Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has spoken of the economic and tourism potentials that need to be unlocked through investments in the annual cultural festival organised by the people of Odi in the Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government.
Saying that corporate organisations in the state have a great role to play in this direction, Diri said the companies could sponsor the festival as part of their corporate social responsibility.
The governor stated this on Monday at the opening of the 69th edition of the Odi Ogori Ba Uge International Festival,contending that some festivals like the Odi Ogori Ba Uge festival were deeply rooted in the history and economic survival of the people and deserve corporate support to sustain them.
He said the Odi festival represented unity, resilience and how the people regained their freedom from a mysterious buffalo that prevented them from going about their socio-economic activities many years ago.
He commended the community for immortalising such important aspect of their history through the festival.
He said: “I am happy with what you are doing but it is not yet enough. I want to see the private sector as part of the sponsorship of festivals like this in our state. I want to see banks in Bayelsa sponsoring activities like this.
“Celebrations like this across the world do not depend on government as they are mostly private sector sponsored. But in our situation, organisers often depend on government.
”Let me also admonish us that it is not enough to come here just to celebrate. We should also try to know why we are celebrating. I say so because most of us do not know the history of the celebration.
”I know the story behind this festival that hunters with their skills brought down a buffalo that prevented people of the community from going to farms. I believe that God used the hunters and the people to free themselves from the buffalo.
“This celebration actually means freedom for the people, who were imprisoned by a buffalo, and in unity they fought back. It was because the people of this community wanted freedom that they came together.”
In his welcome address, chairman of the 2026 Odi Ogori Ba Uge International Festival Planning Committee, Prof. Ebikisei Udisi, said the festival was more than an annual celebration, adding that it was a living history that reminded the people of the community where they came from.
Udisi noted that the festival commemorates the historic victory of the Odi people over a wild, ferocious and supernatural animal that terrorised the community for years.
According to him, for about five years, the dreaded Ogori (buffalo) held the community in fear, severely disrupting their traditional, social and economic activities, and left them in hunger, hardship and uncertainty.
“Today, 69 years after the historic killing of the Ogori, we gather for the 69th edition of this great festival.
This is, therefore, not just another festival. It is a celebration of the survival of a people, the power of unity and the ability to transform painful historical experience into a source of
identity, pride, culture and hope.
”As we celebrate, we must never forget the sacrifices of our ancestors and the founding fathers of Odi, Imgbela and Amasain. We shall continue to remember King Akabagu Ofurugbo, under whose reign the years of Ogori terror occurred. We especially remember Akara Edike, whose gunshot killed the Ogori.
”The story of Odi teaches us that adversity can be transformed into strength and that history must not merely be remembered. It must be preserved and passed on to future generations. The Odi Ogori Ba Uge Festival is therefore a bridge between the past and the future,” he said
