Date: 2019-08-01

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara, Malam Saliu Mustapha, has advised relevant stakeholders in Ilorin Emirate to preserve the cultural heritage of the city.

Mustapha gave the advice on Thursday in Ilorin while donating a new Sienna bus to the Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee at the Emir’s Palace, ahead of the 2019 Durbar festival.

Speaking with newsmen after the presentation, the donor said the gesture was his own way of promoting the cultural heritage of the city.

Mustapha, who was a governorship aspirant of the APC in the 2019 general elections, cautioned against the neglect of the ancient culture.

He said such behaviour would leave unborn generations with nothing to inherit. The former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) said the donation was in line with his community service.

Mustapha noted that the donation was also complementary to the two white foreign horses worth millions of naira he donated for the 2018 celebration.

He urged well-meaning indigenes of the emirate to work for the success of the annual event.

"If you know my antecedents and how the durbar started, I did the same in the last durbar and even more than this.

"I'm doing this as a way of contributing my quota in promoting our cultural heritage.

"If we forget our heritage, then we will have nothing to teach our unborn generations.

"So that is why for me, it is part of service to the community. It is about making sure the Ilorin heritage is promoted in due course.

"It is an opportunity to express gratitude to Almighty Allah through the cultural hegemony of our people.

"It adds colour for people to know what kind of tradition they have, because every locality has its own peculiarity. So, these are colourful events that will happen during the durbar," Mustapha said.

Receiving the key of the car, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the donor as a worthy ambassador of the emirate.

The monarch said that the donor's contributions to the promotion of the city’s culture were well appreciated and prayed for the elevation of the donor to exalted positions in life.

The emir challenged other well-meaning indigenes of the emirate to also contribute their quota toward ensuring the success of the durbar event.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee, Alhaji Yahaya Alapansanpa, said the festival was conceived to re-awaken the cultural heritage of the emirate.

Alapansanpa, who said the durbar serves as a common bond for all indigenes of the ancient city, gave an assurance that the committee had put in place all necessary arrangements to ensure a hitch-free event.

He thanked the donor for his usual kind gesture to ensure the success of the ceremony and urged other wealthy citizens of the emirate to emulate Mustapha. The annual cultural event is billed for the second day of the Eid-el-Kabir festival.