*Culture Infringes On Rights Of Women, Non-Indigenes – Critics
*Tradition Should Have Been Abolished Long Time Ago-Pastor Oladele
Lukmon Akintola
Lagos
Customs and beliefs form an integral part of societies all over the world.
When passed from one generation to another, they become traditions which keep those associated with it from drifting away.
What it takes to create a tradition, a derivative of the Latin word ‘traditionem’ meaning ‘handing over, passing on’ is aptly mirrored in Henry James’s quote: “It takes an endless amount of history to make even a little tradition.”
The price paid to entrench tradition is what has thus seen a lot of people holding on to theirs, even when many argue that such should have been overridden by modernisation and innovations.
While a town and its people are as good as their tradition, civilisation in terms of changing trends and technology has seen a call for the shelving of some traditions now considered by a lot of elites as old and detrimental, one of which is the celebration of the Oro Festival.
Widely celebrated, the Oro Festival is associated with towns and settlements with links to the Yoruba origin.
Described as patriarchal in nature, it is exclusively celebrated by male descendants who are paternal natives of a specific location where the event is taking place.
Historically and among traditionalists, it is believed that Oro was one of the six deities sent to earth by Olodumare, the creator of all mankind. Then, the deities were called Orisa. Oro was said to be the sixth of the deities to have first set feet on earth. Others were Obatala, Sango, Orunmila, Esu, and Ogun. They were all sent to earth with different special abilities and to serve different purposes.
Known to love parties and fun generally, Oro became popular for celebration. This explains one of the reasons why till date those celebrating the festival always opt for a lavished party.
The Oro Festival is also synonymous with some specific traditions chief among them being that females and non-natives must stay indoors while it is being celebrated because the Oro must not be seen by women and non-participating people.
According to the Osorun of Tamaro Land, Chief Labra Bashorun, “The ceremony surrounding the celebration of Oro differs from one town to another.”
Originally an event celebrated once in a year, often in the month of July, the festival which has been associated with the Yoruba origin for over 60 years was originally meant to keep peace and harmony in the land. It also served special purposes, as the masquerade could be summoned for special reasons such as chasing out of town a villager who has committed an abomination.
Popular among the Anango people of Ogun State as “Baba”, “Oluwa”, “Ita”, “Alugbe”, and “Ajala”, the celebration which is known to last for several days appears to have taken a dangerous and life-threatening dimension in recent years leading to consequences such as an alleged loss of lives via sacrifice, loss of revenue and infringement of the right to freedom of movement as entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Celebrated in several southwestern cities in Nigeria including Ikorodu, an outskirt town of Lagos State, Ago Iwoye, located in Ogun State and even Kaba in Kogi State, the Oro Festival celebration is not new. However, that its celebrants have refused to allow modernisation to take its course where it is concerned has raised eyebrows.
Reported to have led to the loss of the lives of several people who have accidentally come across the procession, female residents of Ikorodu, Lagos State now remain locked in their houses for days when the festival is being celebrated. For businesses, it is the same story, while workers working outside the locality have the option of temporarily relocating or being left at the mercy of the festival.
However, there have been cries by many against this tradition considered very obsolete especially in the 21st century.
“Nigeria is our country, it belongs to all of us and that is why we can migrate. I relocated from Imo to Lagos State and eventually settled down in Ikorodu. Initially, there was the problem of the language barrier, but over time, I have learnt to speak the language. Now, I feel that I belong here. But there are still some challenges that people like me face. This Oro Festival which you talk about is one of them. Sometimes, they announce that the celebration will take place and at other times you only get to hear about it through a friend, and then we have to lockup our shops for days or risk our lives. It is not proper, we have our business and we should not be made to lose patronage because they want to celebrate a festival. They can celebrate their festival at night so we too can do our business, but sometimes Ikorodu is on lockdown for days and that means our shops are shut down too,” Kanayo Igbokwe, a spare part dealer who owns a shop at Ikorodu Roundabout, a popular location of the town said.
Indeed, other people agree that the festival should be celebrated at night with consideration for non-indigenes of Ikorodu and guests visiting the town.
Tawa Adeyanju (not real name), a market woman in Ikorodu Market who spoke with Saturday INDEPENDENT, said that she is more concerned about awareness before the event proper.
“Awareness is very low, people sometimes don’t even get to know that such a celebration is going on until they are almost at the heart of the city. That is my worry, sometimes such action gives room for suspicion, do they want people to deliberately fall victim?”
Typical, some people throw their weight behind the festival. Idris Aloma, an indigene of Ikorodu who resides at Ita Elewa supports the celebration. According to him, it is a way of ensuring that people don’t forget their heritage. “Oro Festival is like any other festival. It is like the “Aje” and “Olojo” festivals celebrated in Ile Ife, Osun State. Every festival has its rules and regulations and people have to abide by them. The Oro Festival might have been misconstrued with all sorts being said about it, but it serves its purposes. It is a traditional way to declare a curfew or a state of emergency during times of trouble. So, if people adhere to the rules, there won’t be any problem. Some things are not understood by the elite class but are clear to traditionalists. Once they notice these things, they consult and appease the gods to avert dare situations.”
While Aloma’s position might be supported by traditionalists, there have been allegations that women and in some cases men who encounter the Oro masquerade are killed. Strange deaths in some localities where Oro Festival is celebrated have been put on the doorsteps of those associated with the celebration.
Pastor Samuel Oladele of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Testimony Parish has lived in Ikorodu for several years. According to him, the Oro Festival is one that ought to have been abolished. Explaining what he has heard about the festival, he said: “In this age and time, it should be something that ought to have been forgotten, people should not be seen celebrating sort. However, the Bible says you give unto Cesar what is Cesar’s. It affects non-indigenes if you are careful enough. The thing is that they ask for two or three days off. You have the option of leaving the community when the celebration day is close. What they do now is different from what they used to do. They give adequate information now. The information about the dates of the celebration and movement is well circulated for a week or at least three days ahead of the celebration. They make sure that they circulate the information. That way, you would have made your preparation. If you don’t want to stay in that vicinity, you could leave and when they are through, you can come back. But really how many people can leave their place of residence and go and stay with other people when they have their family and children to look after? I honestly think it is something that they ought to have forgotten by now.”
Asked about the speculations that people especially women who witness the festival are often killed and used as a sacrifice to the gods, Pastor Oladele said: “I cannot say. These are spiritual things. Ordinarily, there is the notion that any woman who comes out and sees the Oro during the celebration might not be able to give birth to a child again. But these are claims that cannot be verified. No one has been able to say that it is true or not, it is spiritual speculation from people perhaps to discourage those not participating from seeing what they are doing. If you are not foreclosing men from seeing it, why would you say women cannot see it? Principally, what do the celebrants do, they come out naked, these are some of the things that they don’t want women to come out and see. They don’t want women to come out and see the nakedness of the men, most of the time, you see them wearing underwear when they are celebrating the festival.
“In Ikorodu, to avoid people accidentally running into them during the ritual is why they publicise the time for movement. If you are not aware, you will see people who will tell you don’t go to this particular place. You can only be a victim when you are heady or you don’t border to ask questions. When you are driving, ordinarily you will see a police officer who would tell you that Oro festival is being celebrated, if you are a woman, please go back. But all said and done, I still believe that the tradition should have been overtaken by development,” he said.
The mystery of why the Oro cannot be seen by women or non-indigene is further explained by Wale Omotola, author of the popular Yoruba prose, ‘Eni Buru Mo’. Omotola who is also an indigenous broadcaster ex-rays the celebration of the Oro Festival shedding light on the tradition that gave birth to it.
According to him, “Oro and Egungun were siblings who went in search of greener pastures. At the end of the year when they were supposed to go back home, Egungun had worked hard and saved a lot of money with which he bought several items including the popular damask clothe. Oro on his part had nothing to show for his work all through the year. The reason was that he was a fun-loving person and had used his money for partying and drinking palm wine. Oro had nothing, he was naked when they met for the journey home. Oro thus seeing his brother’s wealth, asked him to go home, adding that he would join him later. On getting home, Egungun was celebrated, but the family elders noticed the absence of his brother. On explaining the circumstances surrounding his nakedness, the priests then came up with an idea to ensure no woman is around when Oro returned to town to prevent them from seeing his nakedness. Among the Yorubas, that formed the foundation of the secrecy that now surrounds the celebration of the Oro Festival.”
Omotola further demystified the speculation that people who accidentally or deliberately witness the procession of the Oro masquerade are killed. According to him, the speculation is similar to that often passed around by novice that people are killed when a monarch dies. “If people are killed as being purported, who then would be celebrating the Oro Festival,” he asked.
“In celebrating the Oro Festival, nobody gets killed. The homage paid to their god is even done in a shrine, not on the street. Any man who is not a part of the inner circle won’t even understand what it is all about.”
Like every festival, there are bound to be some excesses, Omotola describes the excesses of this particular festival thus:
“You are advised to tie down your Rams, goats, and chickens during the celebration because people are often saying ‘Oro celebration is here, I don’t want them to steal my animals.’ This is because the celebration is about eating and more eating and nothing more.”
There are however other reasons the Oro comes out. A special kind of Oro is used to chase out wicked people from the town. It is used to cast out powerful people that have committed atrocities beyond comprehension out of a town.
Asked if the Oro Festival has served its purpose and its celebrants need to move on, the broadcaster said that the celebration cannot be cancelled by anybody, adding that it will eventually become unpopular over time.
“The celebration is done by both Christians and Muslims. The main ritual might be done by the participating members, but the celebration, the party is done by children of both Christians and Muslims. It is celebrated for fun, but the real custodians of the deity celebrate it as their faith, their religion. Celebrating Oro brings about a big party and the youths and their friends will always enjoy the abundance of food, meat, and drinks available.”
The celebration of Oro might be popular in Ikorodu, but Baba Alaanu, a traditionalist explains that it is more popular in the ancient Oyo town. He further explained that there is always a specific time for the celebration. “In Ibarapa and Igboora, an outskirt town of Oyo State that is close to Abeokuta, Ogun State, they celebrate the Oro Festival for seven days. The first six days would see participants come out to celebrate. What it means is that the Oro celebration would only hold at night, as they don’t operate when it is dawn. But on the seventh day, no woman comes out, as it is the grand finale. It is called “Isede Asekagba” or “Ojo Ahasule”. Basically, “Isede Asekagba” means “grand finale”, while “Ojo Ahasule” means a day when no woman comes out. The seventh day is somehow sacred, and nobody dares to violate it.”
Known not to be backed by a constituted authority, the place of the law where the Oro Festival is concern becomes important.
In 2018, Justice Sikiru Owodunni of the Ogun State High Court sitting in Ipokia Local Government in a suit filed by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Muslim Community in Ipokia against Oro cult declared as illegal the imposition of a curfew in daytime on the people of the town by those in charge of celebrating the Oro Festival. The court further declared that the Oro Festival and ritual could only be carried out between midnight and 4: am, subject to approval by the relevant authorities. According to the judgment, the participants would also write an undertaking to maintain peace during the festival.
While the law might have heard the cries and pleas of the residents of Ipokia Local Government, the fear of those celebrating the Oro Festival not adhering to the judgment and the possibility that innocent individuals not allowed to witness the procession might fall victim still leaves a chill in the minds of residents of celebrating communities
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