Great scholars from time immemorial have argued that the Nigerian Yoruba race has the strongest ancestral heritage and cultural identity at least in Africa if not the world over. NAIJ.com paid a visit to the ancient town of Ile-Ife, in Osun state, south-west Nigeria.
Like a prophet who is without honour at home, the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba is undeservedly uncelebrated in Nigeria, with a consequent loss of billions of dollars in revenue.
All the antiquities and artifacts many people around the world pay so much to have a glimpse of are the stolen heritage of Oduduwa, the father of the Yoruba tribe. Archeological evidence and research attests to the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people, as can be seen in museums all over the world.
If Oduduwa’s heritage is not found in a museum many experts would say that the institution does not deserve the name ‘museum’ in the first place. In fact, Oduduwa, experts have repeatedly said ‘is the god of museums’. “Without Oduduwa there is no museum”, some tourists have said.
Historical and archeological evidence also links the only tribe in Nigeria close to the Yoruba in cultural heritage and identity, the Benin Kingdom, to Oduduwa. It is very easy for first timers in Ife to assume they are in Benin City. The mysterious affinity of the ancient cities is attested by artefacts but also by an ineffable but real atmosphere which they share.
Ori-Olokun Roundabout, Ile-Ife, Osun State
“Ile Ife”, in reference to the myth of origin of the Yoruba means “land of expansion”, regarded as the cradle of Yoruba culture, and its king, the ‘Ooni’ is counted first among the Yoruba kings.
For instance, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the serving Ooni, is traditionally considered to be the 402nd deity (Orisha), of the ancient Yoruba City in south western Nigeria, reportedly founded as early as 600 BC.
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During its heyday in the 12th-15th centuries AD, Ile-Ife experienced a flourishing in the production of bronze and iron artefacts. Beautiful naturalistic terracotta and copper alloy sculptures made during the early periods were found at Ife as well as later sculptures made by the lost-wax brass technique known from Benin bronzes.
It was also during this classical period in Ife that construction of decorative pavements and open-air courtyards paved with pottery sherds began. To the Yoruba, the custom was said to have been commissioned by Ife’s only female king.
The potsherds were set on edge, sometime in decorative patterns such as herringbone with embedded ritual pots. Historical evidence also suggested that much of the gold used in medieval European and Islamic coins came from West Africa via the Sahara trade routes, with evidence linking it to Ife.
There is something very unusual about Ife. The city smells like a gold mine yet to be discovered.
Experts says colonial masters are to blame
John Segun Ogundele, the curator in charge of the National Museum, Ile Ife, Osun state, told NAIJ.com in Ife that there is no doubt Ile-Ife still has one of the richest cultural heritages, not only in Africa but the world over.
“‘Ile’ as the source of the Yoruba kingdoms and communities, harbours most of the gods Yoruba people held in reverence today. The belief is that, Oduduwa, the founder of the Yoruba race came directly from God to establish the community that later became the Yoruba nation.
“Another group of people believe Ife people under Oduduwa came from the East (that is from the region around Egypt) to come and establish a kingdom here known as Yoruba. All along when he was coming, he came with retinue of gods (201 deities). The only living one is the Ooni himself. As at now, all the other ones are dead and their spirits are living in different shrines across Ile-Ife,” he said.
According to Ogundele, some of the ancestors were professionals in various fields of endeavour, and he explained that their type of education was truncated by the colonial masters.
“We have Ogun, the god of iron that made iron workings possible; without which we cannot do many things include agriculture. He gave us the foundation we now have in agricultural economics. There were other deities in Ile-Ife like: Obatala, Ife Iyeri Afa which contributed to the administration of Ile Ife at the beginning. All Yoruba still believe and reference Ife as the place of their origin,” he said.
He explained that Ife as a city of history has a lot of heritage sites and monuments that are in reference to all the deities, thereby making it possible for all the monuments to be celebrated on an annual basis when Yoruba people around the world visit to celebrate the deities of their forefathers.
“We have Oranmiyan site, who was the fourth Ooni of Ife. So blessed in political administration to the extent that when there was crisis in Benin at about 12th century, he was sent there and through him Oba Dina still have a place in Benin Kingdom till this present day. This same man, through his wizardry in administration and in war, was sent to Oyo.
“This Oranmiyan was the last son of seven children of Oduduwa himself. He later came from Benin to become the fourth Ooni of Ife. In Ife today, the staff of that Oranmiyan stands 12 feet tall. The staff he was believed to have used when he was alive. The staff is now in Ile-Ife as tourist attractive centre along Ondo road.
Ori-Olokun Roundabout, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
“We have Oduduwa Grove; where people come annually to celebrate. People come from all over the world; from Brazil, from the Caribbean, from America to celebrate Oduduwa. People also come to celebrate Obatala annually because they believe he was the one God gave power to form human beings.
“What God only did was to breath into it. Some still held the belief that Obatala’s mistakes resulted in what we now call people with disability. We have all these gods that are scattered all over Ife.
“The only living god in Yoruba land today as of the 402 gods is the Ooni of Ife. He is the only one everybody must pay reverence to. That is why Yoruba still acknowledge Ife as the beginning of their civilization,” he said.
He noted the fact that two of the earliest national museums which were established in Osun state were to capture the culture of the Yoruba people in its entirety, insisting that there is no doubt the earliest artists in Yoruba land came from Ile-Ife.
“That is why you have the enduring bronze objects like that of Ori-Olokun, like Oduduwa and his wife that we have in our galleries today. You would realize that the prominent bronzes in Yoruba land been exhibited all over the world are from Ile-Ife. It’s on record that the people who started bronze casting in Benin were sent from Ile Ife and the type of bronze objects you find in Benin in naturalistic form is not different from what we have here in Ife,” he said.
Ogundele, who laments the intervention of colonialism and the adverse affects it had on the growth of the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria, explained that in terms of technological culture and art culture, the people of Ile-Ife were already developing techniques involved in making the artifacts many centuries before the coming of the Europeans.
“When the western people came in, they truncated that development. Today, most of our people are living in lost glories. Some of these artifacts were made over 800 years ago. It is very hard for us to trace such families. Immediately the western culture came, our type of education was truncated by western education,” he said.
He clarified that before the coming of Europeans, Ife and other great African cities had their own traditional education inherited from generation to generation.
“We have a group of people that were known for different types of trade and arts. We have casters, we have carvers, and we have entertainers, drummers and dancers. We have cottiers even in the palace. People were trained in all kinds of administration. We have our own traditional writings. When you get to Ogorogoro shrine in Ile Ife you will see some kinds of writings.
“When you see Oba Oranmiyan, you will see some writings on it which means before the coming of Europeans our people have a medium of communication. These types of writings are there today without anybody in a position to interpret it. The coming of European and the bringing of their own form of education truncated the progress of that form of education of our forefathers.
“Imagine the people who made all the prominent bronze casting. When they make a figure without a ruler, they make sure the head, trunk and legs are in proportion of how they suppose to be without using measurement; unlike the Europeans who would use measurement to do most of their things.
File picture: Members of the Ogboni fratanity parading the town of Ile-Ife.
“They were traditionally intelligent and that made all these things possible. They were making guns and all of that. If we had been growing along that line, we would have been better than where we are today. The Europeans deceived our forefathers into believing that they brought a better system,” he said in frustration.
Speaking on the potential of Ife’s tourism, he said tourism and economic benefits go hand-in-hand in its entirety for those who understand the business, admitting that it was only people who were averagely endowed who can visit tourist sites.
“When people are poor they find it difficult to allocate period for relaxation. Ife is blessed with so many tourist sites that can bring thousands of people to these areas. Unfortunately, maybe because of the level of poverty people may not take the advantage.
“Both the federal and state government are already seeing the potential. For instance, the National Museum has two centres in Osun state. Annually, Osun-Osogbo festival attracts thousands of visitors from both home and abroad. There are festivals attached to these important monuments. We have the Ifa International Festival,” he said.
The Ile-Ife National Museum, which he said was established in 1954 to harness the tourist potential, was an indication that the federal government has some knowledge of the tourism business.
He noted that the national orientation has some work to do in sensitizing the people on the importance of keeping tourist sites.
“They need to educate the people that apart from oil, tourism can give more money. There are countries around the world that depend solely on tourism. The likes of Kenya, Zimbabwe depend on tourism to survive. They earn a lot of money from tourism. We can do more by expanding our festivals and making it popular so that more people will come,” he advised.
Talking to NAIJ.com in his office, Dr Adisa Ogunfolakan, the director of the Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, said Ife as the ancestral home of the Yoruba worldwide is itself a tourist centre, adding that it is unfortunate that it has not been placed in its rightful position in the world of tourism.
“Most of the tourism potential of Ife is not well tapped. The city of Ife is an archeological site itself. There is nowhere in Ife you want to trap without trapping on archeological materials. Putting Ife in the right perspective in the tourism world is not there at the moment,” he said.
Osun state Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Dr. Ogunfolakan, a renowned archeologist, thanked the ‘traditionalists’ who he said were trying to keep alive the traditions of the forefathers.
“We still have tourists coming from the Diaspora (especially during the Olojo and Ifa festivals) respectively. These two festivals have been attracting people of recent. Globally speaking, Ife is not put in the right position it ought to be because it is not placed in its due position in global tourism,” he said.
According to him, the way forward is to develop the sites in order to make them more appealing to potential tourists globally. He accused the colonialists of neglecting the culture, saying they were only interested in the artefacts and not the culture and history of the people when they came.
“Past government had also not pay due attention to those sites. What we really need now is for those sites to be developed. If the Nigerian government had been tapping the tourism potential, the nation wouldn’t need to depend on oil. Look at Brazil, even Dubai here. I was in Jordan sometime ago and you see the tourism potential of Petra in Jordan.
“People trooped in there. They are making a lot of money, but we are not tapping into our own. Sad enough, most of these sites are been destroyed because of our religious inclination. It is a big problem. We have not been putting interest in the right place in the world of tourism,” he said.
He also asked that populace be made aware of the importance of its natural and cultural heritage, and highlighted the need for the government to identify and preserve these sites for tourism purposes, and to encourage both corporate and private individuals to take a stake in tourism development in the country.
“Most importantly, security because people want to come but by the time they hear there is Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen they would be scared to come. When you have peace in your land people would troop in for relaxation. Go to Porto-Novo, you will see a lot of tourists. But here, we are not doing anything,” he said.
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja 11 and his wife.
Lamenting the untapped potential of Ife’s tourism, Dr. Ogunfolakan said it is a thing of pain for him talking about it because each time he speaks on the subject he is not able to sleep at night.
“Because some of us who are cultural people and experts on the subject, and known the importance of tourism, when you see some of those things lying down without been tapped you will feel unhappy. When I see the way they are destroying our cultural potential I feel unhappy. I don’t like thinking about it.
“Is just like we are sitting on gold and looking for ashes! We are not even looking for bronze! You are sitting on where you can be making cool money and yet you are not tapping it,” he said as he relaxed back into his chair in resignation.
“At the moment, we are trying to establish a section here that would take up tourism potential. But again the issue of funding, a lot of money is required to be able to embark on such project.
“You need the money to make more money. That is why is so painful to some of us. We are now organizing an annual lecture on preservation of our natural and cultural heritage for sustainability. If we don’t preserve it, we have nothing to sell as tourism,” he said.
Although he lauds the current state government’s attitude towards tourism development in the state, he condemns a situation in which experts in the industry are not consulted.
“That is again the problem of governance. They may try to resuscitate some of those sites without consulting experts in the subject. When you want to resuscitate cultural sites you have to look at the history, what it is and how it is so that you can put back the original. Sometime they don’t look at that. They just give contractors who don’t know anything without proper monitoring,” he said.
Michael Olatunji, a broadcast journalist with the indigenous radio station in Ife, Orisun FM, owned and managed by Osun Broadcasting Corporation (OBC), told NAIJ.com that the Yoruba have incontestably a stable and rich culture that could not be compared to many others in the world.
Ile-Nla and Moremi Statue (Ooni Palace).
“The Yoruba have respect for the elders more than any tribe in Nigeria. Naturally, the way the Yoruba man dresses is also very different. The Yorubas are very distinct culturally worldwide,” he said proudly.
He argued that in Nigeria, made up as it is of different tribes, the Yoruba were an essential element, and Ife being the very source of such a heritage made the city a force to be reckoned with in world tourism.
“Orisun FM is purely Yoruba speaking station. All our speaking, our name and programmes are tailored towards entrenching the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.
“The Yoruba traditional rulers when they dress are very distinct, gorgeous, and acceptable among traditional rulers all over the world,” he said.
Ooni of Ile-Ife.
According to him, the Olojo festival is regarded as the most powerful because it usually attracts people from all over the world, particularly white people.
“People from America, Yugoslavia, Russia, Dubai, Cuba among other places come here during the Olojo festival. During the time of Olojo festival there are a lot of activities like drumming and dancing competitions.
“The most prominent of Olojo festival is the crown of Aree. The Ooni of Ife usually wears the crown once in a year and it will be the end of the 7 days festival.
“The Ooni will wear the crown call Ade-Aree and the crown is different from other crowns. You can only find the crown Ade-Aree in Ile Ife alone. Before the Olojo, the Ooni of Ife would separate himself for seven days or thereabout to pray.
“According to the spiritual explanations, this Ade-Aree is heavy and that if someone else wears it he can die. The Ooni of Ife will pray among other rituals so that when the Ooni crown the Aree, it will look as if baba is wearing cutting wool.
Source : naij.com
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