Every year, Ijebus worldwide converge on Ijebu Ode, a boisterous town in Nigeria's southwestern Ogun State, to celebrate the Ojude-Oba festival – a one-of-a-kind event throughout the whole of West Africa.

Ojude Oba, which literally means "King's Arcade," dates back over 150 years.

The celebration is held on the third day of the Eid al-Adha, the Muslim religious feast marking the climax of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the king's palace.

It is an annual reunion of Ijebu sons and daughters – who are predominantly Muslims – and a celebration of the Ijebu Kingdom and its former ruler, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland.

An Oxford University graduate, Adetona was crowned king on April 2, 1960 at the tender age of 26.

"We usually open the event with an opening prayer by the chief imam of Ijebu Ode who seeks God's mercy and protection for the king and the people and for the peace and progress of Ijebu," Buraimah Kadiri, an aide to the Awujale, told Anadolu Agency.

"We follow this with an impressive display and procession of the regberegbes, who are gorgeously dressed in their ceremonial attire to exhibit affluence and prosperity," Kadiri added. "They do this while paying homage to the king."

'Regberegbe' is an Ijebu word for the different age grades that take turns paying homage to the king in their various ceremonial regalia.

There are at least 36 different age grades in the town, each having up to 50 members spread among different professions and families.

"There is the breathtaking parade by the Baloguns and Dodondawas, who are descendants of war heroes of Ijebuland in the pre-colonial era," Kadiri said.

"The reigning Balogun and his associates engage in mock battles in commemoration of the wars of liberation fought by the Ijebus," added the aide. "They do this with their ceremonial war armor."

Along with the parade of the regberegbes, sounds of gunshots, traditional songs, poems and horses can also often be heard at the annual festival.

The Ijebus are a sub-group of the Yoruba ethnic group who speak the Ijebu dialect of Yoruba.

Like many Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria, some Ijebu people worship local deities, although their monarch reputedly does not partake in such practices.

Ijebu Ode is both a local government area and a city unto itself.

It is located 110km northeast of Lagos and is within 100km of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Nigeria's Ogun State.

According to official 2007 figures, it boasts an estimated population of some 223,000.

Ijebu Ode has a local television station affiliated with the government's NTA network.

It is also the commercial center of a farming region in which yams, cassava, grain, tobacco and cotton represent the primary crops.

Islamic heritage

The Ojude Oba is by far the most celebrated festival of the Ijebu Kingdom, showcasing the Ijebus' Islamic heritage.

"The Ojude Oba is an annual occasion where the ancestral lineage of the first converted Muslims of the Ijebu people pay homage to their king, the Awujale, for allowing their ancestors to practice Islam," Deji Balogun, an indigene of Ijebu who belongs to one of the regberegbes, told AA.

"It is celebrated on the third day of Eid-el-Kabir, displaying the rich cultural heritage of the Ijebu people and attracting tourists from across the world and Ijebu indigenes home and abroad," he added.

Akeju Maryam, a chartered accountant, explained that each age group appears in different ceremonial dress, some riding horses clad in ancestral colors signifying the lineage to which they belong.

"This is especially true of princes and princesses of the town," she told AA. "We sing and salute the dignitaries in different groups. The winning group is awarded based on how early you come and how your parade goes."

Professor Lasun Gbadamosi, a member of the Egbe Bobakeye (an age group of Ijebu men born between 1956 and 1958, whose collective name literally means "people adoring the king's pride", said the festival included displays of Ijebu styles of dance, dress and horseback-riding.

"All these culminate in collective prosperity and freedom for all," a World Bank consultant and dean of the education faculty at Ogun State's Olabisi Onabanjo University, told AA.

"There you see traders selling their wares and food. Transporters make brisk money," he added. "So it touches all aspects of human endeavor and that is why we do it annually under our ruler, the Awujale of Ijebuland."

Segun Balogun Seriki, a local politician, said his family had attended the Ojude Oba for the past 50 years.

"It's our culture and tradition," he told AA. "We come down to celebrate our culture."

"The essence is bringing us back home," Seriki added proudly.

"This is the only place in Yoruba land where this kind of thing takes place."

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=121183

are you an ijebu ode blood, vedaxcool? i am and the last ojude oba i attanded was in the time of balogun alatishe. i missed this event.

i have few disagreements with its process and protocol as i get to understand islam more than the past; they should be kinder to the horses and there is no reason to curtsey the king by bowing, worse, prostrating. the king should know and should disallow such curtsey because all curtsey and reverence including standing and waiting are to God. the awujale should arrive in his seat much earlier without letting people wait for him.

i think the whole idea for the celebration of ojude oba is based on what the messenger [sa] permitted of entertainment by the ethiopians after the id.

ijebu ode is being rivaled by ijebu igbo now.

RoyPCain: are you an ijebu ode blood, vedaxcool? i am and the last ojude oba i attanded was in the time of balogun alatishe. i missed this event.

i have few disagreements with its process and protocol as i get to understand islam more than the past; they should be kinder to the horses and there is no reason to curtsey the king by bowing, worse, prostrating. the king should know and should disallow such curtsey because all curtsey and reverence including standing and waiting are to God. the awujale should arrive in his seat much earlier without letting people wait for him.

i think the whole idea for the celebration of ojude oba is based on what the messenger [sa] permitted of entertainment by the ethiopians after the id.

ijebu ode is being rivaled by ijebu igbo now.

No, I am not even Yoruba, I have heard of the dubar in the north, coming across this was a surprise so I decided to post it here. Thanks for the bold, I wondered the origin of the practice

Ewe soo RoyPCain, bon ti ri?. I totally agree with points you raised. Am not against Ojude Oba except for points you raised. I barely attended it back in the days anyways cus am indoor type. I hope with time, they will change. I really doubt Awujale would change with respect to bowing etc. If you challenge that, they may tell you its a form of respect. He is on the throne now for over 50yrs. So that protocol may never change in his rein.

vedaxcool fooled me because he has all the hallmarks of yoruba passion for islam. mashaAllah.

@empiree; omo iba eni, kideshe? she dede e mdun?

i neither lived nor grew up there. my visits were less than the numbers fingers on one hand.
but each ileya i had in that old city, was a memory of a lifetime. the ojude oba was something.

i personally can't attend it now, unless it becomes strictly islamic and of course i do not want to many eye candies.

I

I was just learning more about this..



I actually thought ojude oba was something I could attend until.a discussion at the moderators section where I heard plenty drinking and dancing to all kinds of songs is done.

I like the cultural display though and I like the history behind it. That it brings families together is something worthwhile too.

Looks like one with great tourism potential

vedaxcool:


No,I am not even Yoruba I have heard of the dubar in the north, coming across this was a surprise so I decided to post it here. Thanks for the bold, I wondered the origin of the practice

Are you an hausa or what bro?

I remember attending ojude oba when I was young, very colourful.

Ojude oba miss it

yinmu

deols: I was just learning more about this..



I actually thought ojude oba was something I could attend until.a discussion at the moderators section where I heard plenty drinking and dancing to all kinds of songs is done.

I like the cultural display though and I like the history behind it. That it brings families together is something worthwhile too.

Looks like one with great tourism potential

You don't have to drink and dance to enjoy the festival. The fun you have depends on the people you know and those you surround yourself with that day. The beauty is seeing the rich culture, the horse parade, re-union and the after party where ever you decide. To truly enjoy ojude oba, you need to have people around you otherwise, it will bore and tire you. Muslims partake in it as much as Christians do.

So much fun..

JideTheBlogger: So much fun..

So much fun where? cuz i know you were not in Ijebu-Ode.

deols: I was just learning more about this..

I actually thought ojude oba was something I could attend until.a discussion at the moderators section where I heard plenty drinking and dancing to all kinds of songs is done.

I like the cultural display though and I like the history behind it. That it brings families together is something worthwhile too.

Looks like one with great tourism potential

So you were planning to wear your burqa there, yes? smh

raqueal:

You don't have to drink and dance to enjoy the festival. The fun you have depends on the people you know and those you surround yourself with that day. The beauty is seeing the rich culture, the horse parade, re-union and the after party where ever you decide. To truly enjoy ojude oba, you need to have people around you otherwise, it will bore and tire you. Muslims partake in it as much as Christians do.

Oh!! thank you for that

Vedaxcool surprised me with this. Peace be unto you.

shymexx:

So you were planning to wear your burqa there, yes? smh

Yeah..

alienvirus: Vedaxcool surprised me with this. Peace be unto you.

I have always thought he is Yoruba.

The way we all speak here as Muslims and our tribe does not ever get in the way is really great.

ma sha Allah.

RoyPCain: are you an ijebu ode blood, vedaxcool? i am and the last ojude oba i attanded was in the time of balogun alatishe. i missed this event.

i have few disagreements with its process and protocol as i get to understand islam more than the past; they should be kinder to the horses and there is no reason to curtsey the king by bowing, worse, prostrating. the king should know and should disallow such curtsey because all curtsey and reverence including standing and waiting are to God. the awujale should arrive in his seat much earlier without letting people wait for him.

i think the whole idea for the celebration of ojude oba is based on what the messenger [sa] permitted of entertainment by the ethiopians after the id.

ijebu ode is being rivaled by ijebu igbo now.

you got it wrong there. The festival is not an "Islamic" festival; but an Islamic cum Traditional festival(note: when I say Traditional, I do not mean orisha and the rest.lol).

It is to mark the AWUJALE's "benevolence" to the spread and growth of Islam in Ijebuland. It is actually to honour the Awujale, not really God(Allah). So the coutesy accorded to the Awujale it necessary. Similar to the Durban festival in Northern Nigeria where the Emirs are honoured.

It is a major Ijebu festival( if not largest) which Ijebus from all stalk: mislims or christians; old or young; countrymen or diasporan; e.t.c.... The Awujale might not necessarily be Muslim(I doubt if the Awujale of that time was muslim). He could be christian or anything else.

Anyway have fun while the Ojude festival last

Èwè sóo gbogbo omo Ijebu atata.
Last Bullet:
The 1st time I stepped into Ijebu-Ode & saw a billboard advert with the inscription "Èwè sóo". I pronounced it as "Ewé so", meaning "leaves says". Lol.

I was there. Yes! Awa Omo Ijebu Alare. *opens teeth*

A muslim festival? Still I see them sacrifice chicken as they dance by! Yanking the live chickens head off with their teeth! And sprinkling the blood on themselves!!!

lanrexlan: Are you an hausa or what bro?

I am Ebira! Pls don't spell it igbira!

alienvirus: Vedaxcool surprised me with this. Peace be unto you.

Peace.

I'm new in Ijebu ode and I work here. I didn't know this Ojude Oba festival was as interesting as this. I didn't bother to go out that day. Now I see it's really a tourist attraction. Won't miss it next year by God's grace.

Coldfeet: A muslim festival? Still I see them sacrifice chicken as they dance by! Yanking the live chickens head off with their teeth! And sprinkling the blood on themselves!!!

Where did you see this? Permit me to say that this is a lie. Haba! This is Ojude oba ooo not eyo festival

raqueal:

Where did you see this? Permit me to say that this is a lie. Haba! This is Ojude oba ooo not eyo festival

Unless those people in AJIRAN don't know what they are doing o! Their jubilation caught my attention and I asked someone what's going on he said its Ojude Oba! I saw with my eyes the chicken killing! And the blood sprinkling. Not long after these I saw some women take off their wrapper or head tie and spread it on the road for the masquerade to walk on. I know its not Eyo festival cos I've witnessed that too!

vedaxcool:

I am Ebira! Pls don't spell it igbira!

I give up o,you love pounded yam abi

i be ijebu boy no doubt, and ive attended my fair share of ojude obas. Now d@ im learning more about islam, i think it is unjust 2 associate dis celebration 2 Islam, dey can go ahead nd exhibit dia culture, but dey shld detach it completely 4rm Islam. It is purely an Innovation. May Allah assist us. Peace

d