Obas Are Prisoners To Culture And Tradition
Www.guardian.ng
IT was celebration galore in the ancient town of OkaAkoko, the headquarters of Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State, as the people celebrated the 2018 Oka Day, penultimate Saturday. The day usually signals the beginning of a New Year, ushered in by the Yam Festival, unlike the conventional calendar year, which starts in January.
All roads in the hilly town led to New Palace Ground, where the people gathered after being summoned by the Olubaka, Oba Yusuf Adebori Ogunleye, to celebrate past year’s successes, contribute to the town’s development and receive blessings for the new year.
The event was unique and colourful, as hundreds of illustrious sons and daughters, home and abroad, graced the annual ceremony, together with their kith and kin, under the chairmanship of Otunba Bolaji Alowonle, who though was absent, sent a representative.
Notable indigenes, including Senator Ajayi Boroffice, representing Ondo North District in the National Assembly, brought invited friends from all walks of life to the event. They showed their good will by making generous donations, while the Senator committed to building another pavilion in addition to the one he previously donated. He said: “It will be the best palace in Ondo State. But for modesty, I would have said it would be the best palace in Yoruba land.
Whosoever comes to Ondo State would know he/she has not visited the state without visiting Olubaka’s palace.” Some of the highlights of the occasion were donations and support from individuals, groups and corporate bodies. These include, Eagle Aromatic Schnapps, which organised “Ayo-olopon” and “draft” games, with winners rewarded with handsome cash gifts. The Okarufe Leadership Association (OLA), Abuja branch, feted 30 students selected from all the 15 quarters of the town, with each beneficiary receiving N50, 000 scholarship.
The event was also used to confer chieftaincy titles on some industrious sons and daughters of the community, which is bordered in the north by Ise, Iboropa and Ugbe towns, in the south by Ikun and Oba towns, in the west by Akungba and Supare towns, and in the east by Ipe and Epinmi towns. There are nine Akoko towns spreading across the four Akoko councils in Ondo North Senatorial District.
To spice the celebration, various age groups and associations entertained the audience, as they paid obeisance to Olubaka and other monarchs, who came from far and near to celebrate with him. They watched the Ororo Agba and Ode cults, as they displayed traditional rites and duties.
Oba Adeleye, who lauded the indigenes and government for fixing electricity and road problems in the entire Akokoland, also launched a music album by one of the indigenes, Mr. Taye Ejire, titled: “Ire wa.”
He urged all Akoko indigenes at the event to support the young talent, even as Boroffice bought a copy for N50, 000.
The state governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, represented by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ifedayo Abegunde, yielded to the demands of the Oka people to create short and direct access route to their town through Ayegunle-iwaro-oka road and to synergise with Federal Government to fix the Kabba-isua-idoaniIpele-owo Road for heavy-duty trucks.
Theguardian later had an interview with Olubaka, a former Chairman of Ondo State Council of Obas.
Your Highness, could you please tell us the historical background of Oka Day celebration?
Basically and traditionally, Oka people are farmers. As we are on top of the hill, one might ask: how do we farm on such soil? We are scattered all over the state. Some of us farm mostly in Ose, Oba in Akoko South-west, part of Edo State, and even in Ondo town, while some are in Ore and Ekiti. We have 15 quarters in this community, and before I came, people had been observing the Yam Festival. I thought of what could bring all of us together or to really celebrate, because when we observe Muslim festivals, only Muslims are involved, while Christian festivals affect only the Christians. The same goes for the traditional religions. But farming cuts across these three religions. So,