IJUSU OLIKAN (YAM FESTIVAL): MISCONCEPTIONS AND COROLLARIES

Last week, the Olikan of Etikan Land, His Imperial Majesty (Alayeluwa) Temidayo Solomon Owoyele, Akintimehin II, alongside the Etikan Council of Chiefs and descendants of Erede Oghonne worldwide, officially announced the 2024 annual Ijusu Olikan (Yam Festival) of the Kingdom. 

The announcement which was signed by one of the Kingdom's princes and griot, S. Ola Ajimisan, extended an open invitation to tourists and well-wishers to visit Ode-Etikan, the traditional and ancestral headquarters of Etikan Kingdom. The festival promises to be a vibrant showcase of Etikan Kingdom’s rich cultural heritage, inviting visitors to join the Kabiyesi and the people of the Kingdom in celebrating the festival.

Importantly, the announcement assured the public that there will be no ritual encumbrances that could restrict vehicular movement in and around the town. However, there will be a nocturnal restriction of movement on November 9, 2024. 

The announcement also detailed other key activities including the "Itaso" ritual, where veils will cover major poles and stakes in the Oghonne Ajaloron Temple and other houses in the town, beginning on November 7. The veils will be removed on November 11, symbolizing the ritual end of the festival and the season. The Itaso is a major reason Etikan Kingdom is praised as “A-rogba-aso, A-ro-gba-one, and Arogba-igi,” which is a spiRITUAL and cultural signifier for the collective prosperity of the Kingdom's people.

While the announcement stirred excitement, it also sparked questions and misconceptions on social media about the Ijusu Olikan (Yam Festival). A notable query cum misconception came from Adojo Ademoyegun Johnson Adewale about the festival. In response, S. Ola Ajimisan, one of the Kingdom's Princes and groit clarified the misconceptions surrounding the festival and offers in-depth understanding.

In his response titled; "IJUSU OLIKAN (YAM FESTIVAL): MISCONCEPTIONS AND COROLLARIES", Prince Ajimisan writes;

Adojo Ademoyegun Johnson Adewale woke me up with the question in response to my announcement of Ijusu Festival of Etikan Land, "Why Yam Festival? Do they plant yam in Etikan?"

MY HUMBLE AND INFORMED RESPONSE AS THE ILAJE CULTURAL AMBASSADOR

Let me educate you on what you do not know but which you assume you do. Festivals and rites/rituals are some of the media of quotidian communions between the living and the dead. They are the methodology, andragogy and pedagogical means by which the people teach, re-teach, learn and re-learn the history of their land and ancestors. Ijusu Festival of Etikan Land is not an exception. It is one of channels of propagation and transmission of the indigenous knowledge of the people. During, Ijusu Festival, tourists, ethnologist, historians and cultural anthropologists have had the opportunity of learning the history of Etikan through the mural paintings and drawings on the walls of the Oghonne Ajaloron Temple, Ode-Etikan. Therefore, Ijusu is also an exemplification of Afro-theology because it is one of the major ways by which the people learn about their ancestors, the supreme deity and other metaphysical forces that they believe rule in their collective and quotidian affairs. IJUSU (YAM FESTIVAL) in Etikan is a celebration and memorialisation of two historical epochs in the collective life of the Kingdom. The epochs are the earliest period of existence in Ile-Ife and Oke-Mafunrangan and the period of existence in the present littoral location. Yam tubers and fish are the semiotic symbols or totemic objects associated with the festival. Yam symbolises the earliest Ife and Mafunrangan days when the people of the Kingdom were farmers and yam was one of their staple crops that had almost become their totem, while fish symbolises the collective existence of the people in the present location when the people are now predominantly fishmongers. Etikan is the bearer of the true identity of an amphibious folk (r'omi-r'oke eyi mi jofi ala). Little wonder, there is an Etikan-morphic band of masquerades called R'omi-r'oke. Majofodun (2011); Ajulekun (2014); (2018) & Ajimisan (2022) lend credence. I do not know of Mahin Kingdom or where they got the idea of Ojude Oba Festival from, but Yam Festival had always been the major festival of the Ilaje-Etikan folks from the time immemorial. There are other festivals such as Gbelepota (killing the enemies from the homestead), Malokun and Umale Festival but Ijusu Festival is the most popular festival in Etikan. The festival is as old the people who celebrate it and it transcends the migration of the folks to the present littoral location.