19th August, 2010
The Oba-elect of Isheri Osun in Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, South West Nigeria, Chief Samsudeen Amoo Mojeed, has called on the state governor, Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), to declare as public holiday, 20 August, set aside every year by African traditional religion practitioners as Isese Day.
“I want to make it clear to stakeholders in the governance of the state and the general public that the traditional religion of our forefathers belongs to we, the Africans, unlike Christianity and Islam and that the 20 August date slated for the celebration of the religion every year be declared a public holiday as the case with other religions,†he urged, while calling for unity among practitioners of other religions and asking them to see traditional religious practitioners as their brothers and sisters and not fetish people as they all call one God but in different ways.
The Mogaji Ogbere of Isololand stated that this year’s Isese Day has further established the state as home of African culture and tourism, adding that it has also placed Lagos on the tourism map, thus improving its economic potential.
According to him, the celebration of the festival is marked every year to appease to the gods and prayers offered for the progress of the country and Lagos State in particular.
He implored Lagosians in general and the entire Isheri-Osun community to continue to pay their taxes as and when due so that the state can continue to witness rapid development.