Oyo State to Declare Public Holiday, Reason Emerges
- Isese Day, a Yoruba festival that honours the traditional religion and culture, is always celebrated in August
- Most government offices, schools, and sometimes businesses, close during the day picked for the celebration
- Isese Day is observed as a public holiday in Oyo, one of the largest state in the southwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering metro.
Ibadan, Oyo state - Other things being equal, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state will declare a holiday for all public servants and residents to commemorate the Isese festival.
Legit.ng reports that Isese Day is celebrated annually in Nigeria on August 20.
Source: Facebook
Isese Day 2025 celebration
In 2025, the day falls on a Wednesday.
Isese Day is marked to honour and celebrate Yoruba traditional religion and culture. The day is observed by traditional worshippers who celebrate their deities through prayers, dances, and sacrifices.
Oyo state is expected to declare a one-day holiday for the Isese Day.
In 2022, Oyo state traditionalists renewed their call for a public holiday to commemorate Isese Day.
While the state government did not officially declare a public holiday for Isese Day in 2022, Governor Seyi Makinde later approved August 20 as Isese Day and declared a public holiday for it in 2023.
Legit.ng reports that the Isese Day is the only public holiday that will be observed in August 2025.
Why are public holidays important?
A holiday is a pause, a rest, and time to recharge. A holiday is a time to get away from day-to-day stress. To get away completely from work is much more refreshing.
As regards the festive and public holidays, most of them are honouring and remembering, even though sometimes the exact origins have been forgotten, yet the traditions remains.
Source: Twitter
One of the purposes of Isese holidays is bringing lots of people together and uniting them in a sole cause. The people are usually scattered far and wide in groups of dozens, of tens and of thousands, and yet they are all as one group in their honouring, their celebrations, remembering and reveling.
Read more Isese Day:
- Isese Day: List of states that have declared Monday public holiday
- Isese Day: Nigerian governor declares Monday public holiday
- Portable Zazu goes shirtless, dances, leads masquerade on the streets during Oke Osa’s Isese Day
- Isese Day: Laide Bakare, Shola Kosoko, others storm 2024 Udiroko Festival in Ekiti, video emerges
FG declares holiday in honour of Buhari
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal government declared a public holiday to honour the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, who died at a London hospital.
Authorities said the public holiday was to pay tribute to Buhari for "his service to Nigeria, his contributions to the democratic journey of Nigeria, as well as his enduring legacies in national development and governance".
The federal government lauded Buhari for serving the country with dedication, integrity, and 'an unwavering commitment to the unity and progress of our great nation'.
Source: Legit.ng
