The Olofa of Offa, Oba Muftau Gbadamosi, has called on the Federal and Kwara State governments to support the annual Ijakadi Festival with a view to securing UNESCO cultural heritage recognition, saying the historic event has the potential to boost tourism, foreign earnings and community development.
The monarch made the call on Saturday during the two-day 2026 Ijakadi Festival, held at the Olofa’s palace in Offa and organised by the Offa Descendants Union (ODU).
Oba Gbadamosi urged Offa indigenes at home and in the diaspora to see the festival as a must-attend event, warning against treating the ancient town as a place to return to only for burial.
He noted that cultural heritage, when carefully remodelled, could generate income for both state and federal governments.
“I am appealing for government support for this annual festival to gain UNESCO recognition. If our traditions are well moulded and packaged, culture can become another source of income for the government.
“I want my people to always attend the annual Ijakadi festival with passion and flamboyance. We want to see you at home while you are alive.
“Offa is not a cemetery where people are brought only to be buried. Wherever you are in the world, come home and identify with your community,” he said.
He described this year’s celebration as more colourful and organised than previous editions, stressing that sustained investment and collective responsibility were required to elevate the festival to global standards.
Stakeholders at the event echoed the monarch’s call, stressing the need to properly package the festival to meet UNESCO requirements and align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which emphasises the protection of cultural heritage and shared values.
The Kwara State Chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Afolabi Olanrewaju, said cultural traditions like Ijakadi must be deliberately preserved and promoted.
“There is a need to package Ijakadi well to gain UNESCO recognition and meet the African Union’s Vision 2063 challenge for communities to protect their heritage and build shared values through sustained investment,” he said.
The Chairman of the ODU Publicity Committee, Waheed Olagunju, said culture represents a people’s way of life and should be adapted to modern realities.
“What business can we bring out of culture, and how can we generate money from it, should be a key consideration. Cultural advancement can open new economic opportunities,” he said.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Marble Capital, Abdulhakeem Oyewale, described the festival as a bold display of Offa’s cultural strength in Yoruba land.
“The government can generate substantial income from this project. In the next five years, it will be mind-blowing as people from far and near will come to grace the Ijakadi festival,” he said.
A cultural enthusiast and Director of the Biohistocultural Resource Hub, Lukman Afolabi, explained that the Ijakadi festival symbolises fairness, justice and equity in Offa tradition.
“Ijakadi is one of the town’s totems. The two wrestlers start from equal positions of strength, symbolising fairness,” he said.
He likened the ritual cutting of yams into two equal halves—performed by the Odofin undera blindfold—to the universal symbol of justice.
“It is similar to the image of a blindfolded woman holding scales or swords, representing impartial justice,” Afolabi explained.
Representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said culture was a dying aspect of human life that required deliberate revival.
She said the state government had continued to support the Ijakadi festival, citing the ongoing repair of the Offa Township Stadium, the traditional venue of the event.
“The governor’s decision to repair the township stadium is another testimony to his love for culture,” she said.
The festival featured theatrical performances on the origin of Offa and Ijakadi, fashion and beauty contests, and a dramatic presentation on Moremi Ajasoro, staged by the Theatre Arts and Performing Arts Network (TAPAN), Offa branch.
Participants and guests described the celebration as a vibrant showcase of Offa’s cultural identity, with renewed calls for government backing and diaspora engagement to elevate the festival to international prominence.
