Culture is the total way of life of people. Virtually most Yoruba town has their own festivals that it attributed to themselves for instance, the Osun Festival in Osun State, Egungun Festival which is found important to the people of Ede, Agemo Festival in Ijebu Land etc.

The first set of early settlers in Babanla were prolific independent hunters. Hence their religious life is embedded in the worship of Ogun (god of iron), Sango (god of thunder), Ose-Oke (hill shrine), Olorisha, Ogboni cult, Olosun and Oya. The people of Babanla equally celebrate Egungun Festival, the Egungun festival peculiar to these people are Layewu, Alata, and Paka. This Festival will however be discussed accordingly.

Ose-Oke
Ose-Oke is among the cultural festivals usually practised by the people of Babanla. Ose-Oke was the hill described to the founder of Babanla at inception when they were looking for where to settle themselves, they were directed to the place based on what was derived from the consultation with the oracle.

The place, therefore, turns out to be a form of worship to these people because the place always serves as the solution to their problems whenever any problem arises. Whenever there is any problem among the people in the community they usually consulted Ogun and they sometimes worship Oke (hill) which was jointly performed by the people of the community.

The Oke is usually worshipped whenever any problem arises such as drought, famine, rainfall or whenever the rate of death is high. The priest of the hill usually comes from the Elemosho Family and the day to embark on the worship will be communicated to the people. The sacrificial materials used in the worship of this mountain include cows or goats, kola nut, wrapped pap (Eko elewe) etc.

On the day, people especially women and children troop in masses in the worship of the Ose-Oke shrine. After the performance of the necessary sacrifice, the priest will narrate to the people whether the kola nut is accepted or rejected by the ancestral spirit, after this, the sacrificial animal will be slaughtered and the blood of this animal will in turn be spread to the shrine, the slaughtered animal would then be cooked and served along with the pap to those who are present, especially children.

There was a time when rain cease to fall in the town which caused great famine due to the fact that all farm produce failed to yield positively as expected, the community thereby decided to worship the Ose-Oke, however after all the necessary sacrifices had been done the priest chanted some incantations pleading for the occurrence of rain, it was said that immediately after the incantations chanted by the priest the rain started to fall heavily to the extent that it drenched most people that were present there.

This is an indication that the people of Babanla as at that time strongly believed in the worship of Ose-Oke, this is not to say that they did not practice it anymore but the rate at which they worship it is minimal compared to how they embark on it then when there was no religion, particularly Islam to curb their practices.

Ogun
Ogun was one of the earliest divinities and he is referred to as the god of iron. He was said to have led other gods from heaven to Ile-Ife, therefore he has crowned the chief among all the divinities by his colleagues with the title “OSINMOLE”. He was a man who used iron freely in his daily activities as a result of his love for hunting. He cleared the thick impenetrable way with his iron implements for other divinities when he was coming from heaven to possess the earth.

He was said to have settled at Ire where he was crowned as Ogun-Onire (The king of Ire). He was a man who believed in just dealings, truth and equity, he was loved and respected by his subjects to the extent that after his death people still worship him.

The worship of Ogun as a god virtually spread across every facet of the Yoruba kingdom in which Babanla as a town was not an exception. The worship of Ogun (The god of iron) as a god got to Babanla through the hunters. Apart from the worship of “Ose-Oke” the people of Babanla strongly believed in, and worshipped the Ogun because it was the traditional belief of their ancestors.

Ogun was worshipped annually among the people of Babanla between the month of April and May but is presently worshipped by some people annually during the month of February. The sacrificial materials in the worship of Ogun include a dog which is considered Ogun’s favourite meal, others include kola nuts, a gourd of palm wine, and palm oil which are usually deposited at Ogun’s shrine.

The chief priest was in charge of performing the necessary rites at Ogun’s shrine after he has decided on the seven days festival. The preparation for the seven days festival usually starts with joint hunting in the bush by all the hunters.

On the seventh day which serves as the main day in the worship of Ogun the chief priest would perform all the necessary rites on the granite representing the Ogun, after which he would then pray for the generality of the community. Drumming, dancing and dining would be followed to show their happiness in commencing the worship of Ogun. This festival equally embraces all other hunters from neighbouring towns and villages to grace the occasion.

During this festival people usually show their appreciation to Ogun for all the great things he has done for them in the preceding years. With Ogun being a divinity of just and fair dealings, the people of the Babanla are prevented from using ogun to make an oath, especially on matters that are based on falsehood.

Egungun Festival
Egungun festival is practised annually in Babanla to celebrate some specific occasion. History has it that there are different kinds of Egungun bearing many different names in Yoruba land and the types of Egungun changes from town to town. The kinds of Egun being practised in Babanla include; Layewu, Paka, and Alata.

“Layewu” [Egun Ode], is usually done annually during the Ogun festival. The Egun can either be two or three; the Layewu masquerade will be dressed in the masquerade cloth known as “Eku-Egun”. The masquerade cloth is made from palm fronds and the dress is such that the head and the face are covered from profane eyes.

Before the day of the festival, some preparations are to be embarked on and these include; visitation to the Ogun shrine along with two kola nuts to inform Ogun of their upcoming events, particularly the date they want the festival to hold, equally the hunters will go for hunting and returns the next day which is four days to the main event.

The festival usually commences on the fifteenth of February every year. During this festival, all hunters are expected to contribute in one way or the other to the events such as foodstuff according to their capability. The festival is concluded with a visitation to the king’s palace after the layewu has dropped his palm frond at the Ogun shrine.

Another Egun festival which is common to the people of Babanla is “Paka” which is usually done on two occasions. Firstly, this kind of Egun festival is done whenever a member belonging to this group died. This is done for a period of two or three days in which the Egun will carry a pot on his head moving around the village until he gets to the household of the deceased where the pot will be broken.

This is followed by singing, and dancing by the members of the group along with the family of the deceased to the King’s palace, Iyalode compound, and then back to the household of the deceased.

Secondly, this Egun is also summoned by elders whenever they have sacrifices to make for the town especially when they noticed a higher rate of death, during this period people will not be allowed to go out to protect them from the masquerade.

Egun Alata is another festival common to the people of Babanla. This kind of festival is only meant for merriment and is performed annually on the 2nd day of the Ileya festival Eid’l-Adha based on the fact that most people will be around to grace the occasion. The festival starts on the 2nd day of Eid’l-Adha and ends on the 3rd day. The masquerade is adorned with palm fronds and his face is covered with a whip on his hands to chase people, he is followed by children and some members of his group singing and dancing around the village to make people have fun. It is apt to mention that there are no special rites for this festival as it is primarily meant for fun.

In conclusion, all the above-mentioned festivals are some of the festivals practised in Babanla before the advent of Islam to the town, others include Sango, Oya, Ogboni cult, and Olorisa.

Though some of these practices are still in existence as some were not willing to let go of the tradition left for them by their ancestors and some have been cancelled e.g.Olorisa, Olosun, and Oya.

Before the advent of Islam and Christianity to the area, most towns and villages constituting Igbomina Land were mainly traditional worshippers who believed in and worshipped different kinds of gods such as Ogun, Sango, Egungun, Oya, Esu etc. Every town, village and even compound has different Cultural, Customary, and Traditional practices traced to their ancestral history.

Babanla was a town in Igbomina land before the advent of Islam and Christianity believed in and worshipped mainly idols as that was what was left to them by their ancestors. The traditional worship peculiar to these people includes Ogun, Sango, Oya, Ose-oke, Egungun and Ogboni Cult. They believed so much in these idols to the extent that when Islam as a religion was first introduced to them they saw it as a formidable enemy that was brought to serve as a threat to their former belief.

This is from the archive of Aliu Ahmad Gold. He is a Member of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN). He hails from Babanla.

Some region will definitely hate this. E.g DaddyCK.