The Shrine
A Global Conference of Black Nationalities of Osogbo, Capital of Osun State, South West Nigeria. The Legendary Osun-Osogbo festival
2011 Pictures.
The Osun Osogbo Festival is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and is about to begin.
The Osun Osogbo Festival 2012.
The Osun State government is putting all necessary arrangements in place to ensure a hitch-free celebration of the 2012 Osun Osogbo festival.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the
Osun Osogbo grove, which is the centre-point of the festival, is receiving a
face-lift given its status as a UNESCO heritage site.
It will be recalled that the festival formally took
off last Monday in the metropolis with a traditional rally known as Iwopopo.
The Iwopopo is the traditional cleansing of the routes
leading to the palace of the Ataoja of Osogbo and the Osun Grove.
The grand finale of the festival, which is scheduled
to hold on Aug. 24, is expected to be attended by people from both within and
outside the country.
NAN
also reports that corporate organisations, including telecommunications outfits
and breweries in the country, had been promoting the festival.
The state government had also tarred the road leading
to the Osun grove as well as reconstructed the pavilion at the shrine with a
view to making the festival a success.
Speaking on the development, Mr Oladipupo Soyede, the
Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Culture and Home Affairs, said the
state government was giving deserved attention to the festival.
According to him, the state government will provide
free rail transport for those who were prepared to visit Osogbo from Oyo and Lagos states for the feastival.
Government, he said, was making necessary arrangements
to ensure proper management and control of the crowd during the grand finale of
the festival.
“The state government has made the environment
conducive for social and economic activities which will translate to economic
transformation of the state.
“We hope to ensure a free flow of traffic and all
visitors and tourists from across the world to the centre are expected to
conduct themselves peacefully.
“The state government has embarked on a massive
reconstruction of the pavilion at the grove to meet the UNESCO standard.
“Workers, including engineers, are now working day and
night to ensure that the first phase of the project is completed early enough,”
he said.
Osun State Government has
promised to donate condoms and conduct free HIV/AIDS tests during the Osun
Osogbo Festival grand finale.
Chairperson, Osun Osogbo
HIV/AIDS Prevention Committee, Dr Temitope Ilori, said the initiative was aimed
at checking the spread of the disease during the festival.
A statement on Tuesday, said
the Deputy Governor of the state, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, would open the
programme on Wednesday (today).
The statement by the Press
Officer of the Ministry of Health, Mr Niyi Kolawole, said “The initiative would
halt the spread of the disease and ensure that uninfected people are free of
the virus.”
Ilori said any visitor to
the Osun Osogbo grove was free to “visit the Osun State HIV/AIDS stands and get
free condoms.”
Meanwhile, the Consultant,
Osun Osogbo Festival, Chief Ayo Olumoko, has assured visitors that this year’s
event will be memorable and hitch-free.
Olumoko spoke at the palace
of the Ataoja of Osogbo when some sponsors of the festival visited the Ataoja,
Oba Jimoh Oyetunji.
The Ataoja thanked the state
government for supporting the festival, stressing that it was capable of
changing the face of tourism in the country.
He said, “Osun Osogbo is a
world-class festival. We thank the state government for giving immeasurable
support for the festival. The dividends of the Rauf Aregbesola administration
in tourism and culture shall soon become fruitful for all to see.”
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