The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the Awujale of Ijebuland, His Royal Majesty Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, to declare the upcoming 2025 Ojude Oba Festival a smoke-free event in a bid to safeguard public health.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egbe, CAPPA urged the Awujale and the festival’s organising committee to prohibit smoking, the promotion of tobacco products, and tobacco-related advertising at all festival venues. The group also recommended the establishment of designated health booths where volunteers can educate attendees about the dangers of smoking and vaping.
The 2025 edition of the Ojude Oba Festival, themed “Ojude Oba: Celebrating Our Roots, Preserving Our Future,” is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 8, at the Dipo Dina International Stadium in Ijebu Ode. The annual celebration draws massive crowds, including tourists, cultural enthusiasts, and media from around the world.
Highlighting the festival’s growing influence, CAPPA urged the monarch and organisers to prevent the tobacco industry from leveraging the event to market its products, particularly to young and vulnerable groups.
“With this spotlight comes great responsibility,” the statement read. “Your Majesty and the committee may recall that during last year’s festivities, a viral image of cancer survivor Farooq Oreagba smoking on horseback was widely circulated and used by the tobacco industry to glamorise smoking as a fashionable cultural act.”
CAPPA warned that such portrayals threaten to undermine the cultural value of the festival by promoting harmful habits under the guise of tradition.
“Depicting smoking as a stylish indulgence risks shifting focus away from Ojude Oba’s cultural essence while normalising a dangerous behaviour. Medical evidence and lived experiences consistently show there’s nothing beneficial about smoking. Even exposure to secondhand smoke can be fatal,” the group stated.
“Tobacco use remains one of the leading causes of preventable cancers, respiratory illnesses, and cardiovascular diseases. It endangers lives—especially those of young people and families.”
The organisation further advised that community leaders be mobilised to help enforce smoke-free guidelines and ensure festival-goers of all ages understand the public health risks involved.
