Igogo Ekiti 2024 Day Celebration: Issues and Lessons, By Sunday Afolayan

By Sunday Afolayan

The 2024 edition of Igogo Ekiti Day celebration has come and gone but the echo of  its memories remains indelible in the annals of our community history and will remain so for a long period. From the planning stage to execution, the “look inward, do it yourself” mantra was well managed by the organisers of the event as an innovative strategy to mobilise people from the grassroot and minimise cost without jeopardising the usual funfare and glamour, despite daunting challenges. 

The trajectory of its success began in 2023 when the newly appointed Chairman of the Organising Committee, Dr Williams Mobolaji Afolabi, revving out of the usual box, assembled the who is who among the notable egghead-sons and daughters of our great town, from different walks of life to brainstorm on the best ways to move the town forward. In  what could be described as a mini conference,  a town hall meeting was put in place to cross fertilise ideas, in an attempt to xray factors militating against the progress of the town over the years and proffer workable solutions to them. During that year’s parley, the guest lecturer, Dr Olusegun Ayeni, of blessed memory, presented a brilliant paper that would later become the pivot upon which the new Igogo Ekiti is now being built. 

It is upon the strength of this conference outcome that Dr Afolabi – a retired permanent secretary in Ekiti State, decided to adopt a new paradigm to inject a lifeline into the ways the day celebration could make a difference, both in content and context. From the first meeting with members of his committee, he did not mince words about his plan to look inward, rather than seeking refuge from outside donors, who, more often than once, would rather pledge mountains in public glare and end up with anthills in the closet. According to him, relying on people from other communities to help us  develop our town is akin to seeking a fool’s paradise or like dreaming to build a castle in the air. Rather, he said until we put our destiny into our hands, our crave for development may remain a mirage. By design, this novelty was a sharp deviation from the past norm where premium was placed on certain individuals outside the community for heavy donations. 

Making his administrative prowess to bear in this instance, Afolabi deployed his strategy by identifying people of substance and mobilising them into a citizen-led  community engagement through voluntary donations. He further created an avenue to accommodate others such that everyone – both the high and low, the rich and average, has something to offer, however small. Part of this strategy was to group prospective individuals/family donors into the gold, silver and bronze categories with specified amount while others were encouraged to give according to their means. Also engaged were professional and community based associations to actively participate in the development drive. 

Leveraging on his cordial relationship with people across social and economic strata, his committee was able to garner support massively among the town’s sons and daughters, in spite of short notice, which some pessimists feared was going to flop the celebration. Another value addition was the drastic pruning of budgets at both the central and sub-committee levels while many sub-committee members, especially their chair persons even gladly spent their personal resources to get some things done as part of their social responsibility for the success of the programme. Through proper coordination, every part of the 4-day event, starting from crusade to rally, from football competition to debate and quiz contest, left a memorable trail that up till now remains a benchmark with which future celebrations will be measured. 

During the grand finale of the events, it was pomp and funfare. The venue –  St Joseph Catholic Primary School – was filled with happy people, who wore some of their best dresses, basking in the euphoria of a motley fiesta, which has now almost assumed the status of a UNESCO designated cultural festival with the attendant glamour. The paramount ruler – HRM, Oba (Barr) Olusola Adewumi his queen – Olori Olufunmilayo, the service chiefs and women chiefs were arrayed in colourful native regalia, beaming with smile, not only for the clement atmosphere of the day but for the glaring successes being recorded as the programmes unfolded. Other notable persons, such as the Chairman on the occasion, Dr David Kolawole Aina, the scion of Eleomode Dynasty and CEO of Top Tech Engineering Ltd, Chief Mathew Oluwafemi Ogunyeye, Hon. Babatunde Ogunsuyi, the Chairperson of Ero LCDA, Hon. Mrs Felicia Ibiloye and members of Igogo Ekiti Development Association (IDA), led by its President, Mr Oladele Oni, were among important personalities that graced the occasion. Different age grades, professional associations, the Oloris, musical and tourist artistes also added colour to the event with different displays and songs. 

In addition to the existing youths empowerment, such as  late Chief D. A. Ogunsuyi  award for the best male and female students in English language, in both secondary schools in Igogo Ekiti, late Chief M. Ola Ajayi annual debate competition and Fagab Cup competition, the newly instituted awards were Dr Kolawole Ojo Family award for the overall best students in WAEC in both secondary schools, Fola Abolarinde Foundation for medical and nursing students and Hon. Funke Ogunsuyi-Banjoko award for best female students in SS3 also in both secondary schools. It is hoped that this initiative will continue and attract more awards to assist our youths in their academic career, most of whom are indegent students. 

As the people still relish the beauty of a well organised day celebration, the new strategy, introduced by the current leadership of the day celebration has opened up a frontier for a better community development agenda where citizens carry their load themselves by creating vibrant, sustainable and equitable means for generating funds among the people for the improvement of their community. In addition to allowing citizens take responsibility of their community’s growth, it has also engendered improved quality of life because funds generated can be utilised to build better infrastructure, such as the completion of the ongoing ultra modern palace for the Onigogo of Igogo Ekiti. Crucial services and amenities that can muster socio-economic cohesion, wellbeing of the residents, unity, inclusivity and social connections for personal and collective growth through volunteerism can also enjoy a facelift when we all join hands together to move our community forward. 

©2024. Gabriel Sunday Afolayan, Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors, Ondo State Chapter, teaches journalism and media studies at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Nigeria.