A Chinese proverb says: “Under heaven, there is nothing impossible. All you need is a man with a heart.”
Time changes everything. As echoes of tragedy threaten the peace of our communities and livelihoods, Ooni of Ife, the ecumenical spirit and Arole-Oduduwa, is waving an olive branch in pursuit of peace and unity irrespective of political leanings or bias. This is not about a devastating account of the clear and present travails in the land. If you have been following public events in Nigeria, and with particular reference to Ile-Ife, the cradle of human existence, you will not miss Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, the Ojaja II, in news reports, and high octane circles. The coming of the Ooni to the throne of his ancestors since last December at a time when schools and youths were being bombarded with negativism and sensitive social dilemmas across the country was great information for hope and sacrifice.
Ooni’s encounters with people from all walks of life, who are genuinely good, and continued to make the difference in the lives of our youths with great efforts to promote peace, harmony and economic development across the borders. In his first major traditional function since ascending the throne, Oba Ogunwusi has given the Olojo festival, celebration of the first dawn, a brand new face. At the corporate forum cum unveiling of the festival logo icon last year, Ooni had stated that the commemoration of the festival in Ile-Ife, the land of expansion, was a divine heritage and symbolic spiritual pilgrimage to ensure the place of memory in the history of Africans and the Diaspora, to reawaken the consciousness, to re-valuate and re-claim their ancestral origins or roots.
According to Ooni, “the Olojo festival commemorates the descent of Oduduwa to Ile-Ife and it is historically tied to Ogun, the quintessential deity of iron and truth, who was the father of modern science, the Yoruba deity of iron is the pathfinder. The Yoruba cosmology informs that Ogun charted the way to the earth for Oduduwa, (the progenitor of the Yoruba) and other deities. Olojo festival was, therefore, meant to commemorate the period Oduduwa and hundreds of other deities descended on the earth. The traditional festival held last year in the ancient town with cultural trades/art exhibition international colloquium and literary debate/quiz competition among schools in Ile-Ife.
However, the Olojo heritage festival which held last year between October 8th to 17th included seven sacred days. During those days, Oonirisa Ogunwusi went into a state of seclusion (a symbolic spiritual and transcendental commune with his ancestors for five days during which he was barred from entertaining visitors or interacting with mortals). The traditional ruler emerged from the spiritual solitude on Friday, October 14th, 2016 (Ojo Ilagun, a day of nature preservation and environmental cleansing, which engaged the community in a procession called Iwode, Ile-Ife while the Ooni in a state of immortal and reflection beamed terrestrial message of hope, peace, vitality, magnanimity and balance to the world.
These are principles that exist within the human realm that can mobilise humankind towards greater personal effectiveness and increased lives satisfaction. “In fact the Ooni special message during Olojo festival is pivotal just like the sacred Are crown that he is spiritually endowed to wear only during the festival as the crown is a mystical heavy object that cannot be worn by the Ooni as he pleases. Distinguished by the Yoruba ancestral heritage, Oba Ogunwusi has been intimately crafting a rich character of the ancient city of Ile-Ife on a journey of recovery by making the most of every moment as a plenipotentiary ambassador. In an era when clueless politicians have turned the pride of Yoruba race into a land of tragedy and misery, the Ooni has mobilised the youths and young entrepreneurs in the task of rebranding Ile-Ife and re-inventing its economic fortunes and vast tourism potentials. The Arole-Oduduwa perfectly represents the highest benchmark in terms of creativity and pioneering spirit on the task ahead of traditional institutions in Nigeria. The inspiration and cultural manifestation of Olojo festival for which the Ooni has raised the bar, celebrates the ancient city in a blend of traditional dance and contemporary artistic offerings while welcoming thousands of visitors within the country, Africa and the Diaspora.
The Ooni said: “My greatest desire is to facilitate the unity of the black race in order to make the world a better place. I see this as a spiritual calling. Africa is the mother continent, it is the center of the world and the most populous black nation in Africa is Nigeria where Yoruba race holds a significant position. Studies have shown that for over a millennium African indigenes, South of the Sahara, who were hunted, battered and sold into slavery, since the latter part of the 20th Century, have embarked on a return journey home-some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of a symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to re-claim and re-connect with their roots. Whichever way, the Olojo festival is a major tourist attraction for African indigenes, and the black race to tap into their roots in Ile-Ife, thereby deepening the linkage between the African continent and its Diaspora, which to many African-Americans, has proved an emotional, but fulfilling experience. It was in realisation of this yearning for the dignity and re-valuation of black identity and enshrine a place of Ile-Ife as the source of mankind that the Ooni has taken further steps to raise the awareness to new heights by collaborating with Osun State government and corporate sponsors on this year’s Olojo festival. According to Lawrence Omidiora, a culture activist and tourism consultant, Ooni Ogunwusi has expanded the scope of Olojo festival with a cannivalesque of traditional dance, sport competition, cultural trade/art exhibition, beauty pageant and live music concert as a broad based engagement with the community and international visitors in order to set a veritable avenue for boosting domestic tourism through traffic inflow into Nigeria and Ile-Ife in particular as a brand destination.
“The Ooni is a prime mover and spear-head of a trans-border non-racial, non-partisan, non-political peace initiative within the country, African continent and the Diaspora. To this extent, this Olojo festival could be described as a unique world heritage festival through a focus on the promotion of international peace and understanding, tourism and cultural trade and creative performance. On Saturday 15th October, 2016 Okemogun day was pivotal to the sacred and spiritual being of the Arole-Oduduwa as he adorned the mystic Are jewel crown in a massive cultural procession from the palace grounds to the picturesque Okemogun shrine, a distance of about 100meters away with singing, drumming and chanting by priests, clubs and societies.
•Mr Balogun, a journalist, is the National Coordinator of Ife Consultative Network (IC).
The Are is a sacred legendary crown, an ornament which the Ooni could only adorn once in a year exclusively during the Olojo festival’s cultural procession. The mystical power and magnificent spirituality of this beaded crown could be traced to the first king that ruled the world. He is called Nimrod by the Hebrews, Lamurudu as known by the Yorubas, or Aramphael as called by the Arabs. However, Oduduwa became the first beaded crown wearing king in the world – the Are crown, while the beaded crown became an inheritance of Oonirisa in Ile-Ife. In furtherance of attracting international visitors and tourists to this year’s Olojo festival, Ooni set up a private partnership community concept aimed at drawing corporate sponsors and projecting Ile-Ife’s rich cultural heritage as world heritage center. With the Olojo festival, comes the transcedence of Ooni as ecumenical spirit and ecclesiast body whose power and authority is sacrosanct and awesome. The celebration of the day of creation (Ile-Ife-ibi oju ti n mo) is also symbolic of Ooni’s local and international platform to propagate African culture and traditional religion using the tourism and culture to deepen the interest of foreign visitors and foreign direct investors in Ile-Ife and Osun state.
With this initiative by Ooni Ogunwusi, a further step has been taken to diminish the fragmentations in African common race heritage that were created through colonization under competing European culture on African soil. Coincidentally, Monday 17th, October 2016 which preceded the Olojo ceremonial ground finale, the Ooni is treated, in a symbolic birthday greetings to prestigious homage and cannivalisque of activities by various groups and social clubs in the town with traditional dances and cultural display across various quarters/compounds (akodi) and exchange of gifts and receipt of awards for outstanding performance. From cool blues to royal purple and imperial white, Ooni Ogunwusi’s brand new logo icons for the Royal Courts and most suitable colours is noticeable within and outside the palace he has given the palace a new face with architectural masterpiece and Italian style arc models with a complete decorative colour schemes of predominant white and purple to add a dash of vibrant motif and inspiration to the sprawling environment thereby allowing cool strong tones to bring warmth, energy and royal splendor.
