Idemili North Local Government Area in the state of Anambra in Anambra State is where the Ito Ogbo festival is celebrated primarily amongst the Obosi people as part of their traditional culture. The festival aims at celebrating elders who are between 80 – 89 years old while they are alive. 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. Specifically, it is intended to be a celebration and a time of thanksgiving to God for the octogenarians (those who are eighty years of age and older) within the kingdom of God.
In this ceremony, which takes place every three years, both male and female octogenarians are honored with special titles and inducted into the octogenarian age grade during the ceremony that takes place every three years. Since the festival has attracted people from all walks of life, it has been able to harness and develop the tourism potentials of the Obosi Kingdom 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 walks of life gather together to honor and celebrate the elderly. The 2021 Ito Ogbo Obosi festival saw 131 octogenarians celebrated and honored specially. It was attended by citizens of the community, tourists and delegates from important offices including from the Federal Ministry of Information and also from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
A number of Ministers of Information, Culture and Tourism were also present at the 2021 festival, including the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, who was well represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Dr. Ifeoma Anyanwutaku said that the ministry plans to elevate the longevity celebration to a national level as well as to initiate the process of UNESCO's recognition of the festival.
It is a program that has been upheld and sustained by the custodians of the Obosi Culture who are well versed with the tradition that has been prevalent in the kingdom for centuries. This festival is seen as a traditional way of taking care of the elderly, and this is reflected in the number of septuagenarians and octogenerians in the kingdom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ito_Ogbo_festival
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/03/26/ito-ogbo-obosi-celebrating-the-aged-alive/