The Deji of Akure Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, has described the Ulefunta Festival as an emerging national brand attracting a widespread attention.

Ulefunta is an annual festival and it is the peak of all traditional festivals in the ancient town. Ulefunta is the traditional annual leave of the king during which he would not be seen in public for seven days.

He described the rebranding of the festival as a child of necessity that would encourage rejuvenation of culture and draw global attention to the rich culture of Akure people.

The traditional ruler stated this while receiving drugs donated by the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) to the Ulefunta Festival Committee in his palace.

Oba Aladelusi said the Ulefunta festival had no idolatry coloration but rather an annual traditional prayer period that reunited all Akure sons and daughters, as well as its friends in order to give back to their community.

He appreciated the good gesture of ACPN for fulfilling its promise of donating drugs towards the Ulefunta Medical Outreach programme.

“This will go a long way in supporting the underprivileged and making healthy life more affordable and accessible,” Oba Aladelusi said.

In his words, the state Chairman of ACPN, Mr Taiwo Babalola, said the donation was in fulfilment of the pledge made by the association during the 2022 edition of the festival.

Babalola added that the gesture was also to complement the good work being done by the Akure Community through the Ulefunta Festival Committee.
He stated that Akure had always demonstrated good example of cordial community relationship with the association.

Babalola promised that the association would continue to support the committee yearly in ensuring effective community medical outreach.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Ulefunta Festival Committee , Pharmacist Olu Ajanaku, thanked the ACPN for redeeming its pledge.

Ajanaku said that the Ulefunta festival currently had many components of which the medical outreach was an integral part.

He highlighted other key areas of the festival to include skill acquisition programme,scholarship for brilliant indigent students, revamping cultural values and Ulefunta Cooperative Society which were already yeilding positive results.

The chairman urged pharmaceutical companies and philanthropists in the country and beyond to support the annual medical outreach and other aspects of the 2023 Ulefunta Festival which would hold between August and October .

‘We are already rebranding the Owa Oropo Marathon race which is the part of the celebration to attract global audience and this shall be part of what we will be unveiling few weeks from now,” he added.

The Chairman of the Medical Outreach, Pharm. Kunle Asaolu, promised the effective usage of the drugs donated by the Association and assured that the medical outreach would continue beyond the Ulefunta festival period.