Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies and Creative Arts, University of Ilorin, Professor Olutoyin Raymond Ogunade, has advocated the declaration of every Monday as Cultural Attire Day on the University campus.
Speaking at the grand finale of the University’s Cultural Day celebration, themed “Celebrating the Beauty of Our Cultural Diversity”, Proc. Ogunade said the initiative would encourage both staff and students to dress in their indigenous attires.
“It is not as a costume, but as a deliberate act of cultural consciousness”, he stated.
The Director, who opined that cultural attire is not just fashion; but also an ancestral memory etched into form, added that, to dress culturally is to declare identity, to remember and resist cultural domination, noting that such practices have been proved to be effective in other academic settings.
To address concerns of affordability, Ogunade recommended the launch of a ‘Cultural Wear Initiative’ under the Centre.
The project, he said, would involve partnerships with local designers, alumni, and sponsors to make traditional attire easily accessible and affordable across the University.
“We must get ourselves out of the residual Western dictates that still tell us how to dress”, he declared, adding that cultural dress should not be worn merely for display but as an everyday expression of identity.
The event, which was held at the University campus, featured displays of cultural heritage through traditional music, songs, dance, ewi, ijala and traditional attire by staff, students, and members of the university community.
The highlight of the celebration was the music rendition by representative of the guest of honour, the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, by a renowned cultural scholar and artist, Professor Wole Alade, the former Director of the MUSON Centre, Lagos.
Alade thrilled the audience with a captivating cultural performance that crowned the day’s festivities.
In his address, Ogunade praised the university’s leadership for its commitment to cultural advancement through the establishment of the Centre and the institutionalisation of the annual Cultural Day.
Quoting Wole Soyinka, he said: “A tiger does not proclaim its tigritude It pounces.”
He also drew on the works of African intellectuals like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí to argue for the necessity of reclaiming and preserving indigenous epistemologies within academic spaces.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Wahab Egbewole (SAN), represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Services, Professor Adegboyega Fawole, had said that the Cultural Day celebration has reaffirmed the University’s dedication to promoting cultural literacy, inclusion, and pride.
The Vice Chancellor, who said “our diverse cultures show what we are; our heritage and beliefs”, added that they bind them together as one people.
“We have different kinds of cuisine, music, dance, dresses, literature, festival, etc. We’re warm and hospitable people. All these bind us together as a people. So, we must encourage this”, he said.
Dignitaries at the event included Emeritus Professor Olu Obafemi, members of the University Governing Council, Deans of various faculties, traditional rulers, students and members of the University community.
End.
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