Okorobo Festival: Tourists' Delight
By, Seye Adetunmbi, first published in 2006 and in MINDSET, a book published in 2012
Every nation and the constituents do have their peculiarities which often give the communities unique identities. In terms of cultural activities some standout amongst the rest. A good example is Yoruba nation within the federal republic of Nigeria. Yoruba nationality numbering over 40 million, though the majority live in the South Western part of Nigeria, they are found in Togo, Benin Republic and in other parts of the world, including Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and USA. One commonly spoken language notwithstanding, this black people of Negro stock is traditionally made up of Ekiti, Oyo, Ijesha, Egba, Ijebu, Ondo, Akoko, Owo, Ilaje, Aworis kingdoms among other citizens. Yoruba based on contemporary history is said to belong to the Kwa group of the Niger-Congo linguistic family, and it has about 12 dialects. A well urbanized group yet rich in culture with expertise in arts as symbolized in the famous "Ife Bronzes" among many other native skills. Oduduwa represents the symbol of the nation, the convergence of those who subscribe to the Yoruba identity.
Ekiti the state of origin of this author is a unique member of the large Yoruba family. Ekiti people like those in other kingdoms within the fold have a common origin and language, as well as common political and religious cultures. All these made the Yoruba a nation long before any contact with Europeans and the advent of colonialism. Apart from dialects, some communities are also characterized by indigenous festivals within the Yoruba nation. In order words certain festivals are synonymous to some towns/communities. Examples of relatively popular festivals in this category include, Osun Osogbo, Eyo in Lagos, Okorobo Ifaki-Ekiti, Olosunta Ikere-Ekiti, Ekimogun of Ondo, Olojo in Ile-Ife, Ogun Ikole-Ekiti, Agungun in Sokoto etc. Interestingly, most of these festivals are associated with one deity or the other that are peculiar to each community and are often celebrated annually between the 2nd and 3rd quarter of the year. Also in some quarters, they are celebrated around the time when most farm produce/products particularly yams are being harvested or available in large quantity for obvious reasons. In essence, names of the festivals may differ, yet the underlying celebration in most cases is new yam festival and when an average indigene can afford to feast satisfactorily. In order to relate unique characteristics of festivals to tourism development in Nigeria, this write-up dwells more on a household and familiar festival in Ekiti. This enabled the author to dig into the way it was done in the dark ages, move to what obtains now and express an opinion on what the future portends in the face of economic realities and challenges of urbanization. More importantly how best can these festivals be conducted and packaged in a manner that everything is not lost for the benefit of the host community and tourism industry in Nigeria.
Arrival of Okorobo from the shrine carried by Akomodesegbe III during 2006 festival.
Hassan in his elements doing one the things he does with proficiency 'Alamo'
Ojo Okorobo veteran carrier and classmate of the author; his outing this year was outstanding on 2/9/06
By way of background Okorobo festival is the preeminent cultural carnival in Ifaki; a nodal town in the center of Ekiti State of Nigeria. Ifaki is divided into 4 quarters Ilero, Iwore, Ilogbe and Egun. The town has Okorobo Iwore and Okorobo Egun. Ironically, Okorobo Egun is more entertaining because the carrier dances with it, while Okorobo Iwore is more popular and known to the outside world which makes it to attract a very large crowd. Okorobo is one festival that involves no rituals or making of sacrifices unto any idol, this is perhaps one of the reasons why people of different shades and creed participate in the ceremony. It is all about singing and dancing while some physically fit men and women voluntarily flog each other on their legs with "uro" the long stem of palm fronds. Strong young men see it as an exercise and long standing conventional way of celebrating the great feast. About a week to the appointed day, women will chant eulogizing songs in praise of the coming feast and elegies in remembrance of their late comrades who had shared the happy occasions with them in the past and were no more. Melodious and sonorous voices could be heard from different individuals coming out of various houses. It is called "sa-la-mo" in Ifaki dialect. A typical elegies (Alamo) goes thus:
Ifaki Dialect
Se ni ma j'iyan j'iyan I'll eat pounded yam and over eat it
Ki ma tamimo m'oro I’ll use left over to mark the wall
Ki ma mu o otun waran je I'll use my right hand to devour meat
L’ijo Okorobo
Ki ma mu o otun waran je I'll use my right hand to devour meat
L’ijo Okorobo
Omo olomo na ipe l'oluya
Omo olomo na ipe l'olubi oni People call another person's child beast/outcast
Eso ni yo gbo mo re si dagere oke Who will put his child on a steep slope
Ke wi ki reluwe ba nle a lo
Eso ni yo gbo mo re si dagere oke Who will put his child on a steep slope
Ke wi ki reluwe ba nle a lo
Okorobo l'oro ra l’Ifaki Okorobo is our native festival in Ifaki
Aja ra ma ro o, o ro ire Our Okorobo stood and stood well
O e e e Oh eh eh!
O i re e e You will go and come back successfully
Uye i o o l'eyin adiye
O i re e e You will go and come back successfully
The day of the ceremony usually falls on the day after a market day. Apparently all things needed for the feast would have been bought on the market day preceding the festival. Two days before the Okorobo day, parents will take their children to a special farm called Oko-Okorobo, (celebration of Okorobo in the farm) specifically to go and feast. In the farm, the children will commemorate mock Okorobo festival. It is essentially the children's day for merriment on the farm. Usually, they will return from the farm late in the night. Recalling the last experience in my HSC days in 1980, I 'tripped' in company with my cousins and some senior friends. One of my father's relative gave me a fowl, we prepared soup in the farm and ate pounded yam inside the mortal. This year event also attracted Ifaki sons and daughters abroad who went to the farm in droves with mortals and necessary accessories in their cars to celebrate Okorobo-oko. Any keen observer at the outskirts of the town is bound to notice the large quantity of yams that would be brought home for consumption during the festival. Some generous farmers will share part of their harvest of the day with relations. The official meat for the festival is pork (elede). It is slaughtered in large quantity for the Okorobofeast by families that are interested and could afford it; and distribute to some neighbors. Even the extremely poor or lonely and indigent ones would have more than enough to eat. It was a day of waste in those days not now that you have very few farmers left at home and the economy is biting hard! It is often the day most participants over indulge in food, palm wine, ogogoro, beer and all shades of drinks. This author had his own share of it in his younger days. Learnt lesson in 1976 when he went beyond his limit and missed the ceremony proper!
A typical procession at the carnival, the crowd this year was the largest in the recent past and Return journey of Okorobo with mammoth crowd in front and behind it
The Okorobo (called Aja in Ifaki dialect) will be carried on the day of celebration. Spectators would marvel at the procession of different age grades of females adorning Ankara/lace uniform of various designs for groups ranging from children under the age of ten through to ladies in their thirties. These different age grades would sing, dance and parade the long route of Okorobo before its arrival. No doubt, the general economy has its effect on this aspect of the festival in the recent times. Nevertheless, the arrival of Okorobo heralds the peak of the day's celebration.
It is made up of two long columns decorated with palm fronds and carried on the head supported by two strong ropes. Each column (Okorobo) is about 10-12 feet high. It is carried from the Okorobo grove into the town. On sighting the tip of the head, the crowd would greet with a loud o i re e e! It literarily means it is advancing and going forth; it will go and come back successfully. This is often the moment all the tourists and other observers have been waiting to see and enjoy the crest of passion that often accompany the memorable long procession. The long procession and withdrawal of the Okorobo crew and its retinue i.e. about 2km journey to and fro the stretch of the main street of Iworequarter is the height of enjoyment and indeed the climax of the carnival. The tempo of flogging among the youthful folks will increase in front of the procession up till when Okorobo gets to the resting point. By 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., all ceremonies will end after the full day activity. The traditional music supplied is of two kinds: one for the physical part of the ceremony which is not accompanied with drum; while the other is accompanied with the kekedu drum, aran and buffalo horns. The concluding part of the weeklong celebration is very graceful and cool because old men and women dance to the rich traditional music. The Chief Priest who is also the head of Iwore quarter, the Oluwore dances in this group. He has a special emblem on him differentiating him from others. A typical song goes thus in Ifaki dialect, quoting from Ifaki-A Typical Ekiti Community in Yoruba nation written by Chief D.O. Adetunmbi (1919-1990):
"A mo je o, A mo je ire; O e e e;
A ru ru ru ru, A ko e e e;
Agba an mo je o, A mo je ire, O e e e .
This translates to mean we ate it and it was well eaten, Oh eh eh eh; we were so lean that we looked like skeleton; the old men ate and they ate well, Oh eh eh eh.
1. Okorobo and the carriers on recess 2. High Priests and elders dancing to Kekedu drums and sepcial Okorobo songs
There are other groups that dance and sing to different high tempo songs, which suit their youthful physical nature. Their songs usually contain abusive words to deride past or present evil deeds, which the perpetrators might think that are not known to the public. Interestingly, this year's own was very unique because they went beyond Ifaki; governance issues featured. On this note, credit should go to civilization. Some of the captured songs are; Ko ba s'aladiye lo ba i lo uya re kere kan (If you pitch your camp with the poultry man, another term of suffering awaits you). Segun Oni ni mo ba ilo, uya mi gbon da nu; (follow Segun Oni so that your suffering will subside). Ako uderegbe ko ni fifun l'ose, a mo ni ko gbe; (the he-goat with white patches on the leg, we know who stole it). Another set of lyrics for the celebration proper is aja ra mo ro o, o ro ire; o e e! This means that our Okorobo stood and stood well; o e e e! It is a kind of victory song after the successful to and fro procession of Okorobo!
In conclusion, with the support of an organized private sector with inclination to tourism business, in collaboration with visionary state governments, native carnivals like Okorobo could be repackaged and build economy around it. As far back as 1960s and 1970s, Okorobo attracted the interest of elite who were not necessarily Ifaki indigenes whose callings took them outside Ekiti. Professor Adegoke Olubummo the renowned Professor of Mathematics a native of Orin-Ekiti was fond of bringing his family home from Ibadan to join Adetunmbis in witnessing the annual festival. I was so zealous about cultural events in Ifaki while growing up and became an authority in the festival calendar and my father would refer his friends inquiring about the event dates to me. Another passionate and close family friend was Chief Obaweya an educationist and a host of others. The message here is if Okorobo could appeal to those calibers of non-indigenes of Ifaki, then with necessary awareness more people may be willing to check the carnival out. For instance a special 2 or 3-day tourist package that will facilitate sightseeing to Ikogosi Warm Spring, Ipole Iloro Water Falls, Olosunta hills up to Idanre hills in Ondo-State could be rounded up with 2-3 hours to watch the annual Okorobo festival at Ifaki. Whatever you have you use it well and optimally too. Most situations that pose as challenges, can be converted to good opportunities, it is a matter of who is involved and perception.
1 comment:
Well articulated, ire o.
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