Okemesi comes alive •As Oladunwo festival unites indigenes, friends

It was tradition, religion, mystery, passion and celebration. It was a dance party, poetry, fanfare, hospitality and everything else in street carnival and partying. Deputy Editor, Sam Nwaoko, reports the 2017 Oladunwo Festival of the Okemesi people of Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

In all considerations, it had lived up to the hype. The celebration had involved all the nooks and crannies, the high and low, the big and small of the community. Oladunwo was class act in masquerade celebrations in the South Western part of Nigeria. From the early part of the day, the town’s females had gone into seclusion. Businesses were closed. Perfunctory buying and selling were taking place, what one of the community members described as “behind the curtain deals.” Okemesi was primed for the Oladunwo, and the people were “waiting to exhale.”

By mid morning, the already prepared palace of the Owa Ooye, Oba Michael Gbadebo Adedeji, had become a beehive. The Odán tree at the palace grounds had been  secured for the big masquerade while the front of the palace, called Enuwa, had been earmarked for the dignitaries. The stage was set and the people had gone to prepare, thus leaving the community temporarily bereft of usual activities.

Soon, word went round that the much talked-about Oladunwo had gone to the palace. But it was in a simple procession which the uninitiated would have missed. Soon, the other masquerades began to arrive at the palace. They took turns to pay homage to the Oladunwo, which was comfortably settled at some point under the leafy Odán tree. The preparations for the day’s outing had reached a crescendo at about noon.

For instance, the Okeloro clan of Okemesi had, by then, started their traditional drumming. Drummers, which included young schoolboys and their leaders had triggered the people. Soon, they began to flow into the Akodi (the convergence) of the clan head. Just like the Okeloro clan, others were already arriving at the palace and were taking their places.

Inside the palace, notable Okemesi sons like the veteran dramatist, Chief Jimoh Aliu, who is the Oba Asa of Yorubaland; the representatives of the council, and other visiting minarchs, were with the Oba Gbadebo Adedeji, who was also receiving some of the masquerades which had visited to pay homage.

The monarch and his entourage, which included his wives, children and chiefs moved from within the palace to the outer palace called Enuwa Square, for the main event.  Also at the square was a former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the Bashorun of Okemesi, Chief Akin Osuntokun.

There were also other prominent Okemesi sons led by the president of Federation of Okemesi Improvement Union, Dr Yinka Olagunju. Government officials like the special assistant to Governor Ayò Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, and representatives of the chairman of Ekiti West Local Government Area, Mr. Kola Omotunde; community chiefs and leaders and top government functionaries, were all seated. The square was packed with people who were all eager to partake in the celebration.

With the traditional ruler and the dignitaries seated, the various masquerades began to take their turn to dance and pay him homage. Each of the masquerades, which the community said were 141, had taken their turns to display their dance and sundry traditional skills. Among the early stars was the coluorful Ayetutu masquesrade from Ile Arogèrègèrè. The Arogèrèrèrè compound representative had caught the fancy of many of the thrilled tourists.  Its dance was unique and was technically different. It had drawn jubilation from the sons and daughters of Arogèrèrèrè clan, including Mr Tunbosun Osuntokun, who gave him a gift of some money.

The Ojúotori masquerade of Okeloro even had some clanging that rattled as it gave its measured dance steps. Its leggy dance, in a lively costume, and triggered by a skilled drummer, an Okeloro community leader, Raphael ‘Wumi Adeyanju, explained, were all sending some special messages.

The Eegún Ode came and skillfully transferred part of its costume to its accompanying ‘child’. The Eegun Ode danced with some swag that many wanted to see. The masquerade danced with a skillful hand display, and leg thrusts which had a feel of what Americans, and indeed the world, would term “breakdancing”. It had executed the dance session with a unique, graceful glide, which serenaded the entire audience. Eegun Ode was indeed outstanding, especially when the drumming it danced to was considered.

There was also Soyoyo, which came from Odoobi. Many fell over themselves to see it dance. And what a good dancer the masquerade was! It was so good and enthralling that Chief Osuntokun left his seat to join in the dancing. Chief Osuntokun too was still afoot with the steps of the highly technical gyration.

Also, another one, which name was given as Gógo, was simple in the lower part of his costume. But its headgear as adorned with several antique skulls of some unidentified birds. The community members said it hadn’t made an appearance in a while, and so it was a spectacle.

Ogidigbooro must have been a feminist. One of its bàta drummers was a young lady, while it also stood out, being about the only masquerade with bàta. Eegun Oba, also known as Aniyeloye, was described as the masquerade of past monarchs. It had a beautifully adorned costume, with a headgear that depicted royalty: beaded crown and rich garments.

One of the numerous masquerades was stained in blue dye which formed its own identity, while many others also displayed at the outer part of the arena.

With the arrival of Gbado the commentators said it was “the forerunner of Oladunwo.” The appearance of the graceful Gbado indeed set the stage for the main act, Oladunwo because soon after its emergence, canon shots rent the air. It was a grand entry fir the Oladunwo because the arena went silence. Its arrival had literally killed the noise in the arena.

However, Oladunwo also set the entire grounds agog with the magical removal of its outer garment, to reveal an immaculate white, tight-fitting robe strewn with some traditional ornaments. Oladunwo appeared as a simple spirit. It wasn’t outlandish in its costume. But it was ethereal. Its white was neat, bereft of any stain, awesome and breath-taking. It also had element of surprise. It came in a costume and left in another: The immaculate white. Its outer costume was delicately removed to reveal the white inner costume. Oladunwo did not dance!

The climax still wasn’t the “appearance” of Oladunwo at the palace. ‘He’ had arrived at the palace of the Owa Ooye, whom he had referred to as ‘Baale’. Its ‘wife’ had waited at Oke Irena, where Oladunwo had met her and they exchanged pleasantries, following which they departed, together, to Igbó Ìgbàlè. They won’t be seen until another two years.

If it was a huge work to see Oladunwo, it was even more difficult to see it with its ‘wife’ together. The Oke Irena area had been filled with thousands of cane-wielding people, all set for the denouement of the Oladunwo’s outing. There was hardly space for legs in the entire stretch of the road, as the grand masquerade made its way out of sight. It was huge, a spectacle!

Oba Gbadebo had said Oladunwo masquerade celebration was the most important for the people of Okemesi, desiring it as “the king of all masquerades.” The Owa Ooye said the celebration was significant because in the past, when enemy groups had planned to attack the people, the people would take refuge at Oke Agbonna (hills) and the masquerades drove the enemies away. “They got scared because they thought that the Okemesi army had prepared for them,” he stated.

He said Oladunwo is celebrated every odd year and that it was “unique in very many ways.” While thanking the state government for “financial assistance in this year’s Oladunwo festival,” he called for more support to make it attractive to foreign tourists and investors.

Hundreds of Okemesi sons and daughters were in town to witness this year’s celebration. Interestingly, as many as the masquerades were, not all the compounds in the community had one. Mr Lere Olayinka, said his family compound hadn’t got a masquerade. Olayinka, who was also in the surging crowd, said “We don’t have a masquerade in our family. Our family is not known for that.”

But all indigenes of the town and their friends may not bother about Olayinka’s assertion because nearly all the streets of the town were taken over by merry-making people and unrelenting partying. It was a party per metre, with hardly room for vehicular movement. And the other masquerades were still about the streets, continuing in their display to early evening. Indeed, it was a day to look forward to for the various hospitality businesses in the community too.

About the main disappointment in the colourful event was the inability of newsmen to get good shots of the Oladunwo and its ‘wife’. The people couldn’t bear the thought of demystifying their prized Oladunwo. While this is something to rue, as news hunters, the entire celebration is worth another experience, and marketers could take real advantage in the huge, passionate crowd of Okemesi people.

Thus, next edition would present another opportunity to get Oladunwo seen by outsiders. But will this happen yet?