TheCable

Not less than 2,034 sets of twins participated in the maiden edition of the Oyo State Twins Festival.

The festival took place on Saturday at Igbo-Ora, Ibarapa central local government area of Oyo.

Some of the celebrants set out from the cultural centre in Ibadan, the state capital, riding a train to Methodist Grammar School, Igbo-Ora to join counterparts from Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa.

While welcoming the twins, Toye Arulogun, state commissioner for information, culture and tourism, said a foundation for a “twins tower,” was laid to commemorate the festival.

He said the festival is a platform to showcase Igbo-Ora as a town with the highest rate of twins and multiple births in the world.

Arulogun said the state government will intensify efforts to place the town and state on the world map as the foremost twins’ tourism destination in the world.

“The festival was organised in collaboration with Twins World Creations, Ibarapa central local government, Igboora Progressive Union and the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, and witnessed 2034 set of twins’ registration and tens of multiple births,” he said.

“The festival is aimed at placing Igbo-Ora on the World map as the World Highest twinning centre and also an avenue to promote its predominant meal Amala and Ilasa, attributed as the cause of multiple births in the town.”

Habib Ibrahim, chairman, Ibarapa central local government, said Igbo-Ora alone can boast of 158 sets of twins for every 1000 births.

“A walk through the town can easily attest to this. There is no household without a history of at least a set of twins. This trend has made us not to see twin birth as a special phenomenon in Igbo-Ora, as it is elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers at the event, Jamiu Badmus, chairman of the local organising committee, called for the collaborative effort of all stakeholders to sustain the festival.

He said the festival should be modelled as a tourist event to attract international travellers, thereby generating foreign exchange for Nigeria.