By Dare BABARINSA, CON
Chairman, Gaskia Media Ltd
On Saturday, September 27, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Eniitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, walked the ancient path from his palace to Oke Mogun, to lead the annual ritual pilgrimage in commemoration of the appearance of man on earth at the dawn of time.
According to mythology, all the 401 deities of the Yoruba patheon descended from heaven. They were led by Ogun but it was Oduduwa who came with the sacred Aare crown which the Ooni is permitted to wear once a year. It was this Aare crown given by Olodumare that cemented the covenant which gives Oduduwa and his descendents the divine right to rule. Therefore, all his descendants became princes and princesses with divine right to rule wherever they settle. Thus they princes moved out of Ile Ife, each armed with a crown to confirm that he is from the House of Oduduwa.
Yoruba people invested in Oduduwa three achievements which seemingly cannot be performed by one person. He was the father of the human race just like Adam in the bible. He was the founder of the Yoruba Nation just as Moses did to the Jews. He was also our own David, the founder of the Yoruba obaship through the House Oduduwa. For a people who believe in reincarnation, an Oduduwa returning to the world many times to accomplished earthly roles is not farfetched.
What fascinate me most is the description of Ile Ife as the Land of the First Dawn. When Oduduwa descended from heaven, he came with the sacred soil of heaven. He also came with a rooster. He poured the soil into water covering the earth and the rooster helped to scater it and the continents took form. Thus, the place where this wonder occurred became known as ile Ife, the Land of Expansion.
There are scientific evidence that Ife has been continuously inhabited for more than 3000 years. In the early 20th Century, there are scientific studies that confirm what the Wise Ones of Ife have known for millenia. In 1915, Alfred Wegener, in his publication, THE ORIGIN OF THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS, confirm that all the continents were once one body of Mass. This was also confirmed by the recent studies of the British geologists, Arthur Holmes. Therefore, the ancestors were right.
The Ooni is both priest and king. He is at the centre of an ancient African civilisations which has withstood and still withstand onslaught from the propagandists of Armitic Hypothesis and foreign religious merchants. Ife keeps secrets that is deeper than the earth mantle. Each year that the Ooni wears the Aare crown, he is confirming the essence of Black and African civilisation, it’s resilience and it’s ultimate immutability.
