Udiroko: Promoting Ado-Ekiti’s cultural heritage

Udiroko festival is celebrated annually during the harvesting of yam and other food crops in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Udiroko is one of the many festivals celebrated in Ado-Ekiti. There are no records to show when or how it started, but it was one of the festivals celebrated by the aborigines of Ado-Ekiti.

It, however, could be said to have existed for more than eight centuries.

The festival marks the beginning of the year in Ado-Ekiti and it is a day when everybody in the town offers sacrifices to God. It is also a day of general thanksgiving to ‘Abarisa’ (God almighty) for His preservation in the past year.

Udiroko is a general festival for all Ado sons and daughters at home and in the diaspora. Usually, those who sojourn outside Ado-Ekiti come home for the celebration.

During the celebration, homage is paid to the king as he acknowledges his subjects.

Those who first pay homage to the king are the oloris (queens), who carry traditional drums called ‘Ajere’ on their heads and beat it as they walk to perform the rite before their husband.

The queens are then followed by the Efas (traditional policemen), chiefs and the elegbes (war chiefs).

This festival is important to Ado-Ekiti because it helps the people renew their commitment to the development of the town.

This is because once the people are together, the king informs them about the challenges facing the town, just as he urges them to come with solutions that will help solve the challenges.

• Tinubu is an Assistant Director at the National Museum of Unity, Ibadan.