An interview with Obed Alli, the Chairman, Central Planning Committee, Aba Festival 2017.

The much-awaited 38th edition of the most crowd-pulling festival in Africa, Aba Festival is around the corner and, without doubt, all sons and daughters of Igarra kingdom as well as local and international tourists and visitors are looking forward to it.

Today, ??????????? engaged Mr. Obed Alli, the indefatigable chairman, Central Planning Committee for this year’s edition for a mind-blowing interview during which he bore his mind on the preparedness of his committee, preparation challenges and the state government involvement, security plans, among other burning issues.

Please, sit back and enjoy it.

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Yes, of course.  First and foremost, let me quickly use this medium to appreciate Afemai Development & Transformation Initiative (ADTI) for allowing me on this platform, ???????????, to give account of my stewardship as chairman, Central Planning Committee (CPC) of this year’s edition of the prestigious historic Aba Festival.

By way of introduction, my names are Alli Obed Monday, a bonafide son of Igarra, the headquarters of Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Edo state. A businessman based in Lagos, I am happily married to Joy Evbakhaibokun and we are blessed with wonderful children.

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Thank you, Sir.  God bless you.

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The origin of the Aba cultural festival is almost lost to memory due to lack of historical records. It is originally a celebration of victory by hunters over the initial settlers of the land now known and called Etônô, (Etuno) Igarra.

The festival derives its name from the popular Aba Drum which is a relic of the Kwararafa in (Jukun kingdom) and an important symbol of Igarra culture brought along by Agbogumoza, a brave warrior and hunter of Eziakuta Opoporiku sub-kindred extraction who led the advance party of hunters along the entire trajectory of migration from kwararafa to the present day Etunoland.  The subsisting and surviving evidence of Agbogumoza’s superhuman abilities was his footprint on a rock known as Iretoji (Black Rock) located at the Okovoza axis of the rocky hills (Ifege in Igarra dialect) area of Igarra. That is why most of the songs rendered during the festival are original hunters’ songs of victory in Kwararafa dialect. Hence, some people think they are not Igarra dialect, therefore, having the wrong perception that the festival is adopted.

The Aba festival is the most spectacular/singular event in the celebration of Irepa Festival. It is the highest crowd pulling of all Irepa Festival events. It marks the climax of activities as it indicates the end of a six-year traditional administration tenure and the beginning of the new one which would last for the next six calendar years. It is an age-long, internationally acclaimed festival, which is held once in every six calendar years. It is adjudged the sixth most important unadulterated indigenous cultural festival in the whole of West Africa by Total E&P in their 2006 yearly publication.

The celebration of the festival marks the commencement of Irepa/Azebani title ceremony. It takes place on the third day after the Enu (the new yam festival) of the same Irepa year and this is usually in the month of August. This year’s main event is billed to hold on Friday, 25th August by God’s grace. It marks the graduation of the town’s Legislative & Executive age group called Opoze (Opa Avinebe) to the highly revered council of elders called Azebani.

The Opoze age group is unique in the sense that it is always the centre of attraction during the festival. This is because having been at the helm of affairs of the town for six years, its members are the chief celebrants of the occasion. Therefore, the beating of the Aba drum is the singular official rite which formally graduates members of one age group to the next one in the hierarchy.

Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that the celebrants usually dress in immaculate white Agbada attire with bell/white horse tail, white cap and a pair of white shoes to match. And as a mark of honour to rever the celebrants, no other person, no matter how highly placed, is allowed to wear white on that day.

The forthcoming event is the recorded 38th edition in the history of the peace-loving and highly hospitable Igarra community. Igarra people from all walks of life, nooks and crannies of the globe, with friends and well-wishers come home either to witness or take part in it. The festival has witnessed a huge upsurge in the number of tourists attending it. The last edition, the 37th edition in the series, was witnessed by about five hundred and fifty thousand attendees including local and international tourists. The fourth since the return to civil rule in Nigeria, this year’s edition promises to be not only the biggest but the most spectacular edition ever as innovations and other activities have been introduced into it since it was first celebrated centuries ago. With the repackaging of the festival by Etuno Youth Association (EYA) and with Edo State Government’s endorsement as partner in the Aba project, the number of tourists and visitors being expected at this highly publicized edition shall, no doubt, double that of 37th edition.

Aba Festival has become a massive tourist attraction, and we believe that someday, it shall become so massive than our present estimation with international clout and flavor. Therefore, plans are on to list the Aba festival on the calendar of World Tourism Organization (WTO) as well as the World Heritage Festival of UNESCO.

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It all happened in April 2010 at the first Igarra General Conference during which Etuno Youth Association (EYA) was unanimously endorsed to coordinate, project and promote the 37th edition of Aba Festival and also the subsequent editions.

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The secret is no other than God with the collective efforts of all the committed committee members especially Mr. Taiwo Akerele and Monday Lawani who are distant members, my able president, P.M.Orisaremi, VP, Pstr. Bakare, Dominic Odigo, Moses Skinner, Jude Oseh, Ben Mayaki, Clinton Akande, Kelvin Onyana and a host of others.

With the great wealth of experience of committee members, we intelligently took advantage of the print, electronic and social media to achieve this massive publicity for this historic festival.

We are all working round the clock to ensure that this edition succeeds more than all the past editions.  I want to really appreciate them for the immense sacrifice.  My prayer is that we shall leave Igarra better than we met it to generations after us in Jesus’ name.

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To the best of our abilities, I can say that we are fully set and prepared.  However, we are beset with serious financial challenges due to the economic recession. The response from corporate organizations is below average, but we have resolved to do the best we can within the available resources to make the edition a memorable one.  We do know that expectations are high.   Therefore, since we have put our hands on the plough, we can’t afford to disappoint the people.

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It’s true that the government of Edo state has since 2011 endorsed the festival. And that was why for the first time in the recorded history of the 228 year-old festival, a sitting governor in the person of His Excellency, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole graced the 37th edition with some of his cabinet members, Senators, House of Representatives members and a sizeable number of Edo State House of Assembly members.

We renewed the endorsement for the 38th edition in July 2016 under the leadership of MacDonald as the honourable commissioner for Arts, Culture & Tourism. This is because it is a six yearly festival with the understanding that the government was going to change. And since government is a continuum, we decided get it done ahead of time.

And as a confirmation of Edo State Government’s endorsement and support, it was fully represented at our press conference of 2011 and 2017.

It is worth mentioning that Adams Oshiomole-led state government did not only support the 37th edition of the festival in 2011 morally, but also financially and materially.

This interview is incomplete if I fail to thank God for Comrade Abdul Oroh and Aanena Jemitola under whose commissionership the festival was endorsed and celebrated respectively. May God bless and keep them. They were, indeed, very supportive.

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Historically, the festival has always been peaceful, and this edition is not going to be different.  Let me use this medium to remind those who are nursing evil plans and intentions that the symbol of the festival, Aba Drum, has a way of taking care of them. They should go and check history.

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We have written letters to the DSS, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Civil Defence & Security Corps and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). They would be fully on ground weeks before, during and after the festival. The local vigilantes from the neighboring communities would also be co-opted. By God’s grace, the five entering points to Igarra shall be under the watchful eyes of the security agents.  They would be condoned off in the form of road block and stop and search methods by the security men.

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The festival shall be used to expose the rich tourism potentials of Igarra such as Ivokoto Spring Water, Agbogumoza footprint on Iretoji Rock; the rock with a human face in Somorika; 1/4 kilometre rocky bridge within the cave connecting one quarter of the ancient community to another; and the natural cave tunnels through which one can connect the three quarters without going through the normal and popular road; among others.

The state government has taken over the festival as a state affair by its full involvement in it. The newly appointed honourable commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism has passion for tourism, and he is fully committed to this festival project. This is the first major assignment he is handling on assumption of office.

With the full endorsement of the festival by the state government is ready to invest in the tourism potentials of the festival and develop it to become an earner for the state.

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Fund, of course.  We had planned to do so many things but for lack of sufficient fund.

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As usual, the state government will be fully on ground during the festival. The Executive Governor, Dr. Godwin Obaseki, his cabinet members including the honourable commissioner for Arts, Culture & Tourism and honourable members of Edo State House of Assembly shall play host to the festival.

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Let me use this medium to appeal to everyone to be law-abiding throughout the festival as it is not going to be business as usual.  The owner and custodian family has taken steps to perform the preceding rites of the festival and, therefore, anybody who perpetuates any evil before, during and after the festival will definitely have himself or herself to blame.

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Our committee shall be remembered for good as we have been able to project and promote the festival to the entire world like never before for two consecutive editions. No doubt, we have made our mark and we expect that the younger generations would build on what we have done and take it to the next level.

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Of course, I see a massive breakthrough coming to Afemailand in terms of cultural and tourism development with Hon. Osaze Osemwegie-Ero as the helmsman at Edo State Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism.  By virtue of my position as the chairman of Central Planning Committee of this epoch-making festival, I have had the opportunity of working and walking with him.  He is a friend of Afemailand and he is very passionate and committed to the cause of harnessing the untapped cultural festivals and tourist havens available in Afemailand.

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I sincerely wish them happy celebrations and may the Almighty God bless them with long life and sound health to see Igarra of our dream in Jesus’ name.

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I really, really give God thanks for sparing my life to see this special day in my life.  The only birthday gift which I want from God is the maximum success of the 38th edition of Aba Festival.  I want Him to crown the tireless efforts of all members of the Central Planning Committee with the tremendous success of the festival.

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I am hearing it for the first time. I am yet to receive any formal notification from the organizers.  However, I feel humbled to be honoured by my own people.  But let me quickly make it very clear that I owe such award to God Almighty and all members of the Central Planning Committee of Aba Festival 2017 as I alone can do nothing without them nothing.

Until I receive a notification from the organizers, let me reserve my gratitude to them on behalf of my indefatigable committee members.

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I wish to appreciate and thank Ray Festus Symperr and ADTI for the good work. Please, be assured that I am free to make myself available in any area you think I can be of any assistance to you and your group.

One love and God bless you.