To celebrate Isese Day, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has declared Monday as a work-free day for all public servants in the state.

The Isese Day has been set aside in Lagos to celebrate the indigenous Yoruba culture and traditions as well as the preservation of the Yoruba heritage.

It is marked annually on 20 August and celebrated by adherents of the Yoruba traditional religion.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Jibril Gawat, a media aide to the governor said the announcement was made in a circular issued by Hakeem Muri-Okunola, the state’s head of service.

According to a circular, this year’s Isese Day celebration will be held on Sunday, 20 August.

He stated further that the declaration of a work-free day by the governor is a reaffirmation of his “commitment to continue to provide necessary support to traditional institutions in the State with a view to promoting our indigenous culture and tradition while preserving our heritage.”

The circular announced Tuesday, 22 August at 8 a.m. prompt as the resumption of work for all state workers.

Lagos joins the list of southwestern states — Oyo and Ogun states that recently set aside 20 August to mark the festival.

Controversy

In Kwara State, the festival has been a subject of controversy.

Traditional practitioners were stopped from celebrating the festival in the state after an Islamic group warned a priestess against holding the celebration.

Sulu Gambari, the emir of Ilorin, said the festival was cancelled “to prevent a crisis”.

But Wole Soyinka, a renowned playwright, criticised him saying his “virtue of intolerance” breeds fundamentalist organisations such as “Boko-Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Al-Shabaab.”

The Nobel laureate described the emir’s action as an assault on civilised conduct.

Mr Soyinka and the monarch recently clashed over the latter’s decision to ban a cultural festival of Isese by an Osun devotee, Adesikemi Olokun, in the city of Ilorin.

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