THRILLS AND GLAMOUR
OF MAIDEN ORAYAN FESTIVAL
Alaafin says it is the Beginning of Yoruba Cultural Renaissance
Ajimobi Laments Dearth of Yoruba
Culture, Promises to Promote Culture
Prof Wande Abimbola speaks on Oranyan , Call for Unity among Yoruba.
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| IKU BABA YEYE, OBA LAMIDI ADEYEMI 111 ALAAFIN OF OYO |
The common saying Ajise Bi Oyoo Laari, Oyo kii se bi baba eni
kan kan comes into term last
week as the Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi
Olayiwola Adeyemi get another place in history with the celebration of the maiden edition of Oranyan festival, a
festival
which brought all the sons and daughters of Oranmiyan the founder of Oyo Empire together to celebrate their progenitor and the first Alaafin
which brought all the sons and daughters of Oranmiyan the founder of Oyo Empire together to celebrate their progenitor and the first Alaafin
The festival which can best be described as
the first ever festival of Unity in Yoruba had in attendance traditional rulers
and powerful delegations from virtually all towns and city in Yorubaland especially those with historical link to Oranmiyan
within and outside the shores of Nigeria
Apart from
about forty Yoruba Obas
from the Republic of Benin who were accompanied by high chief and
representatives of the Honourable minister
of Culture and Tourism there were
about hundreds of Yoruba Oba in Nigeria
among who are ,the the Ataoja of Osogbo,
Timi of Ede Orangun of Ila, olofa of
offa, Olu of Inisa, Olugbon of Ile Igbon, Oba
Gboyega Samuel Osunbade, Onpetu of Ijeru, Olota of Ota, Onira of Ira,
Akibio of Ilora , Elerin of Erin Ile, Okere of Saki, Onijo of Oke Iho, Onitede
of Tede, Iba of Kisi, Onipe of Ipeland, Olojoku of Ojoku, Asolo of Isolo , Agoloto of Badagry, Aare of
Ago Are, Onikoyi of Ikoyi, Awori of Yewa,
Eleruwa of Eruwa, Aseyin of
Iseyin and others.
 | |
| Gov Ajimobi, Alaafin and Onikoyi Abesan from Benin | Republic |
The one week long activities which started
on September 8 started
with a carnival float around Oyo and his environs. It also features
exhibition of art and craft, film show and documentary on Sango and Alaafin Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, lectures on art and craft, football competition, Gbegiri
day, visit to Historical sites by
tourists and grand finale held on
Saturday with cultutral display
from diffrenet cultural group,
including Ajofoyinbo, Eegun Aye, Pobe
Dancers from Benin republic, festival
lecture by Awise Agbaye, traditional oath taking, presentation of trophy to the winners of the
football competition among others.
In his welcome address the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba
Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111 who described Oranyan as a pride to the whole
Yoruba race an embodiment and platform
builder of what makes Yoruba race who
they are today said Oranyan Festival is immortalized and showcase
to the whole world the deeds and worth of
an enigmatic Oranyan, one of the
sons of Okanbi, the son of Oduduwa who
was the first Oba in this part of the world
to establish an enduring empire
which spread beyond dialectical region
and lasted more than 600 uninterrupted years.
Kabiyesi said further that “ while
other great nations celebrate their
heroes by showcasing their
glorious past, African do not give much reverence to their because of
the super imposition of the two religions of Islam and
Christianity and etching of their
sermons and creed into the consciousness of African’s psyche have conditioned
our sense of appreciation and thinking thereby making us to see and read
fetishism and primitive as hallmark
our tradition and culture.” Adding that hat Oranyan Festival is one of the
steps taking by the Alaafin in council at making
sure that the contribution of
Yoruba to the emergence of
modern cosmopolitan world is not relegated to the background and shoved into the ocean of forgetfulness,
Oba Adeyemi while explaining the idea behind what is termed cultural renaissance of the Yoruba people
said, “ Modestly and realistically, we desire earnestly to resuscitate those norms that contribute to the event to
make Yoruba race a unique one. As you can all see we have structured the
event and today’s programmes s so well
as to stimulate Unity and Lubricate togetherness among the Yoruba”
Also the executive governor
of Oyo state Senator Abiola Ajimobi in his speech Oranyan festival is an event that should be viewed beyond a
mere gathering of people to witness the honour being bestowed on a deserving
hero, who not only distinguished himself as a worthy son of Oduduwa and first
Alaafin of Oyo Empire, but also carved a name for himself as the great
empire-builder who laid a solid foundation for the continuation of the Yoruba
race. Adding that “the exemplary attributes and outstanding contributions of
Oranyan in time past should definitely serve as impetus to each and every one
of us alive today and propel us to contribute significantly to the society and
humanity at large”
Lamenting on the fading glory of Yoruba culture, Senator
Ajimobi said “ It is however saddening that today, our society has been
overwhelmed by foreign cultures and arts, most of which are inferior to our
values and heritage.
The over-cultivation of
these foreign cultures have overtime led to the erosion or debasement of our
cultural values and ideals. The way things stand, indigenous languages,
etiquette, modes of worship, festivals, traditional modes of recreation and
storytelling and all aspects of traditional living are in danger of
extinction”. Adding that It is therefore high time we repositioned what we have
and use it to get what we want. The
future of the past must be guaranteed. To do this, it is incumbent on us to
hold on to and lift proudly aloft that which is glorious about our past. We should return to the cultural values that
have served us well for centuries.
 | ||||
| Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Olunloyo and Monsurat Summonu, Speaker OYHA |
this is apart from the various donations made to artistes and
towards enhancing traditional festivals in the State”
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| Oba Adeyemi welcoming the Ataoja of Osogbo |
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| Bashorun of Oyo, and Awisw of Yorubaland, Prof Wande Abimbola |
He however express
gratitude to Oba Adeyemi for his unshaken support at all times and for deeming
it fit to remind the Yoruba race of their rich cultural heritage and commended
the committee and everybody that contribute to the success of the maiden
edition of the programme.
The Awise of yorubaland, Professor Wande
Abimbola while describing Oranyan, said
Oranyan is a giant being he is
about 20 feet that is why his
staff is about 15 feet, he said
celebration of festivals will usher in
success, goodluck, open womb for
the barren and others.
He commended the Alaafin for his magnanimity to
remember and celebrate the
founder of Oyo Empire and
appeal to people of Oyo to continue to corporate with Alaafin in celebrating Oranyan festival.
Senator Ayo Adeseun A member of the upper chamber of the
parliament in Abuja in an exclusive interview with Feedback said “ celebrating Oranya festival
is one of the solution to the Unity
among Yoruba that is being threatened.
According to him “this is one of the
solution, the issue of our unity been
threaten as a race is bound to be
so because we are very much enlighten and that we are the envy
of other tribes in the country, naturally
in the kind of Federal system of
government we run in Nigeria though it is not been done federally, there
is bind to be those kind of see saw
development and that is why the Yoruba’s
in the southwest can come
together formulate our own policies develop our economy the way we want it to be and become the bride for all
Nigeria although it has to be in contest of one Nigeria and i think this is one of those steps in the
right direction anything that will unite
the Yoruba that can now unleash the internal crisis created in our people
honestly must be encourage and
supported “ | |
| pobe dancers from Benin Republic |
Factional Leader of the Odua People’s Congress
OPC whose organization is partnering through Olokun festival said celebration
of Oranyan festival will make people to know who is Oranyan and what role he
played in Yorubaland . According to him “ Oranyan as a deity is one
of the heroes within the deities of Yorubaland,he
is a warrior, he fought a lot of war in Yorubaland and he is one of the most
important institution we have in Yorubaland because he went to organize Benin where he gave birth to a child called Eweka,
Eweka dynasty is one ruling house in Benin Kingdom today, and at the same time
he became the became the Oni of Ife and
later became the Alaafin of Oyo, so deities like that needed to be recognise
and needed to be laid emphasis to what he done if not for the festival it will be very
difficult for people to know the role he played when he was alive”
In his own remark,
Eze Ndigbo of Oyo state, Dr Alex Alozie
who came with retinue of his traditional chiefs said
“ this is a very beautiful, festival
it is a beautiful one you can see it yourself that people are happy, you
see as traditional rulers we keep on doing things to ensure that our culture
does not die, and this is part of it, what we are saying it if we look at the
area where the culture is fading away and see that it did not die, we must
promote it “.
One of the benefits of event l of
such magnitude is the boost in the economy of the place as
commercial activities rose
drastically during the festivals , Alhaja Amdallat Awobioju, a tradomedical practitioner who is also the Iyalaje Ewedapo of Oyo state attest to the fact that the festivals
has realy promoted her business
since its started and she wish the
Oranyan festival did not end ,” we are
very glad and grateful to God and
Alaafin for this festival , we make more
sales, and enjoy good patronage, even some of us make what they’ve never make
before “
Alhaja AAdewale a food vendor at
Bashorun junction at Oyo also confirmed that she enjoy
more patronage that before according to her, “ we use to kill one or two
Ogunfe before but just for this festival alone
we killed six goat today, we sell
more that 40 bag of pure water as to
less than five before, in fact
people patronise us very well, some people even requested for more gbegiri because of
the delicacies and local flavour.
Also
some commercial motorcyclists
and Taxi driver who spoke with feedback disclose that
though they did not increase
transport fare because of the festival but the
event afforded them to make more money . one of them Tajudeen Adio said “
the traffic was very heavy around
the place so most of us drop passengers from a little far distance to the palace , we enjoy
good patronage since from Wednesday”
Companies like Nigeria Brewery, International brewery, intercontinental distillers limited, bond chemicals and others also display their product and offer free
gift to the people while some said their product at a
subsidies rate for instance, Representatives of
intercontinental distillers limited who
spoke with Feedback said “ We are here
to showcase our brand and contribute to the promotion of Yoruba culture, it has been a very wonderful experience , we are
quite sure that such programme of
this magnitude cannot be run by the
Kabiesi alone a lot of companies and
industries need to come on board to
support and we are part of the support. This is done in passion to contribute
to the rejuvenation of culture and
traditions not only in Yorubaland, but also in other tribes, we use to do it in
Osun Osogbo and we are here at Oranyan festival too”.
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