17/09/2017

Lijebu festival excites Ile Oluji indigenes, visitors



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...The indigenes of Ile Oluji, in Ile Oluji /Oke Igbo Local Government Council Area of Ondo State, could not have wished for a better and bigger fun recently. It was a long weekend, as a result of the recent Islamic public holiday, set aside to celebrate with the Muslim faithful, all over the country, on the occasion of this year’s Salah. But it meant more than that for the Oijefons, as the indigenes of the community are usually called. It marked a very significant traditional event in the calendar of the community, the Lijebu (Odun Oba) Day, an annual event, designed to mark the end of the community’s traditional calendar year and usher in a fresh one.And, interestingly, this year’s edition was done with pomp and ceremony! The festival did not fail to live up to stakeholders’ expectations.

As early as 7 in the morning, individuals, corporate organisations and social clubs, within the community, resplendent in their different traditional attires, had started converging on the monarch’s palace, located at the heart of the town, just to be part of the event, and before the official commencement of the event, every available space at the venue of the event had been taken up.
Besides being feasted by the palace, some of the participants also seized the opportunity of the occasion to present different sizes and shapes of gifts to the highly-beloved oba, as demanded by the customs and traditions of the community.
“It is an opportunity for me, again, to see the monarch at close quarters, especially after his installation last year. I had come home for the long holiday, never knew this event would take place, but the glamour and the hype preceding  it have made it very difficult to ignore,” explained Ropo,  an Akure-based indigene, at the venue of the event.
Ropo noted that though the festival had been in existence for quite a very long time, the glamour and the way this year’s edition was packaged, actually made it stand out.
Another indigene, Mr. Robert  Abiodun described the event as giving a fresh breath to the community’s tradition and culture.
“It’s been long we witnessed such elaborate event in the community on the account of tradition. It is an attestation to the fact that the oba is ready to play his role of being father to all, irrespective of the religious beliefs,” he stated.
Speaking on the event, the president of County Club of Ile Oluji, Mr. Alaba Akinyomade, described this year›s Odun Oba (Lijebu) as quite unprecedented.
Akinyomade noted that the occasion provided indigenes and other critical stakeholders in the community the opportunity to network, deepen their bonding and explore possible ways of supporting the community’s cause.
He believed the carnival-like atmosphere recorded this year, would go a long way in encouraging other individuals, social clubs and corporate organisations to participate in subsequent editions, adding that his club would play a bigger role in the next edition of the festival, next year.
Lijebu Odun Oba is as old as the community itself. It normally comes up as one of the festivals after the community’s traditional parliamentary assembly, the Lerin, which holds every nine days in the community, has been concluded. Lerin assembly  is usually held among high-ranking traditional leaders in the community.
According to the community’s traditional ruler, the Jegun of Ile Oluji, Oba Oluwole Adetimehin, the festival is one of the several festivals of the traditional calendar of the community.
The insurance-guru-turned traditional ruler, however, believes one of its significance is that, besides being an occasion to felicitate with the town’s monarch, it also marks a successful completion of the community’s calendar year, while signifying the commencement of a  new one, scheduled to begin in October, this year.
“We have a rich traditional calendar year. The Odun Oba or Lijebu would normally come up as one of the festivals after the Lerin, our traditional parliamentary assembly that holds every nine days. When we have completed the Lerin, we enter the festival seasons, and among the festivals that we normally celebrate is the Odun Oba Lijebu, which is the climax, the biggest of it all. That would be the time, everybody in the community would come out to celebrate their monarch to mark the successful completion of the annual Lerin assembly and, again, usher in the new traditional calendar that would start in October,” Oba Adetimehin explained in a chat with Saturday Tribune.
The Chairman of the Event Planning Committee, Honourable Henry Akinsuroju would rather attribute the success of this year’s edition of the festival to purposeful leadership on the part of the monarch and the profound affection the indigenes have for the relatively new monarch.
According to him, the traditional ruler, since taking the staff of office last year, had not minced words on his commitment towards repackaging some notable traditional events in the community, so as to attract indigenes and other critical stakeholders within and outside the community.
He explained that one uniqueness of the festival is the fact that it is the only traditional festival, dedicated to felicitating and celebrating the community›s monarch.
“It is believed that other traditional festivals, within the community, such as the Ogun and Owe festivals are for the community, with the oba presiding. What makes the Lijebu festival   different is that it is exclusively for the Oba, with the indigenes just coming in to celebrate with him.
“Besides, while other indigenes are free to eat the new yam after the Owe Festival which normally holds in July, in the community, the monarch would have to wait a little bit longer. The Jegun will only begin to eat the new yam after the Lijebu festival is celebrated,” the former lawmaker explained.
Akinsuroju, who expressed his delight at the huge turn-out at the event however stated that the committee would not rest on its oars towards giving colour to traditional celebrations in Ile Oluji.
“We will continue to innovate and see how these festivals would appeal to indigenes within and outside the community. For instance, what we’ve done this year was to carnivalise this year’s edition of the festival and the result of the innovation could be seen in the impressive turn-out of people at the venue,” he stated.
“It therefore provides the opportunity for everybody to felicitate with the Oba, who feasts all classes of chiefs in his palace,» he added.
Commending the committee for the success of the event, Oba Adetimehin however described the outcome as a ‘dress rehearsal’ to Ile Oluji Day, another significant date in the community’s calendar, scheduled for December this year.
“What we saw at the event was put together in two weeks by the Planning Committee, and it can be described as a dress rehearsal for Ile Oluji, which will hold in December, this year. Our decision to shift the Ile Oluji Day from November to December is part of the re-packaging processes, to ensure we are able to attract more indigenes to the festival.
“But we are very hopeful that the next year’s edition  of Lijebu would be bigger and better. We will try and make it another big Ojude Oba of Ile Oluji,” Oba Adetimehin stated.

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