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Ito Ogbo Festival



Ito Ogbo is a festival celebrated primarily among the Obosi people in Anambra State. Anambra State's Ito Ogbo Festival is primarily celebrated by the Obosi people as part of their traditional culture in the Ito Ogbo Local Government Area.

The festival is aimed at recognizing elders who are in their octogenarian years while they are still here on earth. This festival is held every three years in the community and it celebrates the elderly members of the community born around the time the community was founded and who have been living in the community for a long time.

In the years that have passed, the Ito-Ogbo Obosi festival has been an age-old festival that has been celebrated for more than five centuries. It's a time for celebrating, thanking, and celebrating God's octogenarians (those over 80 years old) within God's kingdom.

This ceremony, held every three years, honors both male and female octogenarians with special titles and inducts them into the octogenarian age group. Since the festival has attracted people from all walks of life, it has been able to harness and build the tourism potentials of the Obosi community by bringing people from all walks of life to the city.

In the past, the festival has been celebrated with pomp and a sense of grandeur, where people from all spheres of life gather together to honour and celebrate the elderly. A special celebration and award ceremony was held for more than 130 octogenarians during the Ito Ogbo Obosi festival in 2021. In addition to community members and prominent guests, delegates from the Federal Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Federal Ministry of Information attended the event.

A number of Ministers of Information, Culture, and Tourism attended the 2021 festival, including Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, who was represented by, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information. According to Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, the ministry intends to elevate the longevity celebration to a national level and to initiate the process of UNESCO recognition.

In the kingdom of Obosi Culture, the custodians maintain and preserve the program that has been around for centuries, passing down a tradition from generation to generation.

There are over 100,000 septuagenarians and octogenarians in the kingdom today as a result of this festival, and this is due to the fact that the festival is seen as a traditional means to care and show love to the elderly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ito_Ogbo_festival https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/03/26/ito-ogbo-obosi-celebrating-the-aged-alive/

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