Adewumi Ademiju
CULLED FROM NEWSHEREANDTHERE MAGAZINE
Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital stood still on Wednesday, August 19,2026. Neither because of politics nor protest. But because the Iroko tree in the palace of the Ewi once again called its children home.
Drums rolled. Chiefs in full regalia processed. Daughters and sons who flew in from different parts of the world knelt before the throne.
And from the inner chambers, His Royal Majesty Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III, CON, JP, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti made a rare public appearance to bless a town, a state, and a culture that has survived several years.
Udiroko 2026 has the theme: “Udiroko as the Signpost of Our History, Tradition and Cultural Values.”
This year, Udiroko was not just about prayers and homage. It was about security, economy, identity, and the future of Ekiti. And at the center of it all was the Ewi ,with a national voice calling for a “ruthless and sophisticated” approach to Nigeria’s insecurity.
BORN UNDER AN IROKO IN 1310 AD
To understand Udiroko, you must go back to 1310 AD, during the reign of Oba Awamaro, the first Ewi of present-day Ado-Ekiti.
The story, passed down for centuries, is simple and powerful. The first festival was held under an Iroko tree in the Ewi’s Palace. The people gathered to give thanks to Olorun, the Creator. From that tree came the name: Udi-roko , “the celebration under the Iroko.”
It is also called “Olorunborun Festival” because it marks the beginning of a new year for Ado-Ekiti people.
For more than seven centuries, Udiroko has done three things: –
-Thanksgiving – to God for life, harvest and protection.
– Unity – a day when all sons and daughters of Ado-Ekiti, home and abroad, assemble before their king.
-. Audience – the one day in the year the Ewi, who lives largely in ceremonial seclusion, comes out to receive his people directly.
“The festival has nothing to do with rituals, fetishism and idol worship. No deity is worshipped in Udiroko and no ritual is performed,” the Ewi, Oba Aladesanmi III, clarified during a 2019 world press conference in Lagos.
“It usually starts with Jumat Service on Friday which precedes the first-day event of the week-long celebrations and ends with a Church thanksgiving service on Sunday.”
That balance of faiths is why Udiroko has endured. It is culture, not controversy. Heritage, not heathenism.
THE EWl SPEAKS: “SECURITY AGENCIES MUST BE RUTHLESS AND TECHNICAL”
At the 2026 celebration, the palace courtyard was packed hours before the grand finale. Dignitaries filled the canopy: Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, Deputy Governor Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Bolaji Olagbaju, SSG Prof. Habibat Adubiaro, Chief of Staff Mr. Niyi Adebayo, members of the State Executive Council, titled chiefs, and thousands of indigenes.
When the Ewi took the microphone, the atmosphere shifted.
He began with gratitude. He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ,Governor Biodun Oyebanji.Then he turned to the national crisis:
“I pray that our country overcomes its current security challenges. The security situation everywhere is highly troubling, with the mass kidnappings of school children and teachers, and the wanton killings of innocent people,” Oba Aladesanmi said.
His voice was firm, measured, but urgent.
“It is increasingly obvious that the security agencies must employ technology, craftiness and ruthless sophistication to arrest the unrepentant onslaught of these bandits all over the country.”
The call was not political. It was paternal. For over three decades on the throne, the Ewi has positioned himself as a custodian not just of Ado-Ekiti’s customs, but of its safety.
He used Udiroko, a platform where the entire community listens ,to remind government at all levels that “the protection of citizens must remain a priority,” especially as insecurity “threatens the safety of communities, access to education and the general wellbeing of Nigerians.”
It was a king speaking to power, from a throne that predates Nigeria itself.
FROM PALACE RITUAL TO ECONOMIC ENGINE
If the Ewi spoke for tradition and security, Governor Biodun Oyebanji spoke for economics.
“Udiroko festival is no longer an Ado festival, it has become Ekiti festival,” the Governor declared to applause.
And then came the pivot that defined Udiroko 2026: wealth creation.
“My administration would transform Udiroko festival and other cultural celebrations across the state into major platforms for economic development, tourism promotion and wealth creation,” Governor Oyebanji said.
“Culture should not only be preserved but also harnessed to improve the livelihood of the people.”
He urged the planning committee and stakeholders “to develop the festival into a platform that will not only preserve the cultural heritage of the people but also create economic opportunities for Ekiti indigenes.”
The Governor tied culture directly to infrastructure and federal support. He reminded the crowd that the Itawure-Aramoko-Ado road, a long-standing concern raised at last year’s Udiroko, “has been awarded by the federal government and contractor has commenced work.”
He also announced that President Tinubu has awarded the Ado-Ijan-Iluomoba-Ijesa-Isu-Ikole road, with survey work ongoing.
“Why I am reminding all of us about this is that January next year, there will be an election to re-elect the President,” Oyebanji said. “I am pleading with all of us in Ekiti state, we must come out and cast our votes for the President.”
The message was clear: support for Tinubu equals more roads, more investment, and more cultural funding for Ekiti.
THE EWl’S BLESSING AND THE GOVERNOR’S PRAISE
The relationship between the throne and the government was on full display.
The Ewi described Udiroko as “a significant cultural heritage of the people of Ado Ekiti” and stressed “the need for its preservation and promotion for future generations.”
He commended the people “for using the festival to promote unity, cultural values and peaceful coexistence.”
He also thanked Governor Oyebanji for “increasing number of tarred roads in Ado Ekiti” and congratulated him on his re-election, describing the victory as “a well-deserved endorsement of his administration’s performance and the confidence the people of Ekiti State have in his leadership.”
Governor Oyebanji, in return, prayed for the monarch: “I felicitate with Kabiyesi, Eyesorun and all the Chiefs, my prayer is that you will celebrate more on this throne and celebrate many Udiroko festival.”
It was mutual respect, rooted in a shared goal: make Ekiti proud of who it is.
THE THEATER OF UDlROKO: WAR CHIEFS, DANCE AND MEMORY
Udiroko is not a static ceremony. It is theater.
At the 2019 world press conference in Lagos, the Ekiti State University Performing Troupe gave outsiders a preview. Students and lecturers performed music, dance, and a playlet re-enacting the festival.
In the drama, Chief Barafon, head of the war chiefs, dances to war songs. With combat sword and staff, he examines the fitness of each warrior before leading them to renew their oath of allegiance to the king.
That scene captures the original purpose: a new year, a new covenant between the king and his people. The warriors report. The chiefs pay homage. The people receive blessings.
Today, that same structure plays out live in the palace. Groups and titled chiefs come forward one by one to pay homage to the Ewi. It is order, hierarchy, and history performed in real time.
DEBUNKING THE MYTHS: “NOTHING FETISH ABOUT IT”
For years, outsiders have misunderstood traditional festivals. Udiroko has had to fight that perception.
Oba Aladesanmi III has been deliberate about rebranding.
“The festival is organized to showcase the historical, cultural and traditional potentials of the people of Ado-Ekiti,” he said. “The indigenes of Ado-Ekiti also use the opportunity to pray for themselves and the town.”
On the day of ‘Olorunborun’, prayers are said in every home in Ado-Ekiti. In the evening, the entire community assembles in the Ewi’s Palace to receive royal blessings.
There are no secret rites. There is no idol. There is prayer in the mosque, prayer in the church, and prayer in the palace. That is the Ado-Ekiti formula.
GLOBAL AMBITION: BEAMING ADO-EKITI TO THE WORLD
The Ewi and the planning committee have a new target: “make Udiroko a global event”.
The 2019 press conference at Lagos Airport Hotel was the first step , “to put across to the people all over the world the essence of the Udiroko Festival and to showcase our cultural heritage.”
The theme that year, “Enforcing and Sustaining the Solidarity of our History, Culture and Tradition,” is still the guide.
Current editions are being “primed to be celebrated as international events that will be beamed from its ancestral home, the ancient city of Ado-Ekiti to the rest of the world.”
Imagine it: live streams of the homage-paying, drone shots of the palace, virtual tours of Ado-Ekiti’s historic sites, and a cultural marketplace where Ekiti artisans sell adire, beads, and food to a global audience.
That is the vision Governor Oyebanji is backing. “We need to sit down with the planning committee to find a way such that while we are preserving our culture and tradition, we also use this festival as an avenue to create wealth for Ekiti indigenes,” he said.
WHY UDlROKO MATTERS NOW
Nigeria is searching for identity anchors. In a time of insecurity, economic pressure, and youth migration, festivals like Udiroko do three critical things:
-They restore dignity.
For Ado-Ekiti people, kneeling before the Ewi is not backward. It is belonging. It tells a young person in Diaspora: “This is where you come from. This throne was here before colonialism.”
-They create economy.
When thousands return home, hotels fill, transporters earn, food vendors sell, tailors sew aso-oke, and DJs get booked. If government invests in structure , good roads, security, branding , Udiroko can become Ekiti’s version of Osun-Osogbo.
They transmit values.
The Ewi’s message about security, the Governor’s message about hard work, the chiefs’ message about loyalty , all of it is civic education wrapped in culture.
As Ambassador Wale Ojo Lanre, Director-General of Ekiti State Council of Arts and Culture, noted when representing the Governor in 2019, the state sees culture as policy, not pageantry.
THE MAN ON THE THRONE
Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III has reigned for over three decades. He is a traditional ruler, and a diplomat.
He understands the palace and can speak to chiefs in Yoruba proverbs and to investors in the language of development.
That duality is why his voice on security carried weight in 2026. He is not a politician seeking votes. He is a father telling the nation: protect our children.
And he is also a curator. By insisting Udiroko is “nothing fetish,” he is protecting the festival from religious backlash and opening it to tourism dollars.
THE ROAD AHEAD
Udiroko 2026 ended the way it began: with prayers.
But the conversations it started will last longer.
-Can Ekiti turn culture into cash without selling its soul?
-Can traditional rulers like the Ewi influence national security policy?
-Can a festival started under a tree in 1310 become a digital export in 2026?
Governor Oyebanji believes Yes! “We will leverage cultural festival for wealth creation,” he said.
The Ewi believes Yes! too, but with conditions. Preserve the values. Protect the people. Use technology. Be ruthless with those who threaten peace.
FINAL BLESSING
As dusk fell on the palace, the last group of chiefs paid homage. The drums slowed. The Ewi raised his hands.
Thousands bowed. Phones recorded. Children who had never seen Ado-Ekiti before the week asked their parents: “When are we coming back next year?”
That is the power of Udiroko. It is not just a festival. It is a homecoming.
It is proof that tradition, when well managed, does not hold a people back. It shows them who they are, so they know where to go.
Udiroko is said to signify the Iroko that still stands. And under it, Ekiti is writing its next chapter.