Why we are staging Cradles Carnival – Soun, as Oyo govt like FG pledges collaboration
Femi OGUNLANA
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The Soun of Ogbomosoland His Imperial Majesty Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III has unveiled the rationale behind the forthcoming Ogbomoso Cradles Carnival, whose maiden edition is scheduled to hold from December 19 to 23.
“Why Ogbomoso Cradles Carnival,” the paramount ruler stated Monday while engaging media practitioners in Ogbomoso at his palace.
The Soun said the whole idea of the festival stemmed from the need to repackage Ogbomoso for greater participation of its people in its developmental drive.
He opined there was a need to create an avenue for indigenes especially those in the diaspora to congregate and be provided with incentives to visit home saying such would bring more people home and will lead to spike in economic growth as well as physical development in the community.
“When I became the Soun one of the things I realized was that Ogbomoso sons and daughters are scattered all over the place and most of them are doing very well outside Ogbomoso. And when I came to the town when I was trying to become the king, meanwhile prior that in 30 years I was only in Ogbomoso may be 3 times but my memory of growing up l didn’t grow up here but we did come and so when I started coming again I found out that in the town there was poverty everywhere, lack, and that wasn’t what I was expecting.
“And I have been around the world a little bit and I have met Ogbomoso people in different places doing well and I felt that the town does not reflect the successes of its people outside. And the joke I always say, is that may be oruko Soun lo n rowa, everybody n se ohun ni, ko si eni ti o nse ile. So, it was laid upon my heart that what will bring Ogbomoso sons and daughters together and people will now have a sense of belonging.
“So, there are two key things that l am trying to pursue. First one is for them to love their town. The second one, for them to love their king. And why that is important is that when people love their king they will support his ideas, they will support what he wants to do. And they will be there for the town so we want people to have a sense of belonging. One thing is this, Ogbomoso sons and daughters wherever they are they don’t hesitate to state they are from Ogbomoso, and that is why you find out a lot of them especially in the north are proud to say their family compounds in Ogbomoso, so, they still have that attachment, but a lot of them don’t really come home.
“So, we want something that will bring them home so that they can start to develop their town. So, the cradle carnival is for economic purposes. Because the money we have in the town we will only be recirculating it among ourselves. It is only external money that can develop the economy of the town, just like every nation. We need to inject external money into the Ogbomoso economy. So, when people come in, it will benefit the town, because they will come with their own money which will be injected into the economy of Ogbomoso.
“And when they start to come home they will see the need to do things for their town. We have a lot of people in Lagos and Abuja holding very good positions, who could influence money to come to our town. Look at our roads, we have Ogbomoso sons and daughters in high places. If they come home and they see how bad the roads are, next time a file comes to the front of them and it has to do with development of roads, they will include Ogbomoso because they knew what they experienced.
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“Someone like me that didn’t come to Ogbomoso more than three times in 30 years, I didn’t know how bad things were until I started coming in. The impression I had was my memory of growing up, for instance forty something years ago there was water and so I assumed everybody had water until I started coming again. So, generally, we want our people to start coming back to their town, that is number one.
“Two, we need activities in the town that will stimulate them to come. That is when they will start doing things. Someone has come to put part of his business here now. And then when they come first year, second year, they will see the need to build houses, they will discover their roots back. They will have a sense of attachment, those are the few reasons why we want to do this Cradle (Carnival).
“Apart from giving us international exposure, national exposure too because the federal government and Oyo state government have approved the carnival and their representatives will attend. And so, we get the name of our town to be out there.”
Furthermore, the monarch informed with amusement though that there are people in the diaspora, Nigerians, who said they never knew or heard of the name Ogbomoso before his coronation according to the experience he had then saying the narrative would change when a lot of activities are happening in the town.
He noted it is when such are projected that people would begin to know about the town and would be encouraged to plan visits to see what the noise about it is all about, stressing that a lot of people visit a city like Rome yearly because of what they heard about her.
“I was a pastor before I came, the church I pastored in America, some people, Nigerians for that matter, told me they have never heard about the name Ogbomoso, l remember one or two people, this one is even an Ijebu lady, she called me saying, “my friend, Ghandi, kinni ariwo to eyi fun fun chieftaincy to fe je.” Mo ni “chieftaincy bawo.” O ni “mo gbo pe o fe je Soun or Soun or something (different variations of the pronunciation). Where is such a town?” Mo ni “Oba ni. Oba lo n je Soun.” So, she thought it was a chieftaincy title.
“So, we want everybody to know about our town. Because if our town is in the forefront of a lot of things, it puts attention on her as a business destination. Someone will not now say I want to offload some luggage in Ogbomoso and then ask, ‘where is Ogbomoso located?’ We want our name to be on the map, not only in Oyo state, but in Nigeria, West Africa and the world. So that people, you know, I have travelled a lot, and the places I went around the world are because l have heard about them, a lot of people go to Rome because they have heard about Rome, that is why they go there they have no business in Rome, they are not interested, they are not Catholics but they go there because they have heard about Rome. People go to London, people go to Dubai now, not because of anything, but because they heard about them and so they go on vacation, to buy things. 25 years ago, Dubai was not on the map but today everybody knows Dubai.
“So, it is possible for everybody to know about Ogbomoso. That is what we want to achieve. It is compelling. Visitors spend billions every year in Dubai. Visitors always bring money into a town. So, there are a lot of reasons why this is important for us. This Ogbomoso Cradle will bring development to our town, will improve our economy, put focus on and bring awareness about our town. People will not be saying ‘ilu wo ni yen, a ko mon.’ We want people to know about Ogbomoso.”
The initiator of the Ogbomoso 25-year development plan explained how this will be achieved: “But how can people know?” he asked rhetorically. “It is about activities and the news that come out of it. Without any arrogance few people will say they have never heard about Ogbomoso in the past two years. We want people to hear about our town for good things not bad things. So, we want people to be coming to Ogbomoso even if it is only our sons and daughters that come, it will have a major impact and transformation in this town.
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“All those mud houses people will now begin to rebuild them when they find out their family houses are dilapidated, they will want to renovate them, not in mud but cement, and the town starts to look better, everything starts to change and we will have opportunities from governments, from corporations, from individuals and so on. But if our name is not out there people will not remember us when good things are happening.
“Positive things. We want to project our town the way we are, not negative things like the one the Imam issue is giving us. We are warriors, that is our DNA, we are entrepreneurs. So, we want the narrative to start to change, about who we really are and what we have achieved over the years. The Cradle (Carnival) thing will be a coming together of sons and daughters of Ogbomoso people from all over the world,” he enthused.
Meanwhile, the Oyo government has pledged support for the carnival.
Ogbomoso Insight recalls the federal government also recently endorsed the festival.
The Oyo state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, made the commitment Wednesday while hosting the event’s committee members in his office.
“It is the resolve of this government to support cultural activities and develop tourism potentials in the state, so Ogbomoso’s case will not be an exception,” Dr. Olatubosun stated.
Highlighting the significance of the new festival, he said, “Previously, Odun Ole was the only recognized festival in Ogbomoso. With the Ogbomoso Cradles Carnival, we have added another annual celebration to Oyo state, ratified by the State Executive Council.”
Dr. Olatubosun praised Ogbomosoland for its strides in promoting culture and tourism, saying, “I am happy that Ogbomosoland has awakened in the areas of promoting cultural and tourism potential in their geopolitical zone. This effort will enhance unity among the five local governments and contribute to the area’s economic development.”
He further mentioned that stakeholders from the culture and tourism sectors would be invited to participate in the event.
Commending the committee’s efforts, Dr. Olatubosun said, “You have laid a solid foundation, and I must commend your determination to unite and advance Ogbomosoland.”
Hon. Williams Adeleye, chairman of the organizing committee explained that the visit was to seek the state’s collaboration, stressing the carnival aims to celebrate Ogbomoso zone’s cultural heritage and stimulate economic growth.
