The Yoruba Community in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), comprising all Yoruba groups, established to foster unity, promote culture and well being of members as well as champion individual and collective cause is holding a maiden Yoruba Cultural Festival in Abuja. The three-day outing is scheduled to hold from April 29 to May 1 at the Mini Stadium, Area 10, from 9:00am daily. In this interview with President of the socio-cultural group, Dr. Abdul-Hakeem Adetunji Mosebolatan, he tells BRIDGET CHIEDU ONOCHIE, benefits of the festival.
Let’s look at the initiative and what is expected at the festival?
The Yoruba Cultural Festival is an initiative of the Yoruba community in Abuja. It envisioned and conceptualised as a yearly showcase of the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people through the exposition of the language, food, fashion, music, dance and other art forms in an atmosphere of fun and fanfare in Abuja.
Expected at the event are contingents from all the Yoruba speaking states led by the state governors, Yoruba residents in Abuja and environs, Yoruba from the Northern states of the federation, Yoruba traditional rulers and leaders; representatives of Yoruba socio-cultural groups and associates, Yoruba culture advocates, enthusiasts as well as brands and corporate organisations.
Beyond cultural preservation and ethnic unity, are there other motives behind the festival?
The concept of Yoruba Cultural Festival is essentially one designed not only for the preservation of the Yoruba Culture and promotion of ethic unity amongst the Yoruba in Abuja. The conceptual framework is embedded in the showcasing of the Yoruba culture by those outside of Yoruba land to a wide spectrum of audience, including those not born or resident in the land.
It is an exposition and celebration of Yoruba culture by the Yoruba community in Abuja, with a view to engaging the three-day festival as a rallying point and platform to promote unity amongst the various Yoruba groups in Abuja. It is also the first major programme of the new executives of the YCA and my tenure as the President, which will step up our visibility as a community and position us as a formidable force in the FCT.
Suffice it to say that the YCA is now better structured with an office in a prime location in the FCT, bank account.
This festival is one of the rebranding activities of the YCA aimed at repositioning the YCA brand amongst ethnic and socio-cultural groups in Abuja.
Is it coincidental that the festival is holding at a time Nigeria is preparing to swear in a Yoruba President?
Certainly, it is. We have been in existence for 32 years and it just happens that the beginning of my tenure is an election year, which has produced a Yoruba President. We are not however apologetic and feel proud as a community that one of our own is the President-elect of Nigeria.
