that held in Lagos penultimate Sunday, to the fiesta “to boost participation of youth”. “To be able to carry everybody along, we have to have programmes that they would be able to connect with. To win the youths, we have to go to them. And we thought the best way to take it is to take the festival to them in the way they would understand which through the concert we held in Lagos,” he said.
According to Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the government has resolved to ensure that “the yearly celebration of the Osun Osogbo Festival records progressive increase in the number of participants”. “We will continue to creatively package the festival so as to enrich its tourist charm,” he said.
The state plans to raise tourists to state from 5,000 to 20,000 with a target revenue of N7.5 billion by 2015. In addition to what his administration is doing in Osogbo, the state capital, Aregbesola said he is determined to promote tourism across the state. He said: “The state government is unreservedly committed to heightening the economic aspects of these social affairs.”
The runway of the old airstrip at Ido Osun, he said, would be widened to 2.4 kilometres as part of his administration’s plans to turn the state into a mega-commercial destination and improve revenue generated through tourism to boost its economy and employment rate.
Foreign tourists, he said, would be flown into the ancient town for celebration, adding that by then the airport that is under construction would have been completed. “With tenacity of purpose and unflagging resolve, we are investing in the development of tourism infrastructure. By next year’s edition, tourists will fly into Osogbo. Aside from promoting our culture, it would also help to boost the commercial life and development of the state. In this year’s budget, we earmarked N300 million for the upgrade of the various tourist sites across the state. “With development in tourism, we want to massively boost private and public revenue generations in arts and craft, tours guide, transportation services, hospitality services, and entertainment venues like amusement parks and theatres. We will not rest on our oars in ensuring that the ancient cities in the state are made suitable for habitation and investment. This development will result in increase in revenue generation, which will in turn significantly improve the standard of living of our people,” he said.
To show that it means business, the government organised a Trade Investment and Cultural Conference that featured over 60 investors, and culture proponents worldwide during the festival. The summit, according to the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, Cooperative and Empowerment, Mr Ismaila Jayeoba-Alagbada, is geared towards tapping into the huge commercial potentials that the tourism sector holds, “thereby promoting commerce and industry on a large-scale”. Even though the festival and the conference have ended, investors are still around scouting for potential partners and prospective business opportunities in the state, according to Alagbada. The week-long event, according to Alagbada, featured investment conference, business-for-business summit, cultural conference and site visitation, among other activities. It was organised by the State’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Corporative and Empowerment with Ministry of Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture.
He said: “Over 60 investors from America, France and Netherland participated at the Trade Investment and Cultural Conference that began last Monday and ended last Sunday with departure. A lot of them are still around doing site visitation. The Osun State government organised the summit to boost commerce and industry in the state; and to connect small businesses with bigger brands. No doubt, our people are industrious and highly talented, hence, the government want to harness their potential by giving them the boost them need to become world players in the global market.
“There were lots of partnership and collaborations with the foreign investors. And they opportunity of knowing what is required of them in the international market.
“It is first of its kind; others we have had involved African in Disapora but this is the first time that we would be having foreign investors and brands interacting with those of people here in the state.”
Oba Olanipekun called on the Federal Government to complement the state’s efforts in tourism “to avert the negative social impacts at the maturation of the industry.”
