BASE ON EBOLA: Osun Stops Foreigners From Festival.

Following the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West African countries like Guinea, Sierre Leone, and Liberia, the Osun State Govern­ment has declared that tourists from outside the state would not be allowed to par­ticipate in the forthcoming Osun Osogbo Festival sched­uled to hold on Friday, 22 August, 2014.

This was disclosed at the weekend by Osun State Commissioner for Informa­tion and Strategy, Mr. Sun­day Akere at a press con­ference in Osogbo, saying that the move was part of measures to pre­vent the spread of Ebola virus to the state.
He noted that efforts were being made by the state government to make Osun an Ebola-free state.

The commissioner, who lamented the high spread of the Ebola vi­rus in Nigeria since the late Patrick Sawyer brought the disease to the country from Liberia on 20 July, 2014, stressed the need for tra­ditionalists, especially Osun devotees, to co-operate with the state government in its bid to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

Akere informed that this year’s Osun Osogbo Festival would be celebrated in low key, but with all traditional rites and sacrifices by the Osun devotees in Osogbo alone.

He explained that the state government had restricted movements of non residents of Osun to the state, saying this would help to prevent the spread of the disease to the state.

Akere informed that only traditional worshipers and well-wishers, who are resident in the state, would be allowed to partake in the cel­ebration of the Osun Festival to minimise bodily contacts among the people.

However, Akere stated that the decision of the state gov­ernment was not to deprive the festival of its usual glamour or keep people away from enjoy­ing the event but to prevent the outbreak of Ebola disease in the state.

According to the Ministry of Health in Nigeria, at least two other people have died of the disease while eight others have been confirmed to have contracted the diseases in Nigeria.