Akure traditional festival doesn’t involve fetishism, says monarch
August 11, 2026 6:15 pm
Oba Adetoyinbo Aladelusi
By Peter Dada
The Deji of Akure Kingdom, Oba Adetoyinbo Aladelusi, has clarified that the celebration of the annual Ulefunta traditional festival did not involve fetishism as believed in some quarters.
The first-class monarch also stated that Ulefunta was the highest traditional festival in Akure Kingdom and was celebrated annually.
The Olu of Okelisa Titun and the Chairman of the Ulefunta Festival Committee, Oba Olu Ajanaku, stated this on behalf of Oba Aladelusi, while speaking on the activities lined up for the forthcoming 2026 Ulefunta at the Akure palace on Tuesday.
According to him, all the activities lined up for the six-day celebration, coming up in a few weeks’ time, had no part where fetishism was involved.
He said, “Traditionally, the festival is about the Deji of Akure to go on vacation and during that time there would be no other celebrations; there would be no beating of drums. It affects the main town of Akure; it doesn’t affect other Akure-speaking communities. So in those days, anyone who wanted to celebrate anything would take it to the other to the neighbouring Akure-speaking communities.
“I want to clarify this: Ulefunta festival is not a fetish festival. If you look at the programme on day six of this celebration, it ends at St. David’s Anglican Church Cathedral and on day four, there is a Jumat service at the Akure Central Mosque. You can see that it is about civility, it’s about social interaction, about purity of our community. In the Akure traditional calendar, it is the beginning of a new year.”
The traditional ruler said the forthcoming six-day celebration will bring together residents and indigenes of Akure North, Akure South and Akure Central to celebrate the city’s history, culture and shared heritage, adding that it will feature cultural displays, a football competition, health outreach, colloquium, masquerade displays, chieftaincy conferment, religious services and other activities aimed at strengthening unity among the people of Akure.
Ajanaku disclosed that the community had concluded plans to establish the Akure Heritage Library and digital archive as part of efforts to preserve the history and cultural identity of the ancient town and also to make materials on Akure’s history and heritage accessible to people in Nigeria and around the world.
“Let us tell our story ourselves. History is not only about the past. History is identity. History is heritage. History is memory. If we do not preserve our history, someone else will eventually tell it for us, and they may not tell it the way we know it,” Ajanaku stated.
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