Culture and Tradition on Display As Agege Begins 7-Day Celebration; To raise ₦500m for out-of-school children

Residents of Agege and its environs in Lagos would be witnessing a seven-day traditional and cultural display that would culminate in raising a ₦500 million education endowment fund for the benefit of residents of the area.

The Chairman of the Agege Day Celebrations Committee, Mr Afolabi Ayantayo, announced this at a news conference on Thursday noting that the series of events would commence on Friday, February 3 and end on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.

Ayantayo, a Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Parastatals Monitoring, said the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and other prominent leaders, sons and daughters of Agege, would showcase more of the ancient town’s virtues that are beginning to gain prominence due to massive infrastructural developments.

“In taking stock of the struggles of the past and modest achievements recorded so far, we, the people of Agege, have decided to celebrate our journey, our resilience, our conquests, our strides and our victory over adversities, our unity over disunity, the forbearance, bravery and undying spirit of survival, of never losing hope, and of the belief in a better future.

“To commemorate the conquering spirit of Agege people and build on the unity and progress achieved so far, we are celebrating our fortunes in a weeklong program tagged Agege Day Celebrations.

“In celebrating Agege Day 2022, all hands are on deck to guarantee a hitch-free celebration that will educate, entertain, illuminate and excite the entire populace and well-wishers who will be welcomed to felicitate with us from across the world.

“We have hordes of accomplished Agege indigenes in the diaspora looking forward to felicitating with the rest of us home-based.

“The celebrations encompass all aspects of lives of the Agege people namely, religious, cultural, social, education, sports,” he said.

While noting that the event would now be celebrated annually to draw global attention to Agege, Ayantayo said the town had suffered many years of developmental challenges brought upon it and other parts of Lagos by the long military reigns.

He, however, said that the town, with an estimated population of over one million, had now become a shining light with advancements in various sectors of the economy.

“Suffice to say that in all these achievements, the realisation of these goals by government, Agege itself has produced a personality that has added fulcrum, Rt. Hon. Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa, to the realisation of these lofty achievements, has become our humble town’s brand ambassador.

“Rt. Hon. Mudasiru Obasa has, through his political accomplishments, injected much of the development the people of Agege are enjoying into the town by soliciting the support of the Executive arm and other entities, including non government organisations (NGO) and other business concerns into making direct investments in Agege, measures that have had direct impacts in the lives of the people of the town,” Ayantayo said.

The committee chairman said the event would commence with a Jumat service and an awareness rally on Friday. A special service is expected to hold on Sunday, February 5.

The event would also include secondary school debate, cultural and traditional displays, a pageant and novelty match and the launching of the ₦500 million educational endowment fund.