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With Okorie Uguru
The proprietor of La Campagne Tropicana and founder of the Motherland Beckons Initiative, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, has promised to elevate the annual Asun Carnival in Ondo Town, Ondo State to an international event.
Akinboboye made the promise while speaking at the grand finale of the 2026 edition of the carnival held at the Ondo township stadium. He also promised to expose some of the talents discovered during the football aspect of the festival. “We are going to make the carnival bigger by next year,” he said, “The best of the best of this town will go to the entire world. This is what we will be doing on an annual basis. We are going to bring scouts next year from different parts of the world. Probably within the next two to three months, we will be landing either in London or Turkey. The best of the best of this time will go to the entire world. And this is what we’ll do here on an annual basis. We are going to bring scouts from different parts of the world to pick young talents.”
The Asun Cave Carnival is a major annual tourism event in Ondo town, Ondo State aimed at developing and promoting different aspects of tourism including carnival, gastronomy and sports tourism.
The carnival is a three-day event with key activities like the vibrant and colourful carnival on the hilltop, the youths football competition and the traditional Asun delicacy preparation competition. The event climaxed with the cave special musical performance by music artistes from Atunda Entertainment musical stable.
The first day was a colourful hilltop carnival with youths and adult dress in vibrant carnival costumes parade on the Ita Nla hills dancing to music.
Speaking during the hills’ carnival, the member representing Ondo West in the Ondo State House of Assembly and also the Parliamentary Secretary of the House, Otunba Moyinolorun Ogunwumiju said the state will continue to support such efforts to develop tourism in the state, adding that the state government is making progress in putting in place structures that would help tourism development and growth. His words: “We are here again for 2026 Asun Carnival. It has been wonderful: the dancers, colourful environment, and of course, the best organised Asun Carnival so far. You can never see anything like Asun Carnival anywhere on the face of the earth.
“I feel that this year has come again and the organisers have put on a bigger, better organised show. It is the only carnival on the hilltop. You know, you can see the whole of the city from here, and you can see the dancers have performed wonderfully. This is just the continuation of many great things that are being done for Ondo kingdom. And I pray that we shall be here next year again to celebrate a wonderful carnival.
The second day of the event was focused on football competition and the gastronomy activities involving the preparation of Asun goat meat delicacy at the Ondo township stadium.
The promoter of the festival, Otunba Akinboboye explained that the Asun delicacy, which has become popular both within and outside the country, originated from Ondo.
“Asun is an Ondo town delicacy. Even though the delicacy has become generally acceptable, it is important it is prepared the right way. The festival is both education and also fun for lovers of Asun as they get to see its preparation in its original form, which is still the best.
“We also use the football competition as part of the festival to engage the youths and discover young raw talents that we would expose and promote at the international level.”
Professor Bridget Awosika of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) who is also a member of the organising committee of the annual event commended the Akinboboye for his vision and sacrifice to promote the state and called on others to emulate him.
The final day was a taste of the unusual with a music gig inside the caves of Ita Nla hills.
The dignitaries and celebrities, watched as the carnival performers breathed life into the ancient caves. The cosiness of the cave, the sense of protection it offered, and the kaleidoscope of colours created a perfect blend of nature and performance. The sound of drums echoed through the caves, as Atunda Entertainment’s captivating displays elevated the experience, leaving spectators spellbound.
