Olowo of Owo rallies global attention for Igogo festival
……says colonialism affects rich Yoruba culture, tradition negatively
……describes Isese as a most treasured aged long Yoruba value.
– Steve Ovirih.
The Olowo of Owo, His Imperial Majesty and Paramount ruler of Owo Kingdom, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye III is the 32nd Olowo on the stool of his forefathers. The amiable foremost Yoruba monarch, a well read and well traveled royalty is a top notch civil servant who retired to assume the distinguished throne of Olowo. Oba Ogunoye is a Traditional African Culture enthusiast who believes that one of the significant festival in Owo, Igogo festival can be given a 21st century facelift and touch that will boost tourism and improve local economy , while attracting no less than 500,000 tourists. In this exclusive media chat with Steve Ovirih at Kabiesi’s palace in Owo, Oba Ogunoye shed light on the cultural significance of Igogo festival among other issues of interest.
Excerpts.
How will you describe your experience as the monarchical head of Owo Kingdom?
Olowo , Oba Ogunoye – Well, God’s name be praised. Since I assume the stool, it has been from one interesting experience to another. I have enjoyed the cooperation of my Council of Chiefs, my subjects , the good people of Owo both at home and in The Diaspora and above all, Owo kingdom has enjoyed peace and development. The experience on the throne can take all of your time if I am to exhaust it; we have weathered storms ,manage situations and give our people not just a sense of leadership but much more, a sense of belonging.
Can you give us a background narrative on Owo kingdom?
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye – Owo was the capital of Yoruba between 1400 and 1600 AD. Oba Ojugbelu Arere was the first Olowo of Owo between 1019 and 1070. Ojugbelu was direct descendant of Oduduwa, father of Yoruba land. So our ancestry is traceable to Ile-Ife. Our forefathers settled here in Owo, which in British English implies honour or respect , a name that was coined from the intrigue attitude of Ojugbelu , the first Olowo. In that order , after the reign of Ojugbelu was Olowo Imade, in whose name Imade College Owo was ascribed in his fond memory, and after him Olowo Agwobojoro, then Olowo Odondon, Olowo Ajegunren, Olowo Agunsola, then Olowo Reregenjen who reigned from 1340 to 1356, and whose reign was quite historically significant for so many reasons. The list goes on and I am the 32nd Olowo of Owo. Here in Owo, we pride ourselves as people who are rich in Yoruba culture and tradition and we celebrate festivals of different kind which are as old as the history of Owo itself. We are hardworking people here in Owo, we are chivalrous and peace loving people and that is why we thrive in businesses and people who have come to sojourn in our land thrive too as the land of Owo provides equal opportunity and advantage for all to develop and make considerable progress.
I understand Igogo festival is celebrated in September. What is the story behind this traditional festival?
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye- Thank you Steve. You are apt about the time of celebration of Igogo festival. It holds annually in September. It is a significant festival we celebrate here in honour of Queen Oronsen, the mythical wife of Olowo Rerengejen. Igogo began over 800 years ago and the story behind it is that Reregejen married Oronsen , a beautiful and affluent queen , unknown to the king was Orisa. She enriched the monarch and was loved in return . She made it clear that certain activities are taboo: in her presence, you cannot grind Okra for stew or pour water into the yard. She also forbade people coming from the farm from dumping or throwing down firewood in her presence. Other wives of the monarch were warned against committing any of the taboo; no doubt Oronsen was most loved and treasured by her husband. At a certain time when their husband was not at home, the other wives conspired against her and willingly violated all the laid down warning. She left the palace in annoyance and ran away. At Ugbo Laja, she was caught by palace guards but refused to return home. She later escaped into Ugbo ‘luwa where she disappeared. She however instructed the people to make sacrifices to her with a promise from her that she will protect the kingdom . Thus, annualy, sacrifices are made to Queen Oronsen and gong ‘ Igogo’ is beaten during the festival. During the celebration ‘ Owaloko’ Olowo sits in grandeur , splendour and royalty as he relates with guests, subjects, tourists and wellwishers. The celebration is observed for 17 days and the last day is the royal grand finale in which Olowo and his highchiefs plait their hair, adorn with coral beads , dressing like women in beaded gowns. During the festival, wearing of headgears, caps, beating of drums and firing of guns are forbiding. The festival deserves global acclaim and it is projected that it will be witnessed by no less than 500,000 tourists from both within and beyond Nigeria. We have come to the understanding that Igogo festival has what it takes to boost local economy of Owo Kingdom, so we are going to give the celebration a 21st century face lift as it will feature Oronsen beauty contest- the parade of beautiful Owo queens; there will be exhibition of Owo clothes , food , dance steps and hairdo. We are poised to galvanise Igogo festival to yield positive economic impact to the tune of 1 billion dollars annually as this will boost the economy of Ondo State. In subsequent Igogo celebrations, it will witness rebirth in contest and package .
Kabiesi, is there any difference between Iborisa and Isese?
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye- Iborisa simply means deifying the gods, that is to worship them. When you deify the gods, you are showing your understanding of reverence for them. Isese is tradition, our culture; our way of life. The values we hold so dear to our hearts right from the days of our forefathers, that is Isese. Deifying the gods is an aged long value of the Yoruba people. So one is directly connected to the other. It is just unfortunate that the advent of colonialism has drawn back the appropriate attention we as Yoruba people should pay to our rich culture and tradition. The visitors from the Western clime came to our land with missionary concept, education and all what have you and they did not just colonise Africa, nay Nigeria, but they made us to see our traditional beliefs, our way of life, deifying the gods and holding the ethos of Omoluabi as primitive values and so we dropped them for alien values and made ourselves look like people who had no histrory prior to the advent of the colonialists. Let me give you an instance; when the white people went to India , Asia and the likes, their hosts accepted their education, but they held firm to their language because their language is their aged long value ‘ isese’ and those people build technologies in their language unlike us here who speak English but hardly can produce per standard like the Indians, the Asian tiger. So, there should be awakening and a rebirth of our rich tradition and values. I have never hidden my view about this and I am culture and tradition enthusiast.
What is the relationship between you and The Abodi of Ikale, Oba George Babatunde Faduyile?
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye – You see , Oba Faduyile, the Abodi of Ikaleland is a respected monarch of repute whose astute discipline stands out at all times. He is a monarch as a leader and his words counts and bears weight. He is an amiable personage, very calm but deep in sound counsel when the need arises. We enjoy outstanding mutual relationship.
How will you assess President Bola Tinubu’s 100 days in office?
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye – President Bola Tinubu has not done badly in his first 100 days in office. He hit the ground running right from his Day of inauguration and has been firm with governance. Well thought out policies take time to yield results and that is how it has been with Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal policy. Yes, we all agree the removal of fuel subsidy has its pangs and pains but it is not an end in itself as Nigerians shall all be grateful when it begins to yield positive results. Withing the spate of 100 days new Ministers have been nominated and sworn in and as you can see, there are a lot of young topnotch people among them. He has been going around meeting government arrowheads across the globe in his bid to encourage Foreign Direct Imvestments (FDI) into the country. All President president Tinibu needs is cooperation and prayers by Nigerians.
Thank you for your time Kabiesi.
Olowo, Oba Ogunoye – You are most welcome!
