The Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association (EADA) in ljumu LGA, Kogi state, has announced plans to celebrate its 32nd annual Ekinrin-Adde Day on June 21.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, Babajide Otitoju, a prominent member of the association, said the event aims to promote the community’s rich cultural heritage and development initiatives.
The renowned broadcaster said the celebration would feature various activities, including an essay competition, a food exhibition, cultural wear displays, and traditional marriage protocols.
Otitoju said Ekinrin-Adde is popular for its prodigious human capital and natural resources endowment and has produced eminent sons and daughters who have made significant contributions to national development, pre- and post-independence.
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“The community is reputed as a pacesetter in social development initiatives,” he said.
“Through self-help, the community has an unparalleled record of firsts among communities in the Ijumu local government of Kogi State: first secondary school, first maternity, first postal agency, first to have two secondary schools, and first to have community banks – IBWA in 1985 (which later became Afribank) and Ekinrin-Adde Community Bank in 1992.
“It is the native home of some highly esteemed individuals in Nigeria, notable for their strategic positions and contribution to national development.”
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Otitoju said the association aims to raise a N600 million self-help-driven infrastructural development fund to support various community-led projects.
He said the infrastructural fund reflects the community’s enduring legacy of self-help, noting that Ekinrin-Adde recognised early on that government alone could not shoulder development, hence its long history of trailblazing achievements.
He said the festival would also include awards to various illustrious sons and daughters, including friends of the community from across the country.
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