Osun Osogbo Festival, in Osun State of Nigeria, is celebrated at a sacred grove, to worship Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility, it is one of the most celebrated events in the Yorùbá land.
The festival is believed to renew the contract between humans and deities and it usually attracts the attention of tonnes of people from all walks of life. Quite many are festivals that are not recognised, but the festival in discourse is conspicuous and it has gained root in the annals of Yoruba land.
The annual Osun Osogbo festival was celebrated uniquely this year with the massive turnout of devotees, tourists from within and abroad, visitors, fun seekers, journalists, and residents compared to attendance in recent years; they do this not for mere attendance but to receive myriads of blessings from the river goddess.
It is believed that appeasing this deity is a panacea to various diseases or ailments, it gives fruitfulness to barren women, it serves as protection to the entire town, and it also unifies the people, especially Osun indigenes, to mention but a few.
In his remarks at a special programme he organised at Timehin Middle School, Isale, Osun Osogbo, shortly after the sacrifice at Osun grove, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland and leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress OPC Gani Adams, noted that the economic impact of the festival to Osogbo residents will linger on for long.
Osun Osogbo festival is a world-recognised annual event and the grove indeed is a World Heritage Site listed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO.
He said Osun Osogbo festival is the celebration of the Osun goddess for her role in the settlement of the founders of Osogbo town and the roles she performed during their moments of distress.
He added that Osun the Yoruba goddess of fertility is believed to be a renewer of contact between humans and deities and has been believed to have healing, divination, protective, and fertility power.
It will be recalled that some years back, various hindrances had affected the world acclaimed festival which include the outbreak of Ebola, COVID-19, outbreak, #EndSars protest, among others.
But despite the current spate of insecurity that is ravaging the country and the economic hardship, Osun devotees and others came out in their numbers to seek the face of Osun deity for survival this year.
Seeing the turnout this year, Adams said his efforts to book hotels for his people as far as Wednesday preceding the grand finale almost hit the rock as almost all the hotels in Osogbo the state capital were booked by devotees and tourists.
He posted that residents of Osogbo would definitely want a daily celebration of Osun Osogbo festival considering the economic gain realised by all during the festival.
As usual, the festival started with the traditional cleansing of Osogbo land named ‘iwopopo’. Popo is the name of a street that spans about 500-meter North of the palace of the Ataoja, of Osogbo.
The Iwopopo held a week to the grand finale witnessed the convergence of devotees and tourists at the popular Gbaemu junction where his royal majesty, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun Laaroye II prayed for peace and prosperity of his kingdom, the state and the country at large.
Besides, his chiefs paid royal homage to him and residents also accorded the scenario with thunderous applause.
The Gbaemu programme lasted a few hours and the monarch along with his wives called ‘Olori’, his total household, chiefs, priests, priestesses, adherents, tourists and fun seekers danced to traditional music as they moved to the palace where real demonstration of traditional dance with dexterity accompanied with the sporadic booming of locally made guns to the admiration of people.
While unlike in the olden days when except for traditional cleansing, lightening of special lamp with sixteen-point flames, sacrifice to past monarchs crowns ‘bibo ade oba Osogbo’ and worshipping through offering of sacrifices at Osogbo grove at the grand finale, many innovations such as cultural competition by youths, seminars, exhibition of artifacts among others have been introduced as it happened this year.
The third day after the traditional cleansing of the town witnessed the traditional lighting of the sixteen-point 500-year-old special lamp called ‘atupa oloju merindinlogun’ in the night.
Apart from the glamour inherent in viewing and watching the ancient lamp, youths also took advantage of the light provided by the lamp to exhibit their strength while maidens also exhibited their beauty.
Other events also came up among which were new innovations and the traditional worshipping of crowns of past rulers of the town where the Ataoja offered prayers for peace and progress of the community.
On the morning of the grand finale, people with diverse interests in thousands headed for the Osun grove amidst pomp and pageantry, some equipped with kegs to draw water for their desired purposes, hunters with locally made guns, journalists with cameras and pens, and others as necessary.
The symbol of Osun festival who is the calabash carrier, ‘Arugba Osun’ who must be a royal maiden who must be a virgin carried the beautiful calabash containing sacrificial items and danced dexteritcally heavily guided by priests to prevent her from falling which is a taboo and an abomination.
The Osogbo monarch’s entourage includes traditional rulers who came to celebrate with him, his chiefs, priests and priestesses, and dignitaries from all over the globe danced to the Osun grove abode of the Osun shrine.
A lot of side attractions that added to the glamour of the festival were performances by drummers, hunters, Osun maidens, cadres of priests and priestesses, among others.
Because of the belief that appeasing the Osun deity is a panacea to various diseases or ailments, fruitfulness to barren women, protection to the entire town, unification of the people, especially Osun indigenes, to mention but a few, devotees put all their trust in the ability of Osun to solve their problems
During the festival, several prayers were rendered at the river bank which were believably answered. Sacrifices were also made with He-goat, hot drinks (Schnapps), kola nut, fruits et al in getting the river placated or appeased.
Before the grand finale held on Friday 12 August, 2022 government had issued a statement admonishing people to desist from drinking water drawn from Osun river because it has been contaminated.
The statement signed by the state commissioner for Health Dr, Rafiu Isamotu stated that mining activities carried out along the bank of the river have resulted in contamination that is injurious to human health.
But it was obvious that most Osun devotees jettisoned government advice and openly drank the polluted water, while thousands of kegs of varying sizes were filled with water from the shrine.
Speaking at the celebration, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba, Jimoh Olanipekun, and Laaroye ll admonished his subjects to live in peace with one another.
He also charged them to rise to the development of the ancient town adding that Osun Osogbo has provided a unique opportunity for indigenes and residents alike to boost their economy.
Also speaking, Osun State governor who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebanji congratulated the Ataoja and the entire Osogbo community for another Osun Osogbo festival celebrations.
He emphasized the need for Nigerians to protect their inheritance and do everything within their power to promote their culture.
The 2022 Osun Osogbo festival has come and gone, but the beautiful memory of the events of the world acclaimed cultural events lingers on.
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