Nigeria, the land of plenty

too many people can cause a boat to sink About half an hour drive away from Oyo town, there is a small settlement, called Ile-Oba Alaafin, that is dedicated to Oba the river Spirit. Nowadays, five families are living there. About a hundred people. The name of all inhabitants starts with Oba to mark their origin. The legend says that Oba and Osun were both married to Sango, the god of thunder and they had a dispute. Osun cut one ear to Oba in the process and Oba turned into a river, hence became the river Spirit. The village is set in a peaceful location away from the main road linking Oyo to Ogbomoso and Ilorin, a dreadful stretch full of lorries humming their way at variable speeds. Overtaking certainly kills on that road whose sides are littered with skeletons of burnt-down vehicles. The Champs Elysées of Ile Oba Alaafin It takes ten to fifteen minute over a sandy track, that traverses large fields punctuated by lonely trees, to reach the village by c...

let's go to the river Once a year, in Oyo, there is a procession to honour Oduduwa. It starts at the Oduduwa shrine on the outskirt of the compound, a low structure with white walls. A blessing ceremony with the kola nut is performed.  Then a young virgin girl emerges from the entrance of the shrine all clad in white, bare-foot, her dark skin decorated with white spots to highlight her purity and wearing on her head a large calabash. The talking drums beat and tell what is happening. She sets-off supported by two elderly ladies also clad in white like the priest who is wearing black-pointed leather moccasins and carrying an iron scepter decorated with birds.  keep going Everyone walks very fast behind the priest. The procession is going to the river where a kola nut ceremony will take place to listen to the omen that will be then brought back all across town up the palace of the Alaafin.  which piece of news from the river The girl fainted ...

with Chief schnapps, it is easier to communicate with the spirits Oyo, the city where the Alaafin is residing, is hosting many compounds dedicated to the gods of the Yoruba religion. A number of families are residing inside the compound under the authority of an elder and priest called Baba. Somewhere in the compound is a shrine dedicated to a particular yoruba deity. These days the ancient religion of the Yorubas is in a complex situation. Islam and Christianity have become the mainstream religions which have made significant inroads in the population while the ancient cult of the Yorubas is being worshipped discretely by a minority of people. A few years back being an official worshipper could get you excluded from attending school, says Paula the cultural attache to the Alaafin, but this is gradually changing. Obviously monotheist cults are incompatible with ancient religions but in practice many muslims and christians will somehow have a form of relationship with the ancient c...

the Alaafin of Oyo and a few wives From the origin of the Yorubas to the Alaafin Olodumare is the name of the Supreme being in Yoruba language. He created  the Universe and all divinities (Irunmole), to whom he had delegated His powers on the creation of the earth and the humanity. Obatala was the first divinity to be created and had the responsibility to complete the creation of the earth and to mold the humans. Obatala in turn created Oduduwa, who the first human being living on the earth and the progenitor of all Yorubas. Oduduwa had one son called Akanbi, who got several sons, the last of which, called Oranyan is the ancestor of the Alaafin of Oyo. The Alaafin of Oyo is the traditional ruler of all Yorubas as he is blood-related to Oduduwa. In contrast the Ooni of Ife is a priest in charge of serving Oduduwa by taking care of the left spiritual property.  He is therefore a spiritual ruler of the Yorubas and not blood-related to the Yoruba progenitor. the...