Category: Arts & Life

Faced with barrenness and poverty? Your worries are over. All you need is a visit to Ijero Ekiti in Ekiti State, where masqueraders flog the barren, the poor and the needy to free them of their woes. The town ended its seven-day Ogun- Egungun festival last Sunday. Taiwo Abiodun was there.

Five young girls who painted their faces with white native chalk, with beads on their necks and ankles held horsetails, danced round a big tree seven times as the Ipesi drums were being beaten by skilled drummers. According to the town’s monarch, HRM Oba Joseph Adebayo, the Alajero of Ijero Ekiti: “These young girls and boys are now initiated into the royal house and have now received their royal blessings and can now boast anywhere that they come from royal house. No matter what, if you are born into the royal house without performing these rites, you are not recognised as having royal blood. These children are my children and have now been initiated into the royal house of Owa Ajero.”

“Later, a tuber of yam would be cut by the Odofin into two equal sizes, and then the Alajero has the right to eat new yam. That starts the festival,” the monarch added.

The over 500 masquerades trooped in their numbers, comprising the young ones and middle aged ones who were in their palm-fronds and covered their faces with well carved wood. They were all everywhere in the town as they danced round the town armed with canes.

According to Joshua Oyewande Olukolade, one of the community leaders, “the festival lasts for seven days and it has been on for over 1,000 years. It brings sons and daughters of the town together. People come from the United Kingdom, United States of America and from far and near, and especially for prayer which is efficacious. I came with some of my friends from Enugu to witness this historic festival.”

Mysterious drum

Asked of the drum they beat to herald the festival, Oyewande said the drum is called Ipesi. “It is beaten once in a year and this is during the beginning of this festival and when the monarch passes on. Not only this, the sound has a very powerful work to do as it attracts all sons and daughters to Ijero. No matter where an Ijero indigene is, if he hears the sound of the drum he would be yearning to come back home.”

Obafemi could not confirm or deny the story that the Ipesi drum was made of human flesh. He only said, “I don’t know about that. But I heard the story that its sound attracts sons and daughters back home.”

Egungun are visitors from heaven

Narrating how it starts, the town’s monarch and head of the community, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole, stated, “This festival is called Ogun/Egungun festival. We spend two weeks in preparation for it as the farmers would be at home to observe Ogun. That is why Ijero sons and daughters would come home for a reunion. Our new calendar year starts when we end the Ogun festival. Some communities only worship egungun, whereas it is only in Ijero that we observe both Ogun and egungun festival together in the whole of Yoruba land,” the monarch stated.

On the egungun festival, the monarch said, “For the egungun festival, we believe our forefathers came from heaven to stay with us for seven days and after the seven days they go back to heaven. And when sending them off, all sons, daughters, visitors and friends would raise their voices to high heavens, praying for themselves and for the town. The significance is to celebrate our ancestors and assess ourselves, improve on ourselves and move forward.”

Egungun Aje or Ako Egungun

Among the over 500  masquerades, the most powerful one is called Egungun Aje or Ako egungun, which is known to be very powerful and highly efficacious in prayer. According to the custodian of the egungun aje, High Chief Samuel Obafemi, the Aasan Ijero of Ijero Ekiti, “I am the custodian of Ako egungun, also known as egungun  aje. In Yoruba land, it’s the Ijeros that have only this type of masquerade. It has been existing for over 1,000 years and an ordinary person cannot adorn it. Whoever adorns it has to be from the family of egungun aje or ako egungun and must be initiated into it. The egungun aje has and holds a long spiritual cane it uses to cane and bless people.” According to Obafemi, it is a blessing if one is caned by the egungun, for it is believed that the cane has both physical and spiritual healing, thus many beg to be flogged by ako egungun

Corroborating, Oyewande said, “Yes, it is true. We call the cane esisan and the people who hold them are the family of Asosanyin. It is the biggest masquerade. It is also believed that when one is caned by egungun aje this year, he would be praying to be caned next year. If it is a woman looking for the fruit of the womb, and she is whipped by the masquerade, that means her prayers have been answered as she would bring her baby to the festival following year. Many can testify to this,” he boasted.

On how egungun aje came into being, the monarch explained, “in the days of old, when children were falling sick and some were dying, our forefathers brought egungun aje out to come and rescue the town and since it cured people and released them from bondage it has since being worshipped. So, whoever fell sick was healed while progress came to the town. That is why we have been celebrating and worshipping egungun aje. We also called it ako egungun (husband of all masquerades).”

Last Sunday evening, the arrival of egungun aje sent huge cries of happiness everywhere while many ran to him to be whipped with his cane. Many begged him to cane them. A young man, Yemi Olutayo, said he offered himself to be caned to receive his (aje egungun) blessing.”I am glad for having the opportunity to cane me; it is a physical and spiritual blessing. I know he has answered my prayers and my life cannot be the same again as things will improve for me next year.”

Princess Iya Seyi (aka Iya Sewooo) said, “I struggled to get to where egungun aje was, but the crowd was too much. But I have prayed in his name to let me grow old and let my business flourish.”

As if they were a congregation in the church, the over 20,000 people who thronged the place raised their voices and started praying in the name of egungun aje, to the surprise of this reporter.

Dr. Femi Ayo Ajayi, who came from Aramoko Ekiti, said “it is a belief and I must confess to you all their prayers have been answered. That is why people come all the way from America, London and all places to receive blessings from Egungun Aje. I have never for once missed this festival; it is interesting and adventurous.”

On Sunday, over 20,000  spectators, including monarchs from the neighbouring towns and chiefs waited to receive prayers from Egungun Aje as there were wild jubilation. Prayers were offered and immediately the Egungun Aje removed the wooden mask from his face to be seen, it was all over.

The long vacation is here, but pupils don’t know it’s holiday. They attend  what is known as summer school, which robs them of the joy of spending their holiday at home or any other place of  their choice. Is this how to spend the long vacation?  Taiwo Alimi, Olusegun Johnson and Benjamin Matt explore the trend.

Babatunde Ajayi, a banker, remembers his growing up years with nostalgia. He especially remembers the ‘good old third term holidays’, when for almost three months, he and his siblings were free from academic activities and revelled in the freedom.

One of seven siblings, Ajayi, who went to school in the 70s and 80s, recalls how weeks to the end of the third term, they’d all look forward to the holiday, sometimes hardly able to sleep due to excitement. “We dreamt of places to visit and whose turn it was to host us amongst our array of uncles and aunts. Sometimes it was our grandparents in the village that we visited, and at other times, we travelled long miles to visit one of our uncles in Kano.”

In the same vein, Stephen Fadipe, a doctor who hails from Iwo, Osun State, remembers the third term long holiday as that time when he and his two siblings were ‘flung’ to the farthest part of the country to spend time with close relatives.

Recalling a particular experience, when he and his siblings were ‘trained’ to Sokoto, Fadipe said “My grandma was living and trading in Sokoto then and that particular year, we travelled from Osogbo to Sokoto by train. My father just bought tickets for us and wrote my grandmum that we would be arriving Sokoto by 8pm the next day. We were kids and you can imagine how exciting it must have been to be left alone on a journey of almost 48 hours. We also got to Sokoto precisely on time and grandma was there waiting to receive us.”

Part of the memoirs that trip, he said was the hospitality of the locals, whom he said helped their grandmother in her business. They stayed with grandma in her shop but also hawked when the opportunity presented itself, thereby picking bits of the Hausa language and their habits and culture.

Age of summer school

Today, the story is different. School children hardly travel on holidays anymore, and neither do they engage in commercial ventures to help their parents.  As a matter of fact, our investigations revealed that students now hardly leave the four walls of the school; as they almost immediately return to the classrooms barely a week after vacation, in the name of ‘summer school.’

This may also seems like a case of the proverbial ”All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy” situation, but all parties seem to be stuck with it, as a cross section of students and parents spoken to see ‘holiday coaching’ as the only option available at the moment.

Blessing Abafun, 15, a student of Unique Group of Schools Lagos, says “During long vacation like this, I learn skills like tailoring and I also go to holiday coaching class. My sisters also take me out for shopping which, I enjoy a lot.”

The story is the same with Blessing Arinze, 14, who told The Nation that “My first week is the visiting period for me; thereafter, I go back to school for my summer tutorials, to add to what I already know.”

For Uwamarin Unique, it is not much different as she says she shares her holiday period between reading at home and attending summer coaching. The 13-year old JSS 3 student explains: “When I am home, I read inspirational books and try to prepare for the next session. I also attend summer coaching just to make sure I stay focused on my line of study. It gives me considerable edge over my fellow students.”

Adesina Godwin, 15 however adds a twist by underlying her preference for the arrangement. “During holidays, I love to learn handworks like graphic design, tailoring and computer. Then, attend summer classes because it has a way of bringing out the best in a student in the next session.”

The story line is literally the same with 16-year old Omotola Folorunsho, and Adeniyi Aderopo. Aderopo, a student of Lagos State Senior Model College, Meiran, says her only window for visits is the final week of the holiday.

Of the lot spoken to, only Ayodele Abiola of Surulere Community High School and Oluwafunmilayo Remilekun of Catland Secondary School do not attend summer school during their holidays. The one takes advantage of the holiday to help out in her mother’s business at her shop, while the other says she prefers to visit friends and stay at home, reading for pleasure.

One may therefore deduce from the pupils’ responses that they have only adapted to their parents’ scripts, to which they have been well-tailored.

Speaking with The Nation, Mrs. Abafun, a parent said “My children must attend summer coaching to keep them busy. I have seen situations whereby teenagers get unwanted pregnancy during holidays, and for such not to occur, we send them back to school. Even when they come back home, they go for tailoring lessons.”

She said the issue of holiday comes last on her entry scale. “It is after all these that they can travel to places of their choice.”

Another parent, Mrs Adeniyi outrightly declared that visiting relatives and playing away the time is not part of her agenda for the long holidays. “I let my son learn handcraft and computer engineering, so he can have a back-up to education in the future.”

School owners’ perspective

Not surprisingly, school owners and managers interviewed were quick to defend the whole summer school concept. Pastor Ajayi Adegbenga of LIZBEN Private College, Alagbado Lagos said, “We decided to do summer coaching to keep the students busy and prepare them for next section. Some parents may decide to let their children travel and relax, but many prefer to keep them in school. However, here at LIZBEN, we engage them in other vocations, such as computer training, bead-making, shoe-making and other entrepreneurial activities, aside the normal academic lessons. It is therefore a period to expose them to skilled work, so they can stand on their own in the future.”

Principal at Flourish College, Ikosi, Ketu, Aderinboye Sunday, also expressed his strong support for the summer school idea. “My students are mostly engaged in summer school for the new academic session, because in education, there is something called reinforcement. Once you are given orientation, you have to reinforce what you have been taught. As a parent, I cannot leave my children to roam around, because I know the danger of idleness. Devil finds work for idle hands.”

All work…makes Jack a dull brain

Interestingly, Mrs. Adebayo, who is a parent and a teacher, believes that holiday is important for students to get themselves refreshed from the rigours of school work and travel; yet she supports holiday coaching to keep the children abreast of the challenges of the new term.

Toni Ololade, a father, however, paints his idea of the ideal holiday for youngsters. “The holiday period should be when you spend quality time with your children and do things with them. I take them out to the beach and other fun destinations. Right now, they have travelled to visit my siblings outside Lagos. That is what holiday is meant for.”

He observed that most of the schools that organise summer schools do it purely for selfish reasons.

Lekan Togunwa, an engineer, shares this opinion. He says “I don’t allow my children to attend summer school, if they are not preparing for any serious exams. I keep them at home to help in the house or go visiting my relatives. It is a time to rest and do new things. That is why it is said that all work and no play makes Jack a dull brain.”

The psychological angle

Komolafe, proprietor of Sure Success Vibrant College, Command, Ipaja, Lagos, offered a psychological insight into the importance of holiday in a school system. “If we are talking about holidays in school system, it is the break period where there will be no activities that will involve the learners. They are to stay out of school system for three months. It is a period for the pupils to relax their brain, unlike during school time when they wake up by 6:30 AM. It is a time to pay attention to issues outside formal education, and it helps them to refocus and relax their brain. So coming to school during holiday is like caging their brain, it is not profitable for them.”

He added that it is also a time for them to discover themselves, as they have an opportunity to explore and develop other talents like dancing and other artistic works.

He opined that it is also an opportunity for “teachers refresh their brain and develop themselves further. It is this time that teachers attend seminars for training so that when they come back to school fully refreshed and better.”

Miss. Opeyemi Oduoye, a school leaver, feels the same way. She says pupils should try as much as possible to stay away from school environment during holidays. “It is better for students to enjoy themselves, catch some fun and enjoy the holiday. They should do more of relaxation, along with reading, research and discoveries both in their line of study and in their hidden and God-given talents.”

Principal of Science Foundation Schools, Ketu, George Ogbehonevie, also says long vacation should be a time of refreshment for students. “In Nigeria, virtually every school runs summer school and as long as the government does not frown at it, it is a good practice; but in many other countries, the long vacation is a period for school children to rest and refresh for a new academic year.”