By Subair Mohammed
The Olowu of Kuta, HRM Oba Dr Hammed Oyelude Makama, CON, Tegbosun III, has received the UNESCO-TOFAC Cultural Award 2025.
The award was held at the University of Osun, UNIOSUN, Oshogbo, on Monday.
In his welcome remarks, Osun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Abiodun Bankole, congratulated the monarch on a well-deserved award and for being a cultural icon.
Speaking at the reception, the Olowu admonished traditional rulers to remove the toga of religion and be embodiments of culture and tradition.
Continuing, he said, 鈥淣o, we are installed culturally, and we don鈥檛 have any role articulated by the Chieftaincy Law other than being traditional rulers for the maintenance of tradition and culture.
鈥淲e have a lot of cultural misfits among us. Please help us to fish them out and correct it because of posterity.鈥
Speaking further, Oba Oyelude urged scholars and opinion moulders to assist in promoting positive narratives about Nigeria to the outside world.
Earlier, in his welcome address titled 鈥楥ulture Matters,鈥 Prof Toyin Falola, in whose honour the conference was named, said that beyond the preservation of people鈥檚 way of life, culture also remains a catalyst for creativity.
He recalled, 鈥淭hroughout history, colonisers did not just take African land. They tried to erase African culture. They changed African names, outlawed African languages, made a mockery of African religions, and imposed foreign systems. They did all of these because they understood that to capture a people, you must destroy their culture.
鈥淐ulture, hence, is a tool for political power. Our ancestors resisted the colonisers not always with weapons but many times with language, with the rhythm of their drums, with their knowledge of culture. In the present day, symbols of culture like statues, official languages, and holidays are still political tools.
鈥淭hey pass across messages about who belongs, who matters, who is remembered. That is why decolonising African education, literature, and public space is not merely symbolic but a fight to reclaim cultural dignity.鈥
Professor of History and TOFAC 2025 Co-convener, Prof Olukoya Ogen, said the Olowu was carefully selected for the award as a monarch who upholds the tradition of Yorubaland.
Other recipients of the award include the Eburu of Iba, Oba Adekunle Adeogun-Okunoye; the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrosheed Olabomi; and the Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin.
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