Sanwo-Olu, Showunmi call for preservation, modernisation of Yoruba heritage on Isese Day

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Showunmi have called for the preservation of Yoruba culture and traditions, urging Nigerians to ensure that the heritage remains relevant to younger generations.

The duo made the call in separate messages on Thursday to commemorate Isese Day, a celebration of Yoruba indigenous culture, traditions and heritage.

Sanwo-Olu urged residents to value the cultural practices and traditions handed down through generations, saying their preservation was essential to maintaining the identity of the people.

In a message to mark the occasion, the governor said culture remained an important component of the people’s identity and called on residents to take responsibility for transmitting its values to future generations.

“Our culture is an important part of who we are, and we must never lose sight of the values and traditions that connect us to our heritage,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He added, “We have a responsibility to preserve them and pass them on to future generations.”

The governor also commended those contributing to the preservation of Lagos’ cultural heritage and wished residents celebrating Isese Day a peaceful and meaningful celebration.

“I wish everyone celebrating a peaceful and meaningful Isese Day. Thank you for keeping our traditions alive and contributing to the vibrant spirit of Lagos,” he said.

Similarly, Showunmi said the celebration should go beyond annual ceremonies and provide an opportunity for the Yoruba people to examine how their cultural heritage could be preserved and transmitted in a changing world.

In a message titled, “Isese Day: Preserving Our Culture, Modernising Its Expression,” Showunmi said cultural identity remained vital to the survival and development of a people.

“There is something deeply reassuring about a people who still remember who they are,” he said.

According to him, Isese represents more than ceremonies, festivals and traditional attire, describing it as an inheritance rooted in memory, identity, values and the relationship between the Yoruba people and their environment.

Showunmi warned that societies risk losing part of their identity when they allow their cultural heritage to fade.

“A society that forgets its culture eventually loses part of the vocabulary with which it understands itself,” he said.

However, he argued that preserving culture should not mean maintaining every traditional practice unchanged, stressing the need to adapt the expression of Yoruba heritage to contemporary realities.

“But preservation must not mean freezing culture in time,” Showunmi said.

He advocated the systematic documentation of Yoruba history and indigenous knowledge, including oral traditions, Ifa, folklore, music, clothing, architecture, food, festivals, names and symbols.

He said the reliance on oral transmission alone had become insufficient in an era where younger generations increasingly obtained information through digital platforms.

“The world has changed. Our children live on smartphones. Our grandchildren will increasingly learn through artificial intelligence, digital archives and immersive technology,” he said.

Showunmi therefore urged governments, universities and cultural institutions to invest in digital archives and research that would make reliable information about Yoruba heritage accessible to people in Nigeria and across the diaspora.

“Our universities should treat African indigenous knowledge systems as serious fields of scholarship rather than curiosities at the margins of academia,” he said.

He also proposed the development of digital museums and other platforms through which young people could learn about their communities, lineages, kingdoms, languages and traditions.

According to him, modern technology could help ensure that cultural knowledge remains accessible to generations growing up outside traditional Yoruba communities.

Showunmi, however, called for a distinction between preserving cultural values and retaining every practice inherited from the past.

He said practices that conflict with contemporary law, human dignity, public health or accepted standards of decency should be subjected to honest scrutiny.

“Modernisation does not have to mean cultural abandonment,” he said.

Rather, Showunmi argued that the values underlying traditional practices could be adapted to serve contemporary society.

He cited community responsibility, respect for elders, traditional approaches to dispute resolution and indigenous ecological knowledge as examples of cultural values that could complement modern systems of governance and social development.

He also called for greater economic exploitation of Yoruba cultural assets, saying traditional arts, textiles, cuisine, festivals and other creative expressions could become major industries.

“This is where Isese can become much bigger than a festival. It can become an engine of cultural and economic renewal,” Showunmi said.

He proposed the establishment of professionally curated Yoruba cultural centres and museums, as well as international Isese festivals capable of attracting scholars, tourists, artists, filmmakers, designers and members of the African diaspora.

The separate messages from Sanwo-Olu and Showunmi highlighted the growing emphasis on preserving indigenous culture while adapting its expression to the realities of modern society and emerging technology.