“Ours is a religion of peace and harmony. Ifa is Olodumare’s sacred message to mankind. Orunmila is the harbinger and interpreter of that divine
message of Olodumare. Ifa is the embodiment of totality of human and other creatures’ existence. It is a guide for the existence of man from cradle to grave. In fact, it is the basis for understanding the beginning and end of all living and non-living things.
These were words of an Ifa faithful, as he spoke glowingly of the faith he holds dear and which he believes defines his essence and existence.
Ifa temples spread across the world number well over 100. There are Ifa temples in the United States of America, Spain, Cuba, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and Brazil to mention a few. And every year, adherents of the faith throng these temples for the festivity.
The yearly celebration,” he further explains, signify that people are gradually going back to their roots. And it would please you to know that Pastors and Imams join us for this festival. Thereafter, he bursted into a sonorous rendition… emi o soro ile mi o, emi o soro ile mi o...
Oke Itase, short for Oke eyi ta ti se wa in Yoruba language and literarily translated as ‘the spot where the shrine is located is the source or the origin of all human beings on earth,’ is believed by Ifa worshippers as the place where the Noah’s ark berthed after the great flood. This, perhaps, adds to the importance attached to the sacred location.
On the festival day, the procession of Ifa adherents, observers and tourists, led by Araba Agbaye, Chief Adisa Aworeni moved to the shrine as early as 7am. By 8am, the procession moved round the shrines and groove in Ile-Ife and its environs. It was indeed a great procession. In Ifa religion, Araba Agbaye is to the faithful what the Pope is to the Catholics or the Sheik to Muslims.
The faithful, who thronged the festival came from all parts of the country. They danced to the melodious beat of the local gong and drums. The sight was a beauty to behold. The procession berthed at Ope Agbonniregun (the Agbonniregun palm tree) in Oke-Itase to perform certain rites by 10.40am. And by mid-day, the crowd had grown considerably.
As would be experienced with such huge crowd, commercial activities rose. Food vendors had a swell day within Oke-Itase and environs. Restaurants and bars were filled. Business took an upward swing for Motorcycle operators and transporters. “I always pray for this festival to hold every day of the year. Since two days ago, my returns have increased and today, I can tell you confidently that as at 11am, I had my delivery money for the day. You can now imagine how much I stand to gain today,” Rasak Oni, an okada rider said. It was the same testimony for Alhaja Olanrewaju, a food vendor. “Alhamdulillah. Since yesterday, business has been booming. The patronage is so much that I am cooking again. I cooked twice what I normally sell; yet the food is finished.”
By 3.05pm, a long procession, led by Araba Agbaye danced to the Ooni of Ife palace for the Isurere rites. The rites were done almost an hour and half later because the procession walked for over an hour through Oke-Itase to the palace. There were the daughters of the high priests who carried their respective father’s Ifa, led by a beautiful young girl said to be the daughter of Araba. She led the other 16 young damsels who represented the Awo Olodu Merindinlogun (16 Ifa High priest) with her Ifa firmly on her head too.
The procession left the palace for Oke-Itase and there was invocation. The young damsel that led put her Ifa before the seat where Araba would later sit. The other 16 girls put theirs on the ground below the first one. Araba came in few minutes’ later and paid homage before sitting on the chair. The other Awo Olodu merindinlogun (16 Ifa High priests) came in and paid their homage to him.
The proceeding for the evening started with the feeding of Ifa. After the feeding, there was merriment amid dancing and jubilation inside the small hall housing the shrine. By now, the shrine beamed with excited faithful, it had also become stuffy and too small to contain them all. The Ife Keredidi drum rite was performed before the chanting of Iyere Ifa. After the chant, Abebe Agiri dance rites were done and Ifa ethical talk was done by Olori Awo.
At midnight, special prayers were offered for peace in Yorubaland, Nigeria and the World at large. Araba came up to inform the crowd about the Ifa divination for the New Year. He warned that, “except we love and care for each other, there may be serious calamities.”
Araba implored all faithful to be truthful, show love and kindness and to leave in peace with each other. He said the problem of Boko Haram would soon be a thing of the past. He declared that Ifa has said Nigeria will rise and be a great nation again. “The Yoruba race will play a great role in the rejuvenation of the country because Nigeria will soon emerge as a world power that people from all walks of life will be rushing to,” he added.
He declared further, “Nigeria will become the hub of commercial activities in the world. We will become the beautiful bride sought after by the world because Ifa has said that it is not by mistake that I am in Nigeria. All the gods have come together and agreed to lift this nation out of her problems. The gods have agreed to deal with everyone that does not want the growth of the country. Ifa has instructed that you should be careful in the New Year. You should love yourself and love others. Live in peace and the sacrifices we are told to do by Ifa to avert dangers and bring peace to the land, we will do immediately.”
As early as 7am the following day, there was a procession to the palace to meet with Ooni of Ife and feed him back on the events of the previous day and what Ifa said. The Araba offerred special prayers for the Ooni and the other 16 Ifa High priests joined him in the prayer.
After the prayers, Olori Ejugbona, Aworeni Awofolaju rendered songs with gong and dances while others danced and echoed after him. Araba gave the Ifa messages for the New Year to Ooni.
In his response, Ooni commended and thanked everybody for their steadfast love and peaceful conduct throughout the festival. “I know how tedious it could have been since yesterday morning not to have slept. I want to say that all the sacrifices to be made as prescribed by Ifa will be done immediately.” He prayed for the people and the nation too before the procession moved back to the World Ifa Temple.
Speaking on the essence of the festival, Owolabi Aworeni, the son of Araba Agbaye and an undergraduate Yoruba student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife said, “You will be surprised that Ifa temples are all over the world. Ifa is Olodumare sacred message to mankind. It is the embodiment of totality of human and other creatures’ existence. The yearly celebration, as you can see, has shown that the people are gradually going back to their roots. We are not local; you can see the number of foreigners that attended the festival. My prayer is that one day, these foreigners would not re-package Ifa and bring it back to Africa and we will still take it from them as the gospel truth.”
Temple of Wisdom
Ile Ase, referred to as Ogunladin and known as the Temple of Wisdom is another important site embedded in the palace of Ooni of Ife. It attracted a lot of people, as they trooped into it to pray for different purposes, dropping their ‘thanksgiving offerings’ afterwards. It is believed that whatever you askeat this shrine will be granted. Such is the faith of the faithful that even foreigners entered the shrine to make requests and offerings.
Inside the shrine, I met Embel Olayemi from Spain, Ricardo Fatoyanga, Jesus Fayemi, Idibere Awogbemi and Barry Gold from Venezuela. I also met Awodele Ifayemi from USA, a pure American who told me of his passion for Ifa. He was decked in buba and sokoto. When I spoke with him, he asked me to go online and check his website: ile-Ifa.org. A visit to the site brought more pleasant surprises: he has authored many books on Ifa. He looked at me and told me, “I am sure you are wondering what I am doing in Ife. I am here for the Ifa festival. This is not my first time. Ifa is life. I am from Colorado in USA but I have embraced Ifa and I am at peace. I will remain in Ife for a while to savour and enjoy my people and my belief.”
Speaking further on the Temple of Wisdom, Nurudeen Olatoye Arogundade, a graduate of History of Obafemi Awolowo University shed light on the shrine. He said, “Ile Ase is a very important site in Ife. To let you know how important it is, every chief of Ile-Ife, either honorary or traditional must be taken into the temple for blessings and oath. The only person, as far as I know that was not taken in there was Prof Amuib Opeloyeru, Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies who was the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy matters from 2004 to 2010 in Osun. He did not enter into the inner chamber of the temple for oath and blessings. The oath and blessings was administered with Quran and by the Deputy Chief Imam, Alhaji Abdul Hameed at the entrance of the gate of the Temple. He was Seriki of the source. That was between 2007 to 2008. Every other honorary and traditional title holders were taken into the inner chamber for oaths and blessing.”
But why is anyone not allowed to photograph the inner chamber? To this, he replies: “It is the belief that when those things are exposed to the world, it is like the mystery of the traditions are been exposed. Whereas there are similar things in Israel where Christian faithful pray and drop money at a special site with the belief that such prayers will be granted automatically.”
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