Sunday, June 8, was a memorable day in world Christendom; it was the celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of Christianity. It was additionally the 56th anniversary of St Sebastian’s Catholic Cathedral, Ijebu-Ode. Nevertheless, in Ijebuland, these non secular anniversaries paled into insignificance as a result of it was the interval of Eid el Adha, Ileya and Ojude-Oba, a three-in-one celebration, which fell on a weekend. In my 34 years of sojourn in Yorubaland, I’ve noticed that they don’t enable non secular variations to ‘put asunder’, as they ‘circulation’ seamlessly, sharing one another’s joys and sorrows, with out attaching weight to non secular inclinations. My superb good friend and late Bishop of Ijebu Ode, Ayinde Fashina, was fathered by an Alfa! My landlord, a core Catholic, slaughtered a +dimension ram to rejoice the Ileya.
Awujale is a Muslim, however he’s the Oba of Christians, Muslims and traditionalists. Ojude Oba is a day when Ijebu folks worldwide come to pay homage to their king, and that is completed on the third day of Ileya, which falls on Sunday, 8/6/25. Thus, throughout Ijebu-Ode, it was partying, wining, eating and socialisation nonstop for 3 entire days! There have been canopies, limitless booze, dancing and gyrating in every single place. Homes that hitherto appeared ‘deserted’ got here to stay, and rams have been mercilessly executed. Sons, daughters, and in-laws of Ijebuland returned in droves, govt convoys with their alarms crammed in every single place as ‘huge males’ overwhelmed the sleepy city with all of the paraphernalia of bigmanism. The leisure headquarters of Nigeria relocated from Lagos to Ijebu Ode, and you recognize what it meant when Ebenezer Obey and Kwam 1, amongst others, stormed the city concurrently.
On my strategy to 8am Mass, the city was already agog, with main streets adorned in vibrant branded supplies, with ‘sons of the soil’ Glo and FCMB taking the lead. The Catholic Bishop of Ijebu Ode began the Mass by praying for the king, the city and its folks initially of Mass and in addition ended the Mass in the identical tone. Each sq. inch of the city was occupied by one group or the opposite doing their very own factor. Women and men dressed gorgeously in purpose-made attires, the perfect footwear, and bangles… Certainly, you’d suppose that it was a conventional trend parade. Golf equipment, age teams, societies and varied dynasties strove to outdo one another with their packaging whereas people dressed to outshine others in class, panache, and normal ‘denge’.
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The festivals have been past social and cultural. With the eyes of an historical economist, I noticed extra of economics. The inflow of indigenes and non-indigenes, who lodged in accommodations, led to 100% occupancy charges; the rental of canopies, chairs, and chillers; the gross sales of various drinks; normal and distinctive cuisines; ram merchandising and butchering; occasion planners; advertisers; advertising communication and branding consultants; videographers and photographers; the style business; transporters; filling stations; road-side joints; and hawkers (favoured by the site visitors snarl)… all people made cash. Even the ‘physique no be wooden’ skilled a increase as a result of exterior the royal neighborhood, I noticed some women decked in cyber-minis, flaunting some unmentionable issues and exposing what must be hidden, in every single place. Native and imported space boys and petty thieves have been additionally in attendance. All people and each group had a swell time, and because the huge males loved the luxurious that their wealth might present, the not-so-big males who got here with them permeated town at night time, overwhelming the assorted native joints. And so they all spent cash, huge cash, within the course of. In any case, for those who doubt that it was an financial affair, ask the Governor of Kano, who was lamenting the financial losses that the state financial system incurred as a result of cancellation of the Durbar.
The morning after, in every single place was QUIET! All of the friends and govt convoys had actually vanished; a lot of the canopies have been dismantled, and by the point I went for the morning stroll, it was not plausible that this metropolis was engulfed in riotous celebrations for 3 days. All of the unusual faces, safety particulars and all that had disappeared, and we’ve gone again to our typical quiet Ijebu Ode lives.
Ileya & Ojude-Oba have been primarily cultural, however the economics and financial system of the occasions have overwhelmed the cultural and spiritual. I counsel that the state and federal companies ought to throw of their weight to increase the width and depth of the celebrations. I additionally counsel that our economists and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics ought to unravel the financial influence of the ceremonies on Ijebuo-Ode, Ijebu Land and past. To optimise the Ojude-Oba financial system, we should always have an Ojudu-Oba village, a cultural metropolis for year-round leisure, and increase the festivities to a weeklong occasion.
Ik Muo, PhD, Dept of Bus. Admin, Olabisi Onabanjo College In the past-Iwoye. 08033026625
