The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, in this lecture to mark 50 years of the creation of Lagos State, harps on the need to take culture seriously as a way of promoting tourism and enhancing the commercial viability of Lagos State. Edozie Udeze reports.
The colloquium was titled; Tourism potentials in Yorubaland: Landmarks, cultures and history. It was delivered by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in Lagos last weekend as part of the activities to mark the 50 years of the creation of Lagos State. Beyond the historical excursion into the facts and figures that led to the ancestral foundation of Lagos as a town, the gathering which took place at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, were taken into the traditional role of Yemoja as the Yoruba goddess of fertility and purity by the National Troupe of Nigeria. Through their dance, this was clearly demonstrated.
Before the Ooni mounted the podium to deliver his lecture, the Troupe welcomed the gathering with Iba, homage to the Oba. In it was also espoused Yemoja, a dance that is not only dear to the heart of the Ooni, but which also spells out the intractable role of Yemoja, the river goddess that bestows purity and fertility on the womenfolk. The dance was not only performed with grace and glamour, it equally showed the role played by other gods in the ordinances of the world.
As Funmi Abe, the lead dancer took the crowd through the names of orunmila, obatala, esu and other complementary gods that help in the re-ordering of the earth, most of the traditional rulers in the hall nodded their heads in acclaim. The drummers held on with frenzy as the dancers swayed slowly and methodically to the yearnings of Yemoja.
Adorned in dazzling white costumes, the symbol of Yemoja, the female dancers displayed the evocative powers of influence exercised by Yemoja over women. In all, the idol, the symbol of the goddess was placed on stage for all to see. The dancers invoked it; appealed to it and cajoled it to come awake for the good of the people. The dancers proved that the gods are not yet done with humanity. The dance, in the reckoning of the Artistic Director of the Troupe, Akin Adejuwon, was to show that no society exists in a vacuum. Some ancestral powers must have played prominent roles in its existence.
In his lecture, the Ooni paid everlasting tribute to Olodumare, the author and finisher of our lives for being the only one who is, who was and who will forever hold the universe together. “God is He who is, who was and who will forever be”, he began, as the crowd cheered and applauded. “Therefore all glory, honour and adoration are ascribed to Him. No other one can ever take over from Him. Why I am happy today? This is so because this gathering has the current generation, the older generation and the generation yet to come. The greatest thing that has brought us together that is more forceful than religion is our tradition and culture. It is very important and therefore we have to uphold those things that keep us as one. It is indeed paramount for all of us to safeguard our heritages and ensure we pass them on to the next generation.”
For the Ooni who is the numero uno of the Yoruba culture, It is time for people to know the story of Lagos; how it came to be. “It is good to be here today to celebrate Lagos at 50. However, we have to begin now to grasp the cultural ideals that make us who we are, if not we are bound to forget. Often, when we resort to this, people tag us idol worshippers and all sorts of negative things. But no, it is not so. We merely hold on to what God has given to us. Who can oppose nature? Who can query God’s gift to mankind? Olodumare has bestowed humanity with all sorts of cultural values and therefore we cannot challenge Him. Our God is Olodumare.
“It is for His abundance of gifts of nature and culture that we are here today. He is the owner of nature and He has lesser gods and goddess that help Him to reorder the world. These gods are all messengers and angels of God Almighty. Now, this takes us to the history of how Lagos was founded by our ancestors. It is due to their roles that we are here today as Lagos has come to be the most accommodating and peaceful and friendly state in Nigeria. It is not only commercially viable, if I didn’t come here to Lagos, I don’t think I’d have been made the Ooni of Ife. Lagos made me who am today,” he said.
The Ooni who was made an Oba last year, then traced the history of Olofin Oodua who was sent out from the palace in Ife to go found the city of Lagos. “It was the role of Olofin Ogunfunmire that gave birth to Lagos. Initially, he did not have children and the gods decreed that he could only have offspring if he was asked to leave Ife. He was a prince of the kingdom. He was therefore asked to pack a few things to set sail to whenever his boat could anchor.
“With his entourage, he left Ife, with the blessing of the chiefs. It was for him to establish yet another kingdom. He got to a place called Olokun in Eko, that is Isheri-Olofin. There, he settled down with his family and began to make glasses. And today the making of glasses is originally traced to the Yoruba traditions. We are the first to start the making of glasses and fibre. Even what I am wearing today on my neck as a traditional ruler has its origin in that tradition.
“From that point at Isheri, he also established the Awori settlement. And that is why Lagos is peopled more by the Aworis and the people of Olofin. In fact, the entire Awori clan live in Lagos because this is their original place of existence. These are some of the landmarks of our cultures that we should not forget. And so whilst the Olofin settled and began to expand into the hinterland, the Edos of Bini also came in. However, together the two cultures later merged or met to form the totality of Eko. From Iddo, the development continued until it clustered at Ojuelegba.
“It was Odun-elegba before time, because the ancestors blessed the spot as a beehive of commerce and social activities. Ojuelegba is a blessing so ordained by our ancestors and that is why Lagos beckons on everyone without discrimination. Ojuelegba is synonymous with celebration, very cordial to people in Lagos. Today, Olokun the god of wealth domiciles there and so Lagos has come to be the centre of life, where one can make and create wealth. It is the centre of commerce. It is here that you can come with nothing and go home with plenty. You cannot pass through Lagos without being successful and it was the prayer of our ancestors that has made it so.
“In the first place, it is not only Lagos that has water or being surrounded by water. Yet it is the greatest commercial spot in the country. Eko oni baje o. Therefore, let us not throw away our culture. It is good to educate our people about it. In fact, it is the bedrock of our education. This is why I am challenging both the minister and the commissioners in-charge of culture to sit up. It is time to promote culture and turn it into a tourism commodity for all to savour and sample. It will help in terms of social justice, equity and development. I came to Lagos with nothing but left with my basket full, running over with bountiful and plenty riches that made me who I am today” the Ooni intoned to the general clamour of the people.
In his response, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that in this time of global oil glut, culture has come to represent an avenue for the government to explore resources for the nation. “In this time when there is fall in oil prices, the next credible option to explore is culture. Arts is rich in revenue and we have to exploit that now”, he said. “We have chosen to diverse the economy and culture is our next destination. It has been spotlighted by this government and so we will give it all we have to ensure that tourism also prospers. Now, countries like Ethiopia and Kenya have more UNESCO cultural sites than Nigeria. It is time to look into those sites that we can develop to exploit and explore culture and tourism. These include Nike Lake, the Mambila Plateau, Ife Royal palace, Oba of Benin palace and so on. Today we have only two UNESCO sites and it is not enough,” he said.
According to the Minister, tourism and culture can be used to create jobs for the youths, improve the security situation in the country and generally keep people off the streets. “It is a veritable commodity for the economy. And it will generate hundreds of thousands of jobs for the people. Therefore, attention has to shift to fashion, Nigerian fashion, in its colourful epitome. The film industry is there which has even contributed largely to the nation’s GDP. The creative sector generally has to be promoted the more now for the good of the nation” he presented.
Other cultural troupes that entertained included the Foot-prints of David and the Badagry dance troupe. With them, it was no more in doubt if culture can generate attention and keep people on their toes. With their colourful costumes and elegant dance styles, the cultural groups made it clear that it was time to see dance as one of the veritable commodities to shore up the GDP.
