‘Yoruba Festivals are Not Fetish’

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The wife of the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Queen Ademiluyi Ogunwusi, yesterday  disclosed that Yoruba festivals are not fetish as people perceived them, adding that they are a means of honouring great people.

The queen made the disclosure at the grand finale of the two-day Ayan Agalu festival by the House of Oduduwa in collaboration with Aafin Ilu and the Queen Moremi Initiative.

Ogunwusi at the event, which was held at the Ojaja Resort in Ile-Ife, Osun State, noted that the festival was aimed at celebrating Ayan Agalu, the deity of the talking drum.

She said: “His Majesty, Ooni of Ile-ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, is trying so hard by making sure that these festivals portray in a way that, because a lot of people perceive our festivals as fetish, they are not fetish; we are just honouring those who did the great things.”

“Our Orishas are human beings who did exceptional things. And we remember them when we celebrate them; when we do festivals, it’s just to honour them. We don’t worship them, but we remember them and their great deeds.” 

“The exceptional things that they did were when they were alive.”

“Ayan Agalu Festival was the patron deity of drumming, especially the talking drum. So we’re here to celebrate the rhythm. The beats of drumming remind us of our ancestors, who worked so hard to ensure that our culture doesn’t go into extinction. 

“We kicked off the Ayan Agalu festival last Wednesday at Obafemi Awolowo University in collaboration with the Institute of Cultural Studies, where we had a trainer drumming workshop. We also had some rehearsals at the palace. We had a drama  procession that took place in the palace. We went to Atiba. We went to Idi-Aje, and we went to Oke Itase to pay homage to those who represent the ancient people of old who have done so much in ensuring, preserving, and promoting our culture.”

In his remarks Prince Adekunle Adeyemi of the House of Oduduwa Foundation disclosed that drums are potential means of revenue, urging the government to look towards capitalising on them.

According to him, “It is a potential means of revenue. The government should try and invest in things like this and capitalise on the revenue generation aspects of drums.”