By Yinka Akanbi
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added the Sango Oyo Festival to its World Heritage list.
The international body inscribed the festival during the 2023 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee Convention For The Safeguarding Of The Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Reacting to the development, Oyo State Commissioner for5 Culture and Tourism, Wasiu Olatubosun, said the development ranks Nigeria amongst the countries of the world as a giant in the Tourism Industry, and by extension, cultural proliferation.
According to him, the next Sango Festival in Oyo town slated for August 2024, will be witnessed by over thousands of international tourists from 167 member countries of UNESCO.
Olatubosun expressed optimism at this feat saying “it is a beacon of hope as it portends expansion in the economic sector of the state, as well as unprecedented growth in the hospitality business, with the astronomical influx of tourists within a space of time”.
The session, chaired by H.E. Mustaq Moorad, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Botswana to UNESCO, held at Kasane, in the Republic of Botswana from Monday 4th to Saturday 9th December 2023.
Responding at the Convention, Dr. Paula Gomes, the Cultural Ambassador to The Alaafin of Oyo appreciated the recognition by the committee for the nomination of the Sango Festival of Oyo, which had been in process for a decade, stressing the significance of Sango to the throne of Alaafin, the Yoruba kingdom and the global community.
