Ovwore Community in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State have celebrated their maiden cultural festival in a grand style with their president general Comrade Monday Eghele Obolofiemro, commending all the people of the community for living in peace and harmony with one another all year round.
The President who read his address at the venue of the festival celebrations in Ibada Amukpe Village, commended all the members of his executive, for the corporation given to him since he assumed office as the leader of the community.
He said Ovwore villages came together with the sole aim of promoting unity and empowering individuals and with this aim, they have been able to acquire a permanent land for the Ovwore Community, adding that in the aspect of empowerment they have been able to empowered their citizens by providing them with motorcycles and job opportunities.
Comrade Obolofiemro added that they have also proposed to build Ovwore Community Secretariat, create scholarships to students, more job opportunities, empowerment scheme and many more, appealing that the community executives will accept funds and donations from people to make the proposals a reality, while praying for God’s grace to enable them accomplish the great task ahead of them.
He attributed the unflinching corporation between him and his team to the handiwork of God, while wishing his people more sense of unity with the spirit of working together for the desired peace in the community so that the community will move forward, while applauding the initiatives of the Okpe Monarch who came with the decision for a constitution drafting committee that will be a working document for the reconstituted Amukpe district, adding that even though they will belong to the new arrangement, yet Ovwore Community remain intact with the seven villages of Sajere, Ogegere, Ibada, Adagbrassa, Egbeku, Enanamu and Eko.
Others who spoke during the festival such as the Public Relations Officer of the community, Hon. Paul Oyibo Umukoro – former Councillor ward 13 Sapele Local Government Area and Mr. Emmanuel Atika said the event is a thanksgiving service to God Almighty who led them through
another year as they came out enmass to celebrate their festival with all sons and daughters of the community at home and in the diaspora coming together each year.
Mr. Atika Emmanuel said the significance of the festival is to bring together all Okpe people yearly to reunite them and as well to rekindle them into the culture of the Okpe which before now is at the verge of extinction which they must revive and having lived in a modern era, they have come to realize that all fetish practices should be jettisoned hence they have modernized it by bringing men of God to handle every aspect of the event to remove idol worshipping aspect of
it completely and equally preserved those that are purely cultural while reawakening their people to the cultural experiences, pointing out that if they fail to do it now, their in coming generation will not know that this is the culture of their people.
Mr. Atika affirmed that people without cultural heritage are lost generations, hence they considered it very important that they should revive their culture.
In his contribution, the immediate past President General of the community Comrade Samuel Ifude commended all those who contributed one way or the other towards the success of the festival, assuring that next year will be greater, just as he enjoined all the people of Ovwore Community to continue to be their brothers’ keeper which they have always been.
High points of the events includes praying for prosperity, progress and long life over the community by invited men of God from different churches in the community, traditional cultural dance / display by dancing group of the community, lavish of entertainment of foods/drinks of different kinds amongst others.
