Wale Jagun
About 20 public and private schools will take part in the maiden edition of the Food Competition initiated by the Mr Rotimi Erogbogbo led Ikorodu – Oga Development Association (KODASS).
The competition, which is part of the Ikorodu Food Festival Day which will come up at the Ikorodu Town Hall on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, is part of the activities lined – up for the 30th edition of the annual Ikorodu – Oga Day Carnival holding between Saturday, November 13 and Saturday, November 20, 2021.
Participants will be engaging in cooking of Ebiripo, Ifokore, Akara Egusi and Afon.
There will also be farm produce and other items for sales at the venue of the Food Festival.
Some of the participating schools are: Oriwu Senior Model College, United Senior High School, Majidun Senior High School, Odogunyan Senior High School, Isiu Senior High School, Keme Balogun Senior High School, Agbede Senior High School and Gberigbe Senior High School.
Others are Ayangburen Senior High School, KORODU HIGH SCHOOL , Kingsfield College, Kith & Kin and Fountain Superstar Ville.
According to the Founder of Ikorodu Tourism and the Coordinator of Ikorodu Food Festival, Mr Ogunsanmi Morufu Hassan, the competition was designed to train young people on how to make traditional delicacies peculiar to Ikorodu which are fast going into extinction.
He added that the idea is also to give the delicacies international recognition and make them a tourist attraction.
“This was borne out of the creative idea of showcasing lkorodu local food to the international community. Doing this will increase the tourism attraction of the city as a destination in Lagos”, he said.
“The initiative will also guide against the extinction of these food and Ikorodu Tourism approached it by the way of learning and relearning the young generation and organising a competition among secondary schools in Ikorodu and its environs.
“This competition will serve as a precursor to attend an international food fair in Abuja to exhibit and promote these local delicacies to the international community”, he said.
“Also, we planned to move outside Nigeria for this same purpose in the nearest future”
He said that there would be preliminary engagements through which the best schools will emerge to participate in the final during the Ikorodu Day Celebration.
He described the interest of schools in the competition as commendable.
The IKODASS Chairman, Mr Rotimi Erogbogbo, speaking with THE IMPACT, said that the association will be sponsoring the first best two schools in the final and will also be attending an international food fair organised by the Federal Government in Abuja later this month.
Erogbogbo, who also revealed that recipes for the local foods will be registered at the National Library in Abuja, added that the IKODASS is committed to the preservation of cultural and traditional values of Ikorodu.