Olojo, Aare and Chariot of Ooni

By Kunle Awosiyan

Watching an uncle beside the chariot of Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi at the Olojo Festival reminds me of my maternal home, Gbonka Compound, of the ancient city of Ile-Ife.

Gbonka plays a prominent role in Olojo because it houses the Ife flag and hoists it during the festival without which no Ooni leaves Ile Nla to Oke Mogun.

The flag is hoisted on a 20ft-tall heavy object that moves twice in a year from Ile Gbonka in Iremo, crossing many other “Agbo Ile” to the palace of Ooni in Enuwa, where it is stationed to lead our Oba to Oke Mogun.

From Ile-Gbonka, we will follow the staff with two drums, one shekere, one agogo and a flute made from elephant tusk to Aafin Oba. Our song is “Onikoyi Ero sere, Ero sere laafin Oba”.

Of course I lived in Gbonka, a maternal home and participated in Olojo, starting with some delicacies at the Akodi, my paternal home is Jarua Memogba in Okerewe, behind Ooni’s palace.

Here, we are the “Omo Okuta meta agba okerewe mefa” and in a way the “Emese Oba”, which made it a duty for us to receive visitors and take emissaries for Ooni. It is this that also made an uncle to stand by the Ooni’s chariot during the festival.

Olojo is a mixture of social and spiritual activities and an opportunity to have a glimpse at the Aare, the foremost crown that comes out once in a year.

For Ife adults who are above fifty years , Olojo gave us the opportunity to physically see Ooni Adesoji Aderemi, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade and now Ooni Adeyeye Ogūnwusi.

Except for a few of us who lived close to St. Peters’ Anglican Church, Odo -Ogbe, Iremo, many of the adults never saw Ooni Adesoji Aderemi, except his photograph.

Even at that, during Olojo procession, the “Lokoloko’ would not leave any chance for the crowd to see Ooni but the Aare, which signifies the major spirituality of the day. When we see the Aare, we hail Kabiyesi ooooo, Mo rI o lodun, ma RI o leremi. It is a prayer to witness the event the following year.

Aare weighs 50kg on the head of Ooni due to the spirit behinds it. Aare invokes rains and the reason for his steady heaviness as Ooni moves to and from Oke Mogun.

The king begins the festival with days of seclusion, one of which is to guard against unwanted rain during the procession. Aare must never be wet, yet it draws rain.

Aare may look light and ordinary in the eyes and hands of those who lack inner eyes. It may weigh so light on their science scale, it is heavy on the head of Ooni. It pushes him around because it has its own spirit.

I remember Chief Iba of blessed memory from Agbole Moku Laimo. He had a role to play against sudden rain during Olojo. Aare must be protected from bringing down rain on itself.

However, Ooni is allowed to wear “Ori Ogbofo” on the last day when he will visit his royal court in his own “Agbole’.

Ooni Aderemi rode Rolls Royce to perform this function; Ooni Sijuwade rode open roof cars and today Ooni Ogunwusi is riding a chariot.

Ogunwusi’s chariot creates a new spectacle for Olojo. His idea rebrands a festival that had once lost its glamour. Today, Olojo did not just come alive, it comes with a lot of steeze.

The organisers of this year’s Olojo create colours that will live in our memory for a long time and I think this is the beginning of a new story in the cradle in the sense that a new template had just been set to drive one of the oldest cultural shows in Yorubaland.

We have seen Ojude Oba, which exemplifies steeze, the display at this Olojo will not only attract socialites to Olojo next year, it will build more network for business and cultural partners.