Lagos State Government has declared Thursday, August 20, 2026, a work-free day to enable residents and visitors to participate in this year’s Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day celebrations.

The state government expects more than three million people to take part in activities marking the annual celebration, which promotes Yoruba traditional religion, culture and indigenous heritage.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Idris Aregbe, announced the arrangement in a statement issued on Wednesday, describing Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day as more than an ordinary public holiday.

“Ìṣẹ̀ṣe is not a relic. It is a living expression of our traditions and a celebration of Yoruba spirituality as an important part of Nigeria’s cultural and religious landscape,” Aregbe said.

He noted that the Yoruba people, whose population is estimated at more than 55 million globally, have continued to preserve their cultural practices and pass them from one generation to another.

According to him, the continued observance of Yoruba traditions has also helped sustain Ìṣẹ̀ṣe celebrations among Yoruba communities in countries such as Cuba, Brazil and parts of the Caribbean.

“When the drums sound in Lagos on Thursday, they answer drums in Havana, in Salvador, in Port of Spain. Fifty-five million people and counting. Lagos is not observing a local holiday. Lagos is standing at the centre of a global heritage,” he said.

The celebration is the climax of a week-long programme of traditional activities and has been recognised as a work-free day in Lagos since 2023 following a request by the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has maintained the practice annually as part of his administration’s commitment to promoting indigenous heritage and religious inclusiveness under the THEMES+ agenda.

Aregbe said this year’s programme would feature traditional prayers, rituals, processions, drumming and other cultural performances dedicated to the Òrìṣà. The activities will be coordinated by the Association of African Traditional Religion Nigeria and Overseas.

Aregbe urged participants to observe the celebrations peacefully and with respect for people of different faiths.

The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration has released a breakdown of the N15.8 trillion in savings from fuel subsidy removal and gains of other reforms over the last three years.

The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Wednesday, giving a detailed breakdown of the administration’s subsidy removal reforms.

According to Oyedele, the reforms resulted in N15.8 trillion in savings that accrued to the Federation Account.

He noted that the savings from fuel subsidy removal were shared among the Federal Government, states and local governments.

According to him, the Federal Government received N5.43 trillion, while the states received N6.52 trillion and local governments received N3.88 trillion from the fuel subsidy removal savings.

Oyedele explained that the reforms also generated N3.12 trillion in other incremental revenues and N11.85 trillion in incremental borrowing.

As a result, the Federal Government had approximately N20.4 trillion in incremental resources during the period under review.

However, he noted that additional expenditures incurred by the government during the same period amounted to approximately N30.64 trillion.

“The Federal Government had approximately N20.4 trillion in incremental resources.

“Over the same period, additional expenditures amounted to approximately N30.64 trillion. Subsidy removal therefore did not create one large pool of cash available to the Federal Government. It reduced a major fiscal burden and the amount of additional borrowing that would otherwise have been required”, he stated.

He added that of the N30.64 trillion in expenditures, N9.39 trillion was spent on wage adjustments, N9.37 trillion on external debt servicing, N6.47 trillion on infrastructure, and N3.14 trillion on electricity subsidies.

Tinubu had in May and June 2023, announced the removal of fuel subsidy and the liberalisation of the naira, which led to significant increases in fuel prices and fluctuations in the value of the naira.

Scores of security personnel drawn from the Nigerian military, Nigerian police, Nigeria Immigration Service and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and others are currently on alert at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence, Abuja.

The heavy deployment, it was learnt, was done ahead of the planned massive protest by the retired military officers over the non-implementation of consequential adjustments to their pensions.

President Bola Tinubu recently approved new salary scale for serving military officers with a view to bolstering their performance across all the theatres of operations in the country.

The increment, which the retired military officers said it shouldn’t have left them out having served the country diligently for 35 years or more, cut across all the ranks in the military.

According to report, a visit to the Ministry of Defence Headquarters on Wednesday morning, shows no fewer than three Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) belonging to the military were counted, with about 18 vehicles belonging to the police, Army, Immigration, VIO, NSCDC, FRSC and other security agencies, which were stationed at both ends of the roads and other strategic locations around the protest ground.

Armed soldiers were seen moving around the venue as security operatives took strategic positions along roads leading to the ministry – the development that has already caused gridlock around the area.

Although the planned protest was yet to begin as of when filing this report at about 9:10am, the retired military officers insisted that the protest would go ahead as planned, saying “no going back”.

The report quoted a retired Master Warrant Officer, who didn’t want his name in print, as saying that the Minister was supposed to have met them in order to sort out the issue but the people around him prevented him from doing so.

“Gen. Christopher Musa is a kind man. He is always willing to see to the welfare of both the serving and retired personnel but those around him don’t want him to succeed.

“This protest would go as planned to draw the attention of the world that we also deserve to be treated with fairness, not with impunity. We also deserve what was given to the serving personnel,” the report said.

He maintained that the retirees are protesting the alleged failure of the authorities to implement consequential adjustments to their pensions following salary increases approved for serving military personnel.

One of the leaders of the retirees, Innocent Azubike, a retired Colonel, had said the protest was aimed at demanding what he described as the constitutional pension rights of military retirees.

Azubike said President Bola Tinubu approved a salary increase for military personnel in November 2025, which, according to him, should have resulted in a corresponding adjustment of pensions for retired personnel.

He, however, alleged that the adjustment had yet to be implemented despite repeated acknowledgements by military authorities of the President’s approval.

Azubike said, “We have a protest on Wednesday at the Ministry of Defence to demand our constitutional pension rights.

“In November last year, the President approved a new pay increase for the military, and it came with a consequential adjustment for retirees and pensioners.

“It was in the news throughout that November, and the high military authorities repeatedly thanked the President for the gesture.

“But suddenly, in July and August, it was not implemented and they started changing their stories, as if it should be forgotten.”