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Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi on Monday described Ibadan as the melting pot of the Yoruba Culture, saying that the promotion and preservation of our culture and heritage is one of the legacy pillars of his administration.
The Governor stated this at the Government House Ibadan during the cultural activities marking 2018 World Culture Day and the official launch of the state’s quarterly cultural magazine tagged Dundun produced by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism to promote and document our culture, values and historical places among others.
He explained that the other legacy pillars are Education, Technology, Agriculture and Health, stressing that his administration will strive hard to ensure the revival of the cultural tourism sector of the Oyo State economy which he said can be easily modeled after the Californian economy given the inherent similarities.
The Governor explained that his administration has embarked on the establishment of the Ibadan Media City as a first step in the realization of this noble objective pointing out that the facilities of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State would serve as its launch pad.
In his own remarks, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun urged that culture should be used to propagate peace and unity among the different tribes in the country.
He said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) set May 21 aside for people all over the world to remember their culture, to celebrate their culture and to promote their culture.
“So today is a day of celebration,” he said. “And that is why you would see that the students have gone to school today in their traditional attires and will be engaged in cultural activities. If you go to offices, you will see that everybody is dressed in traditional outfits.
“It is a way of remembering where we came from, the way we do our things and one of the ways you can distinguish people is the way of their culture. We have gathered people from diverse culture at the cultural center and we are having a cultural rendezvous. Everybody is going to be there, the local food, music, dance, arts and craft and everything that is related to culture will be exhibited there today. We will be showcasing the culture of Oyo State.”
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