•Osun-Osogbo Festival ends with low turnout
The annual Osun-Osogbo festival is both a religious and cultural event that attracts thousands of tourists, as well as adherents from across the globe but the 2024 edition reflected the present economic realities in the country.
Apart from international tourists that grace the event in their hundreds, local tourists and Osun devotees, as well as culture enthusiasts from across the country, throng Osogbo, adding colour and glamour to the festival.
However, the 2024 edition of the festival witnessed a low turnout of both foreign and local tourists due to economic hardship and the nationwide hunger protest which raised security concerns across the country, reports Vanguard.
Many of the devotees, who spoke with our correspondent, attributed the low turnout to the high cost of transportation across the country, while others disclosed that the nationwide protest necessitated the need for caution.
According to a traditionalist, Osunkayode Adewale, the low turnout of local tourists is largely due to high cost of living in the country presently.
Adewale said: “The high cost of transportation is also a major factor which hindered the type of turnout witnessed in the last two years. But there is optimism that things would eventually improve.”
Another devotee from Oyo State, Osunbunmi Ademola said the cost of sponsoring over 10 devotees from her household was expensive for her to bear, hence, she travelled with just two other devotees to reduce cost.
On his part, a Lagos-based tourist, Ifalola Ademola attributed the low turnout to the nationwide protest, saying the protest started at the time many tourists arrived the state for the festival.
“Tourists do arrive Osogbo a week before the grand finale to witness series of events before the D-day but this year, the ongoing protest was a big impediment to us here in Nigeria and international tourists, hence, the low turnout,” Ademola lamented.
Side attractions
Besides the festival itself, many tourists’ point of call before and after the procession to the Osun grove is the different music joints majorly sponsored by different drink brands.
Most of the music concepts only last between two and three days with the attendance also below the usual crowd at the respective venues from the last two editions of the festival.
A resident, Ismail Adeogun disclosed that the different music concert in Osogbo, during Osun-Osogbo festival, do last between five and six days but this time around, it lasted only about three days while some came for just two days.
Adeogun said: “For instance, the brand stationed inside Technical College in Osogbo performed only on Friday night after which they packed up and left.
“One understands that the economic situation in the country is responsible for this cost-cutting techniques by stakeholders.”
OPC’s impact
The Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, is one organisation that added glamour to the 2024 festival as its members from all the South- West states attended the event in their thousands.
The group, under the leadership of Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, held two different programmes before and during the festival on Friday.
The group, not withstanding the harsh economy, bombarded the festival, holding two days event in the town.
The group’s National Coordinator, Adams, while addressing his followers said: “As an organization, we know how much we have injected into the economy of the state in the last two days.
“And it is interesting to say that the financial commitments incurred by our members at this year’s Osun Osogbo festival have gone a long way in boosting the economy of Osogbo and its environs.”
Reacting to the obviously low attendance at the grand finale of the event, the Osun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Abiodun Bankole, said the turn out was good, considering the situation in the country.
Bankole said: “Considering the situation in Nigeria, this is a fantastic performance. We have to be careful, watchful and proactive. The people here are wonderful and fantastic enough.”
