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Anyone concerned
that this year’s Osun Osogbo Festival may not hold because of the
passing of the Ataoja, Oba Iyiola Oyewale, on August 4, need not worry.
The people’s festival will hold, and in a grand style.

“Before
colonialism, the Yorubas were democratic. Whenever something like this
happened, the Yorubas had a mechanism in place. I have been asked by
the Osogbo Traditional Council to say we are going ahead with the
festival,” said Jimoh Buraimoh, principal coordinator of the festival,
at a meeting with the press on Thursday, August 11.

Buraimoh, a
renowned artist and high chief of Osogbo, spoke against the backdrop of
fears in some quarters that the festival might be shifted or cancelled
because of Oba Matanmi’s demise. But speaking at the press conference,
Buraimoh assured that the festival will still take place from August 16
to 27 as originally planned.

Special festival

The representative
of the Osun Heritage Council wasn’t the only one who allayed people’s
fears. Ifagbenusola Atanda, executive secretary, organising committee
of the festival, also gave reassurances. The Aare Alasa of Osogbo noted
that though the king is very significant to the festival, Oba Oyewale’s
demise is the king’s challenge to the people to see if they will be
able to hold the festival without him. The people of Osogbo, he
reiterated, will not fail to venerate Osun, as is the custom, though
the Oba has joined his ancestors.

Atanda added that
all earlier announced programmes will hold as scheduled but that this
year’s festival will be a special one to honour Osogbo’s longest
reigning king who spent 34 years and eight days on the throne. What
will make the festival unique, according to Atanda, is a rite of
passage for Oba Oyewale on August 27, the grand finale of the festival.

“It will be a much bigger festival than before. There are lots of things you are going to see on that day,” added Buraimoh.

Asked who will play
the Oba’s role during the festival, Buraimoh stated that Osogbo, like
all Yoruba cities, has a regency system in place. The Ajaguna of
Osogboland, Gabriel Oparanti, next in command to the late king, has
taken over until a new Oba is selected. Though this is the first time
in history a reigning Oba will die before the annual festival,
Buraimoh, Atanda and Ayo Olumoko, chief executive officer of INFOGEM
Limited, the company marketing the festival, assured that it will go on.

Packed festival

The activities for
this year’s festival had earlier been unfolded at a press briefing on
August 5; news of the Oba’s demise broke later on the same day. The
festival opens tomorrow, August 16, with the Iwopopo ceremony, the
traditional cleansing of the town, while a festival sensitisation
workshop holds the following day.

The
Olojumerindinlogun ceremony, involving the lighting of a 500-year-old
16 point lamp, opening ceremony of the festival art exhibition and
inauguration of the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove Management committee –
will all hold on August 19. The fourth Osun Festival Olagunsoye
Oyinlola Golf Competition comes up on August 21. Explaining why the
competition is named after Oyinlola, governor of Osun State, Olumoko
explained that the indigenes of Osogbo did so to appreciate his efforts
in projecting the festival nationally and globally since he assumed
office.

Three events, the
Iboriade ceremony, cultural film show and final of the traditional
wresting competition are slated for Monday, August 23 while the Ayo
Olopon contest and HIV/AIDS promotional campaign, come up the following
day.

Memories of the
late high priestess of Osun, Susanne Wenger, popularly known as Adunni
Olorisa, will be rekindled on August 25 at a sacred colloquium in her
honour, while the Sisi Osun cultural beauty pageant will take centre
stage on the 26th. The winner of the pageant will walk home with a new
Geely car courtesy Hyra Motors while the first and second runner ups
will get a plasma TV and home theatre set respectively.

The grand finale of
the Osun festival itself, to be chaired by Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi of
Juli Pharmacy, will hold inside the Osun Grove World Heritage Site on
Friday, August 27. The rite of passage for the late Oba Oyewale will
also hold the same day.

Some music too

Fittingly, the
festival will be rounded up with a musical concert on the 27th. Bonsue
fuji king, Adewale Ayuba, who is headlining the concert, underscored
the importance of culture at the press briefing of August 5. He noted
that a river that forgets its source will dry up; adding that he will
sing and lecture on the origin and prospects of the festival. Ayuba
also backed Olumoko’s earlier disclosure that there will be corporate
fora next year in the US, Brazil and Mexico as part of efforts to
further sell the festival to a global audience.

Fuji star, Saheed
Osupa who has been part of the festival for a number of years and is
featuring this year, also reiterated his belief in promoting African
culture, at the interaction held on August 11. “I’m a true African man
and will always promote African culture, I will always be original.
Culture is supreme and this is why others have been borrowing from the
Yoruba culture,” he said. The fuji act also decried the desecration of
kings, wondering why presidents and governors are now ranked before
them when they used to be second only to God in ages past. Other
musicians that will feature in the concert holding at the WOCDIF
Centre, Osogbo, include Apala musician, Asindemade; Benny Black; SKUKI
and Sehinde Kenery.

As usual, this year’s festival has a number of corporate sponsors
including MTN, Hyra Motors, MicCom Golf Hotels and Resorts; Star;
Seaman’s Royale and Oak Nigeria Limited. Regional Manager, South West,
MTN, Laolu Osundina, said the theme of its involvement in the festival
this year is ‘Know Thyself’. He also spoke on the importance of
culture, noting that there are heroes of the past that “should be
celebrated and projected for our children to know and read about.”
Osundina said the telecommunications company wants every Nigerian to
know “their culture and tradition so that they can stand tall.”