Almost 23 years after he founded the Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) to promote culture and tourism in Yoruba land, Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland Iba Gani Adams has said the foundation has achieved its objectives.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Sun Travel Hub, Adams said there has been a change in perception and mindset in Yoruba land compared to the situation in 2002 when the OFF was founded. He described the current state as a cultural rebirth.
He said: “We had started with a partnership with the Osun Osogbo Festival organizing committee in 2001. We then floated our foundation, the Olokun Festival Foundation in 2002. We looked beyond culture, we were thinking about eco-tourism and cultural tourism. This is because we realised that to attract tourists to a destination, we needed to have programmes like a festival, and festivals that would reflect on our historical background. If you don’t know where you are coming from, you won’t know where you are going.”
Iba Gani Adams said he realised that during that period, the children and the new generation felt their culture was inferior to Western culture. “When they put on our attire, even our food they felt inferior,” he said, “But because of our efforts in promoting our cultural identity, we have started gaining their minds back. We are seeing the younger generation coming out, even preaching and showcasing our identity beyond us.”
He also frowned at the demonization of Yoruba deities. His words: “One of the deities that was not saleable in Yoruba land, that conjured negative perception because of the religious misconception is Esu. But now, in the last three years, we see very educated Yoruba sons and daughters, on December 24, they started a crusade, a kind of procession to enlighten people that the Yoruba Esu is not Satan. It is different from the Satan we are talking about in the Bible. Usually, when you talk about Esu in a Yoruba gathering, people will move back. And this Esu we are talking about, there is no historical palace that you would not have a child of Esu; even in the centre of a community, they will have. In the market, it will be there, but because of religion, they demonize it as evil. In Yoruba land, we believe if there is trouble, and you appease it, you overcome that trouble.”
Iba Adams said he was happy that the cultural revolution that he and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), through the Olokun Festival Foundation started is yielding positive results. Speaking further on the misconception about Yoruba deities, he said: “I can tell you authoritatively, at Olokun Festival Foundation, We did not call it Esu, we call it Elegbara because if you want to sell something, you come from a soft aspect of it. Esu in Yorubaland has different names, but we picked Elegbara. We started our own Elegbara Festival in Shasha, Lagos. We are in the 10th edition. From there we started talking to the people to understand; telling them it is the way some people preached it. It has its good side. We continue to frown at the demonization of some traditional deities in Yoruba land. And with the misrepresentation of these deities and their works, they will be causing problems. All these spirits have their own powers. From that angle, the Olokun Festival itself has also changed the mindset that Mammy Water is evil.”