By joshua 
The parish priest of the Saints Theresa Parish Ogugu, Olamaboro Local government area of Kogi State,Rev, Father Boniface Agenyi Opaluwa,(AKA Igala Father) has called on Political leaders and leaders of other groups of the Igala kingdom to show maximum respect and reverence to the traditional institution of the land,as it has remained the oldest, surviving institution with enduring legacies, he noted.
Rev Father Boniface disclosed this to the media at the 2022 Italo Cultural Festival,held at the Kogi State University stadium Anyingba, Saturday December 31,2022.
Speaking further, Rev, Boniface pointed out that, the Italo Cultural Festival has been the Cultural Festival that avails a platform for the assemblage of all Igala Sons and Daughters at the feet of the Ata- Igala Agabaidu, the highest traditional ruler of the kingdom who is also referred as the father of all the Igala race worldwide, adding that the cultural festival also symbolises the Unity, togetherness and oneness of the entire Igala race.
The Saints Theresa Parish priest further stressed that, individualistic tendencies and the lack of a common target, was the bane of Progress and development of the Igala Nation, he called for Collectivism and concerted efforts amongst Igala Sons and Daughters to surmount their challenges of underdevelopment and other Achilles’s heels limiting the progress of the land.
He pointed out that another problem that has affected the annual observance of the Italo Cultural Festival, since over a decade, was the undue interference by politicians and Political gladiators who had hijacked the cultural meeting point of the people, adding that such actions was wrong and tantamount to sacrilege,he called on politicians to show modicum respect to the traditional institution as it has remained their historical and socio-cultural Identity.