{"id":73545,"date":"2025-08-19T09:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=73545"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:27:11","slug":"isese-festival-gets-govts-attention-as-south-west-states-declare-public-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/08\/19\/isese-festival-gets-govts-attention-as-south-west-states-declare-public-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Isese Festival Gets Govt’s Attention as South-West States Declare Public Holiday\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Onilede Titi Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

The celebration of Isese Day, an annual festival honouring Yoruba culture, spirituality, and traditional religious heritage, has received a major boost as Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun States officially declared Wednesday, August 20, 2025, a public holiday.<\/p>\n

The move, widely welcomed by traditionalists and cultural enthusiasts, is seen as recognition of indigenous religion and parity with Christianity and Islam, whose adherents already enjoy designated holidays.<\/p>\n

In Lagos, the Head of Service, Bode Agoro, issued a circular directing Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Local Governments, and LCDAs to observe the holiday.<\/p>\n

The state said the declaration reflects its commitment to inclusivity and urged residents to celebrate peacefully.<\/p>\n

Oyo State\u2019s announcement came in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Olanike Adeyemo, on behalf of Governor Seyi Makinde.<\/p>\n

The government described the holiday as a recognition of Oyo\u2019s historic role as custodian of Yoruba tradition and urged citizens to mark the day with prayers, service, and interfaith harmony.<\/p>\n

In Ogun, the government noted that Isese Day has grown in significance as a unifying event that celebrates heritage and roots.<\/p>\n

It called on worshippers to conduct activities peacefully while showcasing Yoruba culture through rituals, music, prayers, and traditional attire.<\/p>\n

Cultural leaders across the region hailed the development as a landmark victory for traditional religion after years of agitation for official recognition. They said the holiday would strengthen communal values, intergenerational knowledge, and the protection of Yoruba identity.<\/p>\n

Isese, meaning \u201ctradition,\u201d symbolises the Yoruba worldview, spirituality, and ancestral connection.<\/p>\n

Each year, adherents of Ifa, Orisa, and other indigenous beliefs gather for prayers, lectures, and cultural displays promoting peace, morality, and community development.<\/p>\n

With Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun now joining other states that already observe the holiday, advocates say broader adoption across Nigeria may soon follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Onilede Titi Faith The celebration of Isese Day, an annual festival honouring Yoruba culture, spirituality, and traditional religious heritage, has received a major boost as Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun States officially declared Wednesday, August 20, 2025, a public holiday. The move, widely welcomed by traditionalists and cultural enthusiasts, is seen as recognition of indigenous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":73546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73547,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73545\/revisions\/73547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}