Olooye Adegboyega Taofeek Adegoke (FCA), Aare Egbe-Omo Balogun of Ibadanland and governorship aspirant under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has shown his commitment to cultural development in Oyo State by supporting the Igbo-Ora World Twins Festival with N50 million. The breakdown of the support includes N20 million for the festival and N10 million each for the three local governments of Ibarapa Central, Ibarapa North, and Ibarapa East that organized the event.
Olooye Adegoke, a governorship aspirant under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) made the announcement while speaking on Saturday as the Chairman of the 2025 World Twins Festival, Igbo-Ora.
Olooye Adegoke, while commending governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde for creating Ministry of Culture and Tourism, noted that this decision shows that the governor is a lover of cultural developments.
In his words: “if the annual World Twins Festival, Igbo-Ora is sustained and properly coordinated, it would attract foreign tourists, which will, in return boost the economy of not only Ibarapaland but the entire Oyo State,” he stated.
According to him, “If we all come together to celebrate this festival every year, if we come together to organize it in a perfect way that will attract tourists from other countries like the Caribbean nations, the Latin America, it will help catapult the economy of IIbarapaland. And you know Ibarapa is a sub-set of Oyo State. Therefore, if the economy of Ibarapa improves invariably the economy of Oyo state will improve.
“If this festival attracts tourists from Overseas, definitely it will attract developments. It will boost the economy of Ibarapaland because people will invest in hotels and tourism. People will invest in transportation, government will invest in security, electricity and other infrastructural developments.
“And I want to be part of the people that will bring developments to this place and encourage developments in Oyo State. By next year, I will be here and by then I would have picked the governorship ticket and by 2027, by God’s grace, I would have become governor of Oyo State.
Speaking earlier, the Olu of Igbo-Ora, Oba Jimoh Olajide Titiloye, said it’s the collective aspiration of all that the Igbo-Ora Twins Festival continues to grow “not only as a global celebration of our uniqueness but as a platform for youth development, peace – building and empowerment. Together let us uphold the value, tradition and spirit that makes Igbo-Ora great while praying for a better future for generations yet unborn.
“We must nurture in our youth, the spirit of cooperation, discipline, hard work dignity of labour and patriotism.
He further explained that, the Twins Festival must provides the platform to re-orientate the minds of the youth towards positive values and purposeful living, saying, “It is through this spirit that we must empower our youth towards access to quality education, vocational training, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.
“Our young people can become productive citizens who will uplift Igbo-Ora and lift Oyo State in future. We must make Igbo-Ora a hub of youth empowerment”.
