Mariam Akinloye
The Adeboruwa of Igbogbo Kingdom, His Royal Majesty (Oba) Barr. Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali, the Emugoriade I, has called on the government to make the recognition extended to the Isese Day, in form of public holiday, be all – encompassing and include those in the private sector.
Oba Kasali, who is the Royal Secretary of Ijebu Obas in Lagos, made the appeal while appreciating the Lagos State Government, for declaring today a public holiday in commemoration of the annual Isese Day which is marked every August 20.
The Adeboruwa palace witnessed the presence of a massive crowd of traditionalists who had trooped out for the celebration, with many of the them staging beautiful displays, as each of the groups took turns to appear before the Adeboruwa and his chiefs, to pay homage.
Oba Kasali, who was happy with the celebration, was unable to hide his happiness as he took to the dance floor alongside his chiefs, to dance with the traditionalists.
The revered monarch, who said that the observation of a day to celebrate the culture and traditions of the people, is a welcome development, spoke with THE IMPACT, after the celebration of the 2023 Isese Day, at the ancient Adeboruwa palace in Igbogbo, on Sunday.
“The significance of Isese Day celebration is not far fetched, because it brings about an opportunity for all our traditionalists to come together and appease the gods of the land. During this period, they come together to pray for everybody and for peace in our land and for things to be as prayed for”, the royal father said.
“It is a rare opportunity for all the traditional and cultural groups to come together to celebrate and fraternize. It brings about different approach of praying to appease the gods, so that we can have a peaceful co-existence.
“You will agree with me that all of them have different days they perform their rituals and appease the gods, but for a day to have been set aside for Isese day, I say that it is rare, because it demonstrated the significance of lsese. It is an opportunity for all of them to bring about different ways of appeasing the gods, which they do jointly for our land.
“Another rare opportunity has been created which is what people have been clamoring for and that is the declaration of the public holiday for the public servant in the state, to enable them celebrate the Isese day. Although, the Isese day, which is every August 20, is on a Sunday this year, but the Governor has declared the following day which is a Monday, as a public holiday in commemoration of the Isese Day”.
The royal father, making his demand for further extension of the public holiday, said that the government should embark on necessary consultations to make the Isese Day all – inclusive, like the celebrations of other religious festivals.
“We still want the holiday declaration to be extended further, to take care of the people working in the private sector, so that it can be a wholesome celebration which will not be limited to staff of the government alone”, Adeboruwa said.
“I think that they can still reach an agreement in this respect. It is something that calls for consultations and a good consultation will bring about the same kind of holiday that government use to declare for Christmas, Eid il Fitr, Eid il Kabir, and Easter.
“We have celebrated this year, you can see that from the experience that you had, the turnout was massive and we really had a joyful day all together. We pray that God will continue to sustain us, and bring about peace in our environment, unprecedented development”, Adeboruwa prayed.
In his royal message to the traditional practitioners and the government, Oba Kasali said:
“My message to the traditionalists is that they should continue to abide with the tenets of the religion that they practice. It talks about peaceful co-existence, trust, and also good morals. It also talks about doing good in whatever form that you find yourself in or any situation that you may be”.
“It is about you doing good for the betterment of the society, So, it behoves on all of us to continue to do good.
“On the government part, we thank God for what they have done for us, and will continue to appeal to them that whatever they have in stock for the masses, they should bring it forth. They should do the needful because whatever the masses are experiencing now in terms of the heat of the economy, is based on the reform that they are implementing. They should do something tangible to allay the fears of hunger in the land, because things are very hard these days.
“Whatever palliatives that they want to do, they must ensure that the beneficiaries are those that really need the largesse. We must ensure that we do good and make the society good for all of us to benefit from, by making the society livable”.
The Odofin and Olootu Lantan Onanusi Family of Igbogbo, High Chief Tajudeen Duduyemi Onasanya, also speaking with THE IMPACT, said that the Isese day celebration is significant in the remembrance and preservation of sources of origin and culture.
Like the Adeboruwa, Odofin also thanked the government for the declaration of a public holiday forthetraditionalcelebration, while stating that it ought to have been declared long time ago.
“The importance of Isese Day is that we are remembering the origin and our sources. We are bringing back and celebrating our culture and traditions bequeathed to us by our ancestors. That is why we we are commemorating this celebration.
“We thank the government that has granted us a public holiday for this celebration because without it, it means that we have deliberately erased our culture and tradition and this celebration is very important, because once you lose your culture, you are as good as being dead.
“The government ought to have declared holiday for the Isese Day, long time ago. Christianity and Islam practitioners emerged from tradition. Their ancestors were traditionalists and what they are practicing is foreign religions, and they cannot tell us that our original culture means nothing.
“It is now that we know that the government is serious about cultural and traditional developments by granting us the holiday like they have granted the christians and muslims. We thank the government for granting us the opportunity to have a day for the celebration of our origin”, High Chief Onasanya said.
The traditional leader also said that traditionalists should ensure that they preach peace, love and development and practice same for peaceful co – existence and development in the society.
“We want our people to preach and practice love and truthfulness, because these are basic needs for a just, peaceful and developed society. That is what traditional religion is all about, and you can see large number of crowd that are gathered here today. It is because we are practicing a religion that is promoting peace and love. We all drink from the same cup”, High Chief Onasanya charged.
