By WOLE BALOGUN, Ado-Ekiti
Ido-ekiti, headquarters of Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State was recently agog for the Ajodun Ido Oganganmodu. Sons and daughters of the town, including business associates and friends, thronged the Oganganmodu Grammar School playing ground, dancing and trumpeting.
The festival kicked off with prayers at the Palace of the Olojudo followed with environmental sanitation exercise.
It came to climax when various groups including Agba Ido, Iwole, Elegbe and Jogun engaged in procession. It also involved non-indigenes such as Igbo, Urhobo, Idoma and Ebira communities who were resplendent in traditional attires. The Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro, Ajiboyede III, received homage from various groups. Olori Ngozi Ilori-Faboro led the women in paying homage to the Olojudo.
Chairman, Ajodun Ido Planning Committee, Comrade Sola Ogunsina, said the purpose of the festival was to reunite all sons and daughters of the town at home and in the Diaspora with the aim of celebrating their cultural heritage:
“Our town is growing at an impressive rate, making security a major challenge in the last few years. This cannot be left in the hands of government alone hence the town has been drawing from its coffers to support security needs so as to make our town a safe haven.
“The early completion of Olojudo Palace was facilitated by the annual proceeds realized at this event. This annual event offers us great opportunity to meet with one another, exchange pleasantries and promoting course of helping those in need.
“I commend the early setting up of the planning committee this year and I hope it will be sustained. The committee should be well funded through provision of take-off grants.”
Chairman of the day, Chief Agboola Akomolafe, highlighted the need for brotherly love, peace and cooperation among indigenes to lift up one another and work together for the progress of Ido-Ekiti: “Our ancestors were able to buy horses through the sale of late maize which required accurate timing of planting. Today, nobody plants maize at commercial degree for buying a car. It is my view that both the employed and the unemployed citizens of Ido-Ekiti can plant maize at a commercially competitive level for tangible property.
“Ido citizens can also make money from rice, cotton, melon, watermelon, pepper, tomatoes which take few months to be ripe for harvest. I suggest an Agric Exhibition for Ajodun Ido 2017.”
Oba Ilori-Faboro said: “This is an opportunity for us to review what we have achieved in the past and what we hope to achieve before the next Ajodun Ido is celebrated. We have built a palace already and we want to build a city hall, a civic centre and other things with the money raised from this year’s edition.
“Some of our indigenes have seen developmental strides we have made in this town. Now, people are building houses here, the Federal Teaching Hospital is here and it is helping to bring decent people into the town.
“I want to appeal to our sons and daughters to come home and be part of the development . If they don’t buy their land now, the longer they wait the more they will spend to buy land in the future.
“We are working hard to reach out to them and you know communication is very key in achieving this. We are on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other digital platforms to reach those in the Diaspora.
“Ido is an investor’s delight and we also aim to attract more investment here. Banks know that the population is rising and more people need their services here and other things will come.
“We will continue to provide incentives to them like land, communal support, security and enabling environment to facilitate their investment in our community. Ido is no longer a village, it is now a prosperous town.”
The Olojudo led other dignitaries to cut the anniversary cake. The celebration was rounded off with a thanksgiving service at the Apostolic Faith Church, Ido-Ekiti.