Kwara wrestling festival for national – Lai

The federal government has said local wrestling contest in Offa, Kwara State, called ‘Ijakadi Festival’, will be included in the national festival calendar.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the declaration at the 2017 ‘Ijakadi Festival’ in Offa weekend in Kwara State, a statement by the minister’s office said.

He said the people in charge of the festival will be trained under a (training) programme for festival managers, being jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the British Council.

“My ministry is going to put this particular festival on our own calendar. We have a MoU with the British Council through which, every year, we train festival managers all over the country. I want to assure you that in 2018, they (Ijakadi festival managers) will benefit from this training,” he said.

He congratulated the organizers of the festival for reviving it in 2012, after over three decades, and said the decision to raise its visibility could not have been timelier, considering the determination of the Buhari Administration to make the Creative Industry a pillar of the economy, under its economic diversification policy.

“What we have come here to celebrate is a history that goes back to the 14th century, and I want to seize this opportunity to congratulate the Olofa of Offa, that after almost a hiatus of 30 years, when there was no festival, the festival was reborn in 2012 and every year it’s getting bigger and bigger,” the Minister said.

Highlights of the Ijakadi Festival include traditional dances, parade by districts, wrestling bouts, and horse racing. Other dignitaries at this year’s festival included the Minister of Communication, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, and the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Muhammed-Gbadamosi, and the President of the Offa Descendants Union, Alhaji Najeemdeen Usman Yasin.