The Chief Promoter of Olokun festival Foundation, Otunba Gani Adams, has said that the development of culture in the country can create an endurable environment which will promote economic development.

Otunba Adams disclosed this at the maiden edition of the Wealth Festival (Odun Aje) held at the Oba’s Palace Squar, Onigbongbo, Lagos recently.

He said the revival of culture will help to transform our society into an orderly, discipline and peaceful entity as well as promoting those tendencies that will continue to bind us together as a people and nation.

While promising that the Olokun foundation has designed and developed strategy that will actively revive the Yoruba culture, he said “our resolve to celebrate wealth festival is to create a dimensional process that will involve reorganisation and re-orientation of the entire social and economic system.”

The Oodua leader added that the festival is to serve as a machinery that will effect a radical change in the institutional, social as well as in popular attitudes, customs and beliefs.

Otunba Adams describes wealth as the abundance of valuable resources or materials’ possession or control of such assets, adding that wealth is as old as the world itself.

“Available records and recent development across the world practically attest to the fact that great countries of the world attained economic and technology development through the adoption of indigenous knowledge system.”

The Oodua People’s Congress boss said there are many countries in Africa that have adopted cultural approach in solving internal schism. ‘Many of these countries attached absolute consideration to the celebration of traditional festivals to promote cultural values.”

Activities at the festival included cultural performances by Oodua cultural troupe, presentation by the Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners (ANTP) with top Yoruba screen artistes like Moji Olaiya as part of the cast.

A lecture on Understanding Wealth Creation was delivered by Dr. Dipo Kalejaiye of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

Dr. Kalejaiye disclosed that religion is found in every aspect of the traditional Yoruba life and that Aje in traditional Yoruba religion was a goddess that should be venerated.

He added that an individual effort towards amassing wealth is only physical and that the spiritual aspect of Yoruba life is guiding force seeking physical wealth.

Present at the festival were members of the OPC from all over the country and beyond as well as the host, Oba Munirudeen Olatunji, Oba of Onigbongbo.