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The New Era Foundation for Yoruba Festival and Culture Intervention has reaffirmed its commitment to preserving, promoting and transmitting Yoruba culture and traditional heritage to younger generations, as it celebrated the sixth edition of its annual Olokun Festival in Lagos.
The 2026 festival, held at Debojo Beach, Eleko, in the Ibeju-Lekki area of the state, brought together members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) New Era, traditional rulers, cultural enthusiasts and Yoruba sons and daughters from different walks of life.
The organisers said the annual celebration was designed not merely as a cultural gathering, but also as a platform for keeping Yoruba traditions, values and identity alive in the face of changing social and cultural realities.
Speaking at the event, President of OPC New Era, Rasak Arogundade, described the Olokun Festival as an important annual gathering through which the Yoruba people could reconnect with their heritage, offer prayers and give thanks.
Arogundade said the festival had grown into a significant occasion for Yoruba people to come together in unity and seek prosperity, peace and progress for their communities.
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He likened the gathering to the journeys undertaken by Christians to Jerusalem and Muslims to Mecca for religious observances, stressing that the festival provided an avenue for people to reconnect with their spiritual and cultural roots.
According to him, the continued celebration of the festival would help preserve Yoruba traditions and ensure that cultural values were not lost to modernisation.
Arogundade also urged members of OPC New Era to remain peaceful, law-abiding and committed to protecting Yoruba heritage and the legitimate interests of their communities wherever they operated.
Also speaking, the Chairman of OPC New Era in Oyo State, Rotimi Olumo, described the festival as an important cultural gathering that should attract all Yoruba people interested in preserving their heritage.
Olumo said those who stayed away from the celebration had missed an opportunity to participate in a gathering dedicated to Yoruba culture, unity and spiritual reflection.
