FG Eyes $5bn Revenue from Annual Osogbo Festival
The Federal Government through the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) has unveiled an ambitious plan to host the Annual World Orisa Congress, with projections indicating a potential revenue generation of over $5 billion.
NICO announced on Thursday that the project could attract over one million visitors across the globe and boost investment opportunities for Nigeria.
The World Orisa Congress is an affirmation of the coalescence of cultural identity with Africans in the Diaspora
The Executive Secretary of NICO, Biodun Ajiboye, said the project which serves as another means of preserving Nigeria’s culture is also necessitated by the exigency of pushing up Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, thereby generating revenue for the government to improve the living standard of Nigerians.
Ajiboye explained that while Nigeria remains in dire need of creating ways and means of generating revenue and reflating the economy, one of the solutions to this challenge is through increased foreign exchange earnings.
He noted that globally, cultural outreach programmes in terms of cultural and ancestral convergence are known to be money-generating ventures with Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, India, and China being front runners in bringing global audiences to their countries at periodic times.
“Nigeria at this time is left with little or no choice but to tap into the rich cultural opportunities to become economically sustainable as a nation. This project which is also aimed at preserving and promoting Nigeria’s cultural history and heritage to the world is estimated to generate $5-6bn with Nigeria playing host to over one million visitors,” Ajiboye stated.
The NICO boss emphasized that the actualization of the World Orisa Congress project has become necessary following the yearnings of Africans in the Diaspora who were taken from Nigeria into slavery over 500 years ago to connect back to their roots.
He noted that the World Orisa Congress is an affirmation of the coalescence of cultural identity with Africans in the Diaspora.
“It is an ultimate spiritual connection to all of us as a people with a common goal and destiny. There are about 500 million people across the globe who are related to the traditional religion of the African people and as devotees of different deities, they are yearning to return home.
“It is therefore the institute’s desire to tap into the vast treasure of these 500 million people of Orisa descent from Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and other Caribbean countries to converge in their ancestral home/roots regularly. In Brazil alone, there are over 89 million people who are ready to key into this vision.
“Nigeria stands to benefit enhanced cross-cultural understanding and empathy, record an increase in global co-operation and rapprochement, tap into the huge revenue stream of almost one million visitors annually on a sustainable basis which is devolved into increasing the GDP astronomically, and establish global creativity, innovation, and progress, create sustenance of traditional rituals, sacred practices, traditional craftsmanship, oral traditions, and festive events,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Ajiboye expressed the readiness of relevant agencies and stakeholders across the globe to ensure the success of the project.
“So far, the Diaspora in the United States of America, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and other Caribbean countries are ready with materials and human resources for this project.
“Through extensive collaborations with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Diaspora Commission, we will energize global participation at the World Orisa Congress which shall be a focal point of interaction via ceremonial obeisance, social practices, festivals, traditional craftsmanship and knowledge concerning nature and the universe,” he stated.
