WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED BY OTUNBA (DR) GANI ADAMS AT THE 2017 EDITION OF THE OLUMO FESTIVAL HELD AT IKIJA, OLUMO SITE ABEOKUTA OGUN STATE THIS FRIDAY, 3RD OF MARCH 2017.  

I welcome every one of you to another glorious Olumo Festival celebration. I give thanks to the Supreme Being, Eledumare, for the grace He accorded us to be part of this year’s event.
 
May the Almighty God continue to fill us with his abundance strength to forge ahead in our desire to promote Yoruba culture and heritage to the point of our desired global awareness.
 
Today, we are here to pay obeisance as well as reference Olumo, a very important cultural rallying point among the Egba people of Ogun State.
 
Much as the Egba people and the Yoruba in general   recognize the heroic contribution of Lisabi to the development of Abeokuta, the Olumo rock also has a very adorable place in history.
 
The annual celebration of the Olumo Festival, as part of the Lisabi Day Celebration, has provided a platform for the sons and daughters of Egba, to come together and project the uniqueness  of what nature has lavishly bequeathed  to them.
 
Let me at this point commend our traditional rulers from the different parts of Yoruba land for the new found love and cordial relationship among them. I salute you all for the annual general support for our traditional father, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in making this festival a success.
 
 
The new relationship we today see manifesting among our traditional rulers is no doubt a right step in the right direction for the development of the Yoruba land.
 
 
In this vein, I want to encourage our governors and other public office   holders to borrow a leaf from our traditional leaders by also uniting to form a common ground for the development of the Yoruba region..
 
In the past, especially during the reign of the late sage, Chief Obafemi  Awolowo, of blessed memory , the Yoruba region was the model for development in other regions .
Leaders from other regions in Nigeria were copying the developmental stride of Baba Awolowo, and Yoruba land was the centre stage of development.
 
Therefore, in celebrating Olumo, we are promoting our rich culture that has placed us as leaders among other race; a culture that earns us global respect as a race with quality people with vision, dedication, focus, self-worth and dignity.
 
So, we are all here to promote unity by celebrating our common identity as Yoruba sons and daughters. By so doing, we are also creating a common ground for Lisabi, Agbongbo Akala .
 
It is expected that the festival will also provide an indomitable forum for the different towns in Abeokuta to come together and be united .
 
This is very necessary at this point, when, more than ever before, we expect the people of Egba to play a very crucial role in the on-going endeavour to emancipate the Yoruba people.
 
Lisabi was referred as “ Agbongbo Akala  “ and he was renowned for his heroic bravery  that liberated the Egba people .
 
At this juncture, I also want to express concern over our language, which as we can all see, is gradually going into extinction.
 
 Our organization, the Olokun Festival Foundation, has over the last few years been at the fore front of promoting the Yoruba language. This is part of our efforts to inculcate the teaching of Yoruba language in our children.
As a foundation, we introduced the Yoruba quiz competition as part of the programme in our festivals. This effort will be complimented richly if as parents, we take it upon ourselves to make it mandatory that we plant our language, our custom, tradition and moral values in our children.
 
I appeal to our governors, traditional rulers and well – meaning Yoruba sons and daughters, to let us unite in the drive to reviving the dying Yoruba language.
 
 Let us formulate policies that will aid the teaching and learning of Yoruba language.
 
Let us look at ideas and way through which our language can become fascinating and encouraging to students.
 
Until a few years ago, the site of the Olumo Rock was for a long time neglected by the government of Ogun State.
 
There is a very strong need for our government and the people of Yoruba land to start thinking of developing our historical sites into world class tourism centre.
 
Tourism is no doubt a goldmine. Countries like Kenya, Namibia, France, United State, China, Israel and even Saudi Arabia,  explored the full potential of tourism in their countries and they are enjoying the economic benefits today.
 
As a matter of urgency, the federal government should encourage individuals, local and state government to invest in tourism. Government should formulate policies   to attract foreign and local investors to our tourism and historical sites.
Today,  Ooni of Ife, has exposed the tourism potentials of Ile Ife and many people could not believe that those things had been there for a long time.Same can be said of Ikubabayeye the Alaafin of Oyo.
 
Apart from Ife, almost all ancient Yoruba towns have historical site that can be developed into world tourism site.
 
I want to encourage those of us, who have taken up the challenge of promoting Yoruba culture and tradition to continue to do so.
 
I also want to encourage those, who are yet to contribute to the development of the Yoruba cultural values to see reasons to do so
 
Aku odun, a ku iyedun. Aseyi samodun. Oodua  a gbe wa oo    
 
Otunba (Dr) Gani Adams
National Coordinator Oodua People’s Congress
Chief Promoter Olokun Festival Foundation
Chairman Gani Adams Foundation,
Convener Oodua Progressive Union,