Eminent dignitaries from all walks of life including: the academia, film industry, culture and tourism, as well as, historical preserve, are set to collaborate with the Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade 1, to celebrate the memorialization of the 1895 Ogun Pepe (Pepe War) in which the Alaafin Adeyemi Alowolodu resisted the British imperialistic invasion of the town.
The week-long activities will commence from Tuesday 11th November, 2025 with fasting and prayers by all the religious groups to seek the face of God for continued peace and harmony in the town. This will be followed on Thursday 13th November, 2025 with a public lecture to be delivered at the Federal School of Surveying, Oyo. It will be delivered by Prof Akin Alao, an Associate Professor of Legal History at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
Delivering the keynote speech on: “Ogun Pepe @ 130: Memory as a call to renewal”, Prof. Akin Alao will be engaged in academic discourse by discussants including: Prof. Sekinat Kola-Aderoju, a distinguished historian, a proud daughter of Oyo, and a true Nigerian icon. Others in the brainstorming session are: Prof. Niyi Gbadegesin, a prolific, prodigious and dizzingly peripatetic scholar with many seminal contributions in peer reviewed outlets, with areas of research interests including Biogeography, Environmental Resource Management and Soil Geography.
Prof. Ladun Oloruntoba, a reader at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria will also join Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo to be part of the discussants at the lecture. Father of the day for all the Ogun Pepe events is His Imperial Majesty, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade 1, the Alaafin of Oyo, while the Chairman of the Committee is Dr. Sokan Ojebode, founder of Atiba University, Oyo.
According to the Chairman of the Event Planning, and Coordinator of Ogun Pepe, Segun Oke, (a retired Director at the Federal Civil Service), the programme will also feature a command performance of Ogun Pepe (a stage play written and produced by Gbemi Faleti and directed by Yomi Duro-Ladipo (a film maker, actor, theatre and movie director, musician, mech engineer, dance instructor/choreographer).
On Wednesday, 12th November, 2025, there will be tree planting and ‘Fitila’ Night that will witness a procession from Owode to Aafin, the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo.
The grand finale of the week-long memorable programme will be the Cultural/Exhibition/Fund raising to be held at the Old Oyo National Park on Saturday 15th November. The cultural aspect will be handled by Funmi Ajofeebo while the exhibition will be coordinated by Folasade Adeyemi (a.k.a. Arewa).
