Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade I, has approved a slight modification to this year’s Oro Festival to enable female candidates sitting the Basic Education Certificate Examination to write their examinations.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaiye.
Oro Festival is a patriarchal Yoruba traditional practice observed to appease deities, enforce communal justice, and cleanse towns of malevolent spirits, following a monarch’s death and involves male-only rituals and curfews where women and non-initiates must stay indoors.
According to the statement, the festival will hold in Oyo city from July 23 to July 29, 2026.
