The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and former President Olusegun Obasanjo were among the dignitaries who graced the 2021 edition of the World Twins Festival at Igbo-Ora in Oyo State.
Igbo-Ora is regarded as a town of twins because nearly every household has a history of giving birth to twins or multiple children. Some people attribute the predominance of twins in the community to the kind of meals they eat, such as amala and ilasa, which is believed to contain gonadotrophins, a chemical that enables women to produce multiple children at once.
The festival, which is usually organised by Twins of African Tourism and Global, Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye, in conjunction with the palace of the Olu of Igbo-Ora, Oba Jimoh Olajide Titiloye, comes up every first week of October and usually records thousands of twins from every part of the world.
The 2021 annual cultural event, with the theme, “Twinning for global medical breakthrough,” was aimed at promoting multifunctional cultural heritage of twins.
The weeklong celebration kicked off with a special church thanksgiving service at the Methodist Church, Igbo-Ora and traditional cleansing of the town, called Iwure.
This was followed by a debate competition among twin-students in junior and senior secondary schools in the entire Ibarapa land.
The festival also witnessed traditional/cultural, as well as other games by twins.
A special Jumat service was also organised for twins at the Igbo-Ora Central Mosque and followed by royal homage to the paramount ruler of the community.
A special night procession tagged Twinless Night of Honour was organised to honour young departed twins. This was before the grand finale of the festival, which is also the Twins Pilgrimage Day.
This year’s celebration marked the fourth edition in its rebranded series. Twins of different classes, tribes, ages and sexes turned up in their large numbers in colourful attires.
In Yoruba land, twins are often referred to as the king of other children (oba omo). This explains why they receive so much respect and honour in the society.
Speaking at the event, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi III, the Alaafin of Oyo, who expressed joy at the festival, said it was a great pride and blessing that all over the world, it is in Yoruba land that there is the largest concentration of twins in the world.
The royal father added that other nations with high numbers of twins included China and Brazil, saying, “But they are not as prominent at what we have here at Igbo-Ora.”
The first class monarch, who is also the life grand patron of the festival, also prayed for blessing for the twins, their parents, lovers of twins, the entire country and the world in general.
The special guest of honour at the event, Chief Obasanjo (GCFR), who was represented by his wife, Bola, who doubled as the mother of the day, expressed happiness for the opportunity to associate with the festival.
“This is unique. The festival can attract tourists to our country, which will help our economy to grow,” she said, and called for the support of the government and corporate organisations.
In his address, The Olu of Igbo-Ora said, “In Igbo-Ora there is no household without twins. This phenomenon has been associated with so many things, but the most important are the blessings and favour of the almighty God on our community. The people, the water, soil and the environment are all blessed.”
In their joint address, the facilitators of the festival, who are also twins, Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye, stated, “We are leveraging on the successes recorded in the previous editions, which witnessed the largest gathering of twins and other multiple births in the world on October 12, 2019 (3,200) and October 13, 2018 (2,034). Last year’s edition of the festival was a mini-celebration due to the ravaging global COVID-19 pandemic. We are optimistic that this year’s edition is just a tip of the bigger picture of what to expect in 2022 when all components of the festival will be included.
“Birth of twins is a blessing. It has in some ways reduced the rate of maternal mortality. However, there are some associated challenges that occur during the formation in the womb, one of which is having twins conjoined. This is one of our premises to celebrate one of our medical breakthroughs as it relates to multiple births.
“Today, we are celebrating the medical team that separated the conjoined twins at the National Hospital, Abuja in 2020. It was a major medical breakthrough for us as a nation of multiple births. Also, we are showcasing our uniqueness in well packaged cultural contents to the world.
“We hereby call on all and sundry to support our drive to celebrate multiple births as a unique creation of God. Also, we seek that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the United Nations (UN) passes a resolution to declare a day for the celebration of multiple births to be known as World Multiple Births Day.”
At the venue of the festival, the Obasekore twin sisters could not hide their joy as it was their first time to attend the event. The twins, who hail from Oyo town, said they were happy to see the Alaafin physically for the first time.
Also, Taiwo and Kehinde Ogunshola, who attended the ceremony from Ilorin, Kwara State, said they had always done things together and had not been separated, except during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. She said the opportunity to see thousands of twins at the festival further accorded them the privilege to appreciate their uniqueness the more.
Furthermore, the Ibitoye twin sisters, who came in from Ikire in Osun State, said they were exited to take more photographs with other twins during the occasion.
Again, the Oshigbo twin brothers from Ikale, Okiti Pupa in Ondo State, appreciated the organisers of the festival and the traditional ruler of Igbo-Ora for his support.
Also speaking to Daily Trust Saturday, Igbo-Ora-born Mojeed twins (male and female) said they wished the festival could hold every weekend.
In his goodwill message, the director-general of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr Folorunsho Coker, who was represented by Mr Rotimi Aiyetan, said the organisation was proud to be associated with the event.
Meanwhile, the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, who was represented by the chairman of the Oyo State Council for Art, Culture and Tourism Board, Adebowale Adejumobi, a surveyor, said the government would work with the organisers to take the festival to greater heights.
In his address, the chairman of the organising committee, Oba Adedamola Badmus, the Olu Aso of Iberekodo, Igbo-Ora, said the festival was improving on a yearly basis, and called for support and sponsorship.
Highlights of the festival were cultural display, parade of twins and fashion show, awards, talent show, special acrobatic displays, among other activities.
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