Odun Oba Ogoga: Ikere’s blend of culture, splendour

The 2019 edition of the Odun Oba Ogoga in Ikere-Ekiti, headquarters of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was a form of stock-taking for the people and their traditional ruler, reports Sam Nwaoko.

The beauty of the 2019 edition of the Odun Oba Ogoga Festival was a grand testimony that the Ogoga, Oba Samuel Adejimi Adu Alagbado, is popular among his people and enjoys their maximum support and patronage. Quite a number of the revelling people from all walks of life and from every part of Nigeria and beyond made the gathering memorable with their various cultural displays and revelry. It was a roll call of who is who in Ikere-Ekiti, the domain of the Ogoga, who is one of the first class traditional rulers in Ekiti State.

The ceremonies had formally kicked off when several groups in the community, including school children decked in various colourful costumes, filed out in their numbers to pay homage to the monarch. Part of the homage to the king were cultural songs and dance; traditional display by local hunters and both male and female guards.

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Chiefs from each of the quarters that make up the community were also not left out. So also were social clubs and associations, the Eyelori; the palace women which included wives of the past kings; the princes, popularly known as Omo Owa; chieftaincy title holders among many other groups. Some of the dignitaries also expressed the cause of their support for the Ogoga and the Odun Oba legacy.

Beginning with the Ikere Development Forum (IDF), a group of powerful sons and daughters of the community, represented on the occasion by Femi Ekundayo, they said they were proud of their Ikere heritage, saying “we take pride in the heritage of our forbears, especially that we were never defeated or conquered in wars. We appreciate the Ogoga for the rare privilege given to the IDF to reconcile parties disturbed by age long rivalries. Our report will soon be ready and its tone is positive.”

Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, a son of Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, Ikere-Ekiti, in his remarks, described the Odun Oba Ogoga as one “promoting peace, progress and unity among Ikere.” Afuye used the occasion to weigh in on the insecurity pervading the country and said “as a legislator, there is no other way to go but for the community to police itself because we know ourselves in each community inside out and they know every nook and cranny of the town. That is what is happening all over the world and of course resonates with the principle of federalism.”

Speaking on the festivities and its import, the Sapetu of Ikere kingdom, Professor Oluwafemi Babatope, said the Odun Oba Ogoga comprised many activities, saying the grand finale was the conclusion of the festival. “This phase heralds the beginning of a new year for us. Every group in the town comes to pay homage and felicitates with the monarch during this celebration.

Babatope, a professor of Wood Products Engineering at the Federal University of Technology (FUTA), explained that the most significant of the various aspects of the festival “is when the wives of the Sapetu would go to the farm and harvest the yams and line up in a procession and take it to the home of the Sapetu who offers prayers on it. On the next day, the Sapetu will lead others to present the yam to the monarch. We do this before we now have this grand finale.”

He called for unity among the people. ”We should unite to become one and lift the town to an enviable height for others to emulate us. We are lucky to have a truthful, progressive monarch. In recent time, we have had development because of his personality. He on his own should continue to carry everyone along for continued progress,” the Sapetu Ikere stated.

The highpoint of the occasion was the address by Oba Adejimi Adu Alagbado. His address was a pie for all: his subjects, his traditional and honourary chiefs; friends of Ikere and their well-wishers. He noted that Ikere community had witnessed a mixed bag of everything in the past twelve months, but was grateful to the Almighty that the town rather than wobble, stood strong.

He particularly listed the “high tension” he said arose from the governorship and presidential elections, which he noted “sort of polarised the whole kingdom, pitting brothers against brothers,” and added that “we also experienced the scourge of thuggery, lawlessness, youth and cultism disturbances.”

The monarch said “however, in spite of these, we have reasons to also celebrate. During the same period we witnessed the elevation of our sons and daughters to the enviable status of professorship in various institutions worldwide. We also witnessed the approval by the Senate of Nigeria, the appointment of one of our sons to a very important position in the nation.”

Ikere, Oba Adejimi Adu noted, “has a glorious history that is the envy of many kingdoms. Our ancestors in their wisdom arranged the administration of the kingdom in such a balanced way that ensured unity. It was this unity that served as the strength which resulted in the successes achieved in those days of internecine wars where Ikere remains undefeated and unconquered till date.”

He regretted that despite the efforts by the entire community “to ensure full integration, some egocentric individuals for their own selfish gains and self-aggrandisement have been making spurious, strange and bizarre stories which are all falsehood in the attempt to rewrite and change our history to suit their evil plans. We, therefore, depend on God Almighty to vindicate us and arrest these evil diets because we stand on truth.”

Oba Adejimi Adu advised that “we must eschew hatred and bitterness in our politics. We cannot all be in one party but our goals and objectives for Ikere, our common heritage must be for her progress. Therefore we must keep that in mind regardless of party loyalty. While we commend families who are known for good deeds that have brought glory to Ikere kingdom, do not let your family be known to bring rebuke or shame to Ikere. Guide your children to become honourable and achievers and not thugs and fraudsters.”