Osun Osogbo Festival; Physical Demonstration Of Spiritual Relevance -

All forms of socio-cultural developments have some attributes of celebration and thanksgiving to the Almighty God. Festivals are therefore regarded as important socio-cultural means of supplications to the Supreme Being, at most times through intermediaries according to the various individual beliefs. Consequently, the month of August of every year has become a unique month among the people of Osogboland. It is the month of celebration, traditional cleansing of the city and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom. The celebration of Osun Osogbo Festival is a period of stock-taking and assemblage of all sons and daughters of Osogboland and, most especially, Yoruba-speaking people both in Nigeria and Diaspora.

The town of Osogbo, Osun State, is believed to have been founded about 400 years ago. It is part of the wider Yoruba community, divided into 16 kingdoms, which, according to legend, were ruled by the children of Oduduwa, the mythic founder, whose abode at Ile-Ife, south-east of Osogbo, is still regarded as the spiritual home of the Yoruba people.

The earliest settlement seems to have been in the Osogbo Grove and included palaces and a market. When the population expanded the community moved outside the grove and created a new town, which reflected spatially the arrangements within the grove.

In the 1840s Osogbo became a refugee town for people fleeing the Fulani jihad, as it moved south from what is now northern Nigeria. The Yorubas retreated further south into the forests and Osogbo, right at the northern edge of the forest, became an important centre for ‘northern’ Yorubaland.

The Fulani attacks on Osogbo were repelled and, as a result, Osogbo has become a symbol of pride for all the Yorubas.

During the first half of the 20th Century, the town of Osogbo expanded considerably. In 1914, British colonial rule begun. As it was delivered under a system of indirect rule through traditional rulers, the authority of the Oba and priests were sustained. A greater change was brought about from the middle of the 19th century through the introduction of both Islam and Christianity. Islam became the religion of traders and ruling houses, as it gave contacts to northern trade routes and links to returning slaves from Central and South America. For a while all three religions co-existed but as time went by it became less fashionable to be identified with the ogboni and osun cults.

The origin of the festival, according to historical records, can be described as an account of the legendary encounter between the early settlers / founders of Osogbo with the Osun Osogbo deity. In about 1370AD, the founder of Osogbo, Oba Gbadewolu Larooye and the great hunter Olutimehin, settled in the sacred Osun forest to establish the kingdom and actualised a pact of association and togetherness with the River Osun deity. Since then, Osogbo has remained a peaceful, progressive and benevolent city without any incidence of war or pestilence. This pact of association, which is rekindled every year in the month of August, is the foundation of a cultural fiesta that has catapulted itself into world recognition as one of the largest tourist attractions in Nigeria.

The cultural celebration of this festival is a two-week programme which begins with the spiritual cleansing of the town or Ìwòpòpò, followed by Olójúmérìndínlógún, which is the lightening of the centuries-old 16-point lamp three days later. Ìboríadé – the assemblage of all the crowns of past rulers (ataojas) for blessings follows some four days later. The festival’s grand finale showcases the cultural procession of the people to the Osun Grove.

Essentially, these activities with other associated ones are spring boards for cultural tourism development in Osun State and, generally, in Nigeria. Despite the influence of western civilisation, education and religion, the festival has, to a very large extent, manifested its originality, authenticity and acceptability among nations worldwide. The Osun Grove was officially listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Durban, South Africa, to the joy of the people and the government of Federal Republic of Nigeria in July 2005.

1. Corporate sponsorship and individual’s identification with any of the festival events will therefore be a rare opportunity to advance corporate relations, products and services patronage with the fulfilment of discharging corporate social responsibilities and national obligations to the Osogbo community, the Government and people of Nigeria.