HARNESSING THE OJUDE-OBA CULTURAL FESTIVAL AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Ojude-Oba festivals are periods when the Ijebus and other people from the south west part of Nigeria converge as a group to renew their familial relationships, fortify their solidarity, cohesion and contribute to communal development through culture, music, food, art, fashion and merriment. In fact, they are sacred times when the people are free from social divisions and class segregation to unite as a community and show support by partaking in cultural activities that facilitates tourism, socio-economic development and communal development. In the light of this, the objective of this paper seeks to examine how the Ojude-Oba festival can be a tool for enhancing sustainable community development in South West, Nigeria. Qualitative method based on document investigation was adopted and the findings from this paper revealed that the Ojude-Oba has brought about tremendous community development that has led to urbanization and globalization in terms of trade, technology, entrepreneurship, industrialization and patriotism not just in Ijebu-Ode but in the entire South-West Nigeria. However, for this communal development to be sustainable, it concludes and recommends that the local and state government in collaboration with social and traditional institutions should enact policies that support the promotion and preservation of the Ojude-Oba culture from annihilation as they not only reflect the cultural identity and heritage of the South-West people, but play a huge role in enhancing sustainable community development.