Residents of Osogbo have expressed fears on the danger the influx of people to Osun/Osogbo festival can pose in the face of rampaging Ebola virus. They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Thursday that the chances of contacting the virus were high because of contacts with many tourists.

A resident at the Dada Estate in Osogbo, Mrs Olayinka Ajibola, said the outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa would adversely affect tourism sector, including the Osun /Osogbo festival.

Ajibola said the annual Osun festival always attracts many tourists from far and near, especially the neighbouring states where the virus had been reported.

She called on the state government put in place robust mechanism to forestall any outbreak by reducing the number of tourists that would come into the state.

Another resident in the town, Mr Shittu Akeju, said most of those who visit the groove during the festival might have a rethink this year.

Akeju identified the heavy presence of monkey at the groove as the main reason for this, since monkey had been said to be one of the major carriers of the virus.

“The celebration of Osun festival this year will suffer a little setback because of the menace of Ebola virus that is threatening the communities in the West Africa, including Nigeria.

“You will agree with me that aside the fear of contacting the disease from the crowd, the groove is also a thing of concern to them due to presence of monkey.

“I t is a common knowledge now that animal like monkey is a first class carrier of the disease, this make the venue of the celebration a great danger for the  people,’’ Akeju said.

Meanwhile, Dr Abiodun Ogunwale of the Department of African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has called on the government to protect the tradition with diplomacy.

Ogunwale told NAN that the outbreak of Ebola virus should not stand as a clog to the celebration of peoples’ heritage, although some necessary caution should be taken to prevent epidemics.

He explained that diplomacy should be brought to bear when taken measures to protect the people in order not to give an erroneous impression about the state.

The lecturer, however, commended the Lagos State Government for being proactive in the way it responded to the outbreak, adding that this was an attribute of good leadership.

(NAN)