Olojo festival: Celebrating the dawn of creation in Ile-Ife

The Olojo festival in Ife is full of fan fair and brings out the best of Yoruba culture celebrating civilization and creation.

The Olojo Festival is a very significant annual traditional celebration in Ile-Ife, Osun State. It is a culture festival in the calendar of the Ile-Ife. It is believed to be a celebration of the remembrance of “Ogun”, the god of Iron, who is believed to be the first son of Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba people. For the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Olojo festival is a celebration of the dawn of creation and he believes that it lent credence to the belief that Ife is the cradle of human existence.

Traditionally, the Ooni goes into seclusion at a shrine seven days before the festival to perform traditional rites and meet the gods. Palace spokesman, Moses Olafare said the monarch used the period to offer prayers for peace, unity and development in Ile-Ife, Osun State and Nigeria.

Many people believe that when the king comes out from the seclusion, he would be highly possessed with spirits and the gods would accept whatever he says. Therefore, the day of Olojo festival is the day Ooni comes out from seclusion and his subjects wait to receive his blessings.

One of the significance of the festival is the way the Oba adorns the spiritual crown known as Aree. A traditionalist, Chief Idowu Ogunyoni said the Aree is a sacred crown inherited by the king and that it is the physical symbol of authority of the Ooni of Ife.

He said “This is the same crown used by Oduduwa in his lifetime. This crown was made with 149 objects such as cutlasses and hoes and it is very heavy. It weighs 100 kilogrammes. This crown holds great significance in the Olojo celebration. The Ooni of Ife is the only person that can wear it and it is only during Olojo festival.”

That moment Oba Ogunwusi came out was greeted with gunshots as local hunters numbering about 200 shooting sporadically into the air. The leader of the hunters, Chief Hammed Nureni said at that moment, the monarch needs the sound of the gunshot to energise him. According to him, “We were shooting in that manner because that is what will energize the Kaabiesi. The sound of the gunshots will give him more power at that moment. The sound of the gunshots would relieve the king of the heaviness of the Aree crown.”

Also, some men believed to be the soldiers of the king with canes on both hands clear the path for the king as he symbolically walks out of the palace to the Ogun shrine. The mammoth crowd was full of jubilation as the Ooni walked to the Ogun shrine with the spiritual crown amidst prayers, hailing and gunshots.

The frenzy in this year’s festival is no different from others as the Ooni, accompanied by some palace chiefs and eminent indigenes of Ife, waved to the crowd as spectators struggled to watch the procession of the monarch and his colourful entourage.

Various cultural groups of Oodua were seen around the palace in their colourful attires. Also, some individuals believed to be worshippers of Osun, Sango and Ogun filed out to pay homage to Oba Ogunwusi. The chiefs in their traditional regalia and staff danced as local drummers entertained the crowd in very peculiar ways. People from different family compounds in Ife came out to also pay homage to the Ooni as entertainers performed before the king, praying for him.

Speaking on the significance of Olojo festival, Oba Ogunwusi said “It is the day all the creation converged and the melting point is the sacred Aree crown. It is the creation that brought about the entire world. The creation of the new dawn and the very first day in the world is what we are celebrating here. This festival is sacred and spiritual, that is the day that Aree crown comes out. The spectrum of the rainbow is called Osumare. It is the bunch we have inside and outside Aree crown, it depicts the colour of Africa, the black race is linked to multiple colours.”

A female Osun worshiper, Oriyomi Osunbunmi said Olojo festival is meant to appease the ancestors so that they will grant the Ooni and his subjects more life and good health. She also said, “This festival is celebrated as a remembrance of a day in the year which the creator of the world blessed and lots of prayers and sacrifices have been performed to appease to gods.”

The Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the event congratulated the Ooni and the people of Ife on the occasion.

The President charged Nigerians to promote and preserve their cultural heritage, saying that the culture of the people is the identity which gives them recognition. Buhari expressed delight that the people of Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba had been so passionate and committed to the preservation of cultural heritage.

According to him, “for a society to be societal it must be cultural. Society and culture are also intertwined. The culture and tradition of people are their identities as it affords them due recognition. It is their underlying distinguishing factor from other peoples and cultures. In fact, all societies across the globe have various and divergent cultures which they cherish and practice.”

The Governor of Osun State, Mr Gboyega Oyetola who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Benedict Alabi described Olojo festival as significant because it afforded Yoruba people the opportunity to showcase their God-given cultural heritage. He also congratulated the people of Ife for the success of the festival.

Oyetola said “Olojo festival is promoting our culture and tradition to the whole world. The festival has shown to the whole world that Yoruba culture is very rich.”