Culture, Tourism Key to Community Revenue and Security, Dr Idris Rufus Oluwafemi, donates 5m to Ogidi Community
_Calls for unity, investments in agriculture, entrepreneurship, and feedback-driven governance_
By Temiloluwa Samuel
The chairman of the 2026 Ogidi Day Cultural Festival in 2026 and Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency in the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria, Dr Idris Rufus Oluwafemi has called on communities in Kogi and across Nigeria to leverage culture and tradition to drive tourism, create jobs, and tackle insecurity, saying cultural festivals can generate significant revenue while uniting people.
- Advertisement -
Speaking during an interview at the 2026 Ogidi Day Cultural Festival, Dr Idris argued that “tradition also drives high-level tourism” and urged communities to promote their heritage to become destination spots.
“If we can promote our culture to the highest level that can drive a lot of tourism and make us a destination place that people around the world want to come and see what we have to showcase,” he said. “Many communities today try to generate revenue from tourism. So if we can promote our culture and tradition, people will come and see what we have to offer.”
He pointed to the economic impact of festivals like Ogidi Day, asking: “Do you know how many thousands of people that are in Ogidi today? Do you know how much money each person will spend on his own today? If you look at that money all added together, there are reasonable resources that the community has benefited from because of culture.”
The ADC Candidate also linked cultural cohesion to security, describing insecurity as “a big menace that we’re all dealing with” and affecting tourism, agriculture, business, and governance. He said farmers are unable to access their farms due to the crisis.
“But I believe that we have to come together and try to strive to fight it because it’s actually affecting every single sector of the economy,” he stated. “However, I believe also coming together as a people, leveraging even culture and modern ways of addressing these kind of crimes and crises, we can collectively overcome things that we currently face today as a people and as a community.”
He noted that many communities around the area already pay vigilantes monthly for security, and said legislation and community development would be his priorities if elected.
Addressing questions on politics, he said his ambition was not to “unseat anybody” but to provide qualitative leadership that listens and prioritizes welfare.
“I have joined because for many years I have seen how our people are clamoring for the right kind of leadership. Leadership that listens, leadership that is humble, leadership that carries people’s priorities and people’s welfare at heart,” he said.
He said he has personally invested in human capital development, entrepreneurship programs for marketers and youth, agriculture/agribusiness support, and community structures.
“Governance should involve talking to the people. Governance should involve coming back home to give stewardship of what you’ve been sent to go and do,” he added, stressing that feedback and constituency development would be “at the top of my heart.”
Highlight of the event was his donation of five million naira (#5,000,000) to the proposed construction of 2500 capacity modern hall
The Ogidi Day Festival drew thousands of indigenes, traditional rulers, and guests for cultural displays, drumming, and dance as the community showcased Okun heritage.
END
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, JUNE 20TH 2026)
