Isese: Sanwo-Olu Declares Monday Work-Free In Lagos As Traditional Worshipers Dare Oluwo In Osun

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared Monday work free day for all public servants in the state to commemorate the 2023 Isese Day.

The Isese Day has been set aside in Lagos to celebrate the indigenous Yoruba culture, traditions, and the preservation of the Yoruba heritage.

Isese Day provides an avenue for traditional religious believers to celebrate and get closer to their creator.

This was disclosed in a circular issued by the state Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

According to the circular, this year’s Isese Day celebration will hold on Sunday.

Muri-Okunola stated that the declaration of the work-free day by the governor is a reaffirmation of his “commitment to continue to provide necessary support to traditional institutions in the State with a view to promoting our indigenous culture and tradition while preserving our heritage”. All workers are to resume duty on Tuesday at 8 a.m. prompt.

Meanwhile, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State similarly approved August 20 of every year as Isese Day following demands by traditional religion adherents in the state. He also declared Monday as the maiden public holiday to commemorate the day.

In Kwara, the state’s Police Command issued a warning to traditional worshippers over their plan to designate Ilọrin, the state capital, as the venue for the 2023 World Isese Day.

“Intelligence available to the command does not favour the planned celebration. They have been advised to relocate their celebration to another state pending a favourable security situation,” the Kwara police spokesman, Ajayi Okasanmi, said in a statement.

The development forced the International Council for Ifa Religion to suspend the planned celebration in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

On Friday, the Traditional Religion Worshippers Association in Osun State made an official announcement regarding the Isese Festival scheduled to also take place on August 20.

The association asserted that the recent alleged prohibition of traditionalist activities by Oba Adewale Akanbi, the Oluwo of Iwo, lacks credibility and is destined to be short-lived.

In response to a video where Oluwo allegedly directed the cessation of Oro festival and ritual observances in the town, the traditionalists conveyed their perspective.

They described the statements as a joke spoken in a state of drowsiness.

“What he (Oluwo of Iwo) said was just a rude joke, and maybe he was sleepy when he was talking, or maybe he was misquoted. I’m sure he wouldn’t have said that in his right senses,” the association’s President, Dr Oluseyi Atanda, was reported to have said.