Ijakadi Festival Aims to Promote GDP, Socioeconomic Development in Offa

 

By Afusat Agunbiade-Oladipo

Indigenes of Offa, Offa Local Government area of Kwara state including those in the diaspora have expressed their determination to market the annual Ijakadi festival of the ancient town within and outside the country to improve the socio-economic development of Offa and the people.

The Chairman of, the Media Sub-committee of the festival, Aare Abdulwaheed Olagunju, disclosed this on Thursday in Ilorin.

Olagunju said at a press briefing that patronage and investment in the festival could boost economic activities in the community.

He said the theme for the 2023 annual Ijakadi festival is “Culture as a Catalyst for Socioeconomic Development ” of Offa.

He called on the federal government to pull resources financially and otherwise to make the event achieve its full potential towards boosting GDP in the area.

“We believe our people would make money from the festival, from culture and tourism and other economic activities that come with it.

“You can imagine how organizing this festival will impact our GDP. All the things we’re using in the festival have been domesticated. From chairs, stage to construct, artisans, transportation, printers, food sellers, aso-oke and beads for exhibition, etc would be drawn from Offa and thereby improving the GDP of Offa.

“If all the businesses thrive, they’ll become taxpayers and that’s where the government would make money. There’ll be a multiplying effect of investment from the festival”, he said.

He also appealed to the government to include the Iljakadi Offa festival in the list of national festivals being promoted by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), “because of its consistency and rich cultural content to showcase Offa cultural heritage to the outside world”.

“Following the trend of past years’ events, the organizers said that the preparations for the subsequent editions had taken a dimension that would not only put Offa on the world map but also attract innovation.

“The Ijakadi Festival has become an attraction which has drawn the attention of culture lovers over the years, especially from the diaspora who joined the domestic patronage, which agog Offa town yearly.

“We appeal to the Honourable
Minister to support the leakage festival in putting all mechanisms in place to see that tourism in the Kwara state gets the desired attention to attract patronage and investment to boost economic activities.

“As mentioned in the opening line, culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but also a fragile phenomenon, which is constantly changing and can be easily lost because it exists only in the minds of its custodians.

“We do not want the leakage Offa festival to go extinct. It is in this light that we want it classified alongside its peer festivals like the Argungu Fishing Festival (Kebbi), Eyo Festival (Lagos), Iri Ji Ohu – New Yam (Igboland), Osun Osogbo (Osun), Ojude Oba (Ogun), Sango Festival (Oyo), and the Olojo Festival (lle-Ife)”, he added.

Talking about the significance of wrestling to the Offa people, the organizers said that they hoped to promote competitive wrestling in the plan, aside from traditional or symbolic wrestling, to attract more interest from within and outside the country.

“Ijakadi festival is showcasing our culture and displaying our history. It also portrays heroism, healthy competition and courage, perseverance and good health among our people”, Olagunju said.

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