In the history of Iwo, the ancient town never witnessed an Egungun Festival during which a masquerade would present a pressing iron gift to the Oluwo of Iwo.

Last Saturday, a masquerade, which goes by the name, Ajofeebo, stunned the teeming crowd inside the palace of Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi when he stepped forward and handed a brand new pressing iron to the Oluwo.

The odd spectacle literally caught the traditional rulers unawares watching the masquerade with amazement as it walked towards him on his seat. The apparently elated Oluwo rose from his seat, collected the iron and raised it up to the ovation by the large spectators who filled every available space in the palace.

He prayed for the masquerade and explored the opportunity to appraise his campaign for repackaged cultural festival.

“The pressing iron presented to me is not as important as the way the masquerade presented it. That is my message. That is what I am telling the Yoruba nation about our cultural heritage. Our festivals should be meant to show love, exchange of gifts and sportsmanship,” he sermonised.

Also decked in a colourful costume made from blue and red Ofi fabrics, the Oluwo blended well with over 100 masquerades who performed before him one after the other in amidst of wild applause by their followers and guests who complimented the traditional ruler at the occasion.

Significantly, all the masquerades appeared in what looked like new costumes, a sharp departure from their regular old, scary dresses.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the new outlook of the masquerade followed the strict directives from the Oluwo before the Egungun Festival, insisting that he would only welcome into the palace premises well-dressed masquerade who put on attires that match modern fashion trend.

It was learnt that the monarch had earlier sent messages to all masquerade families to sew new costumes for their masquerades in line with his efforts to change the face of cultural festivals in the town. Oba Akanbi, it was also learnt, even gave money to some of the masquerades to ensure compliance to new dress code.

An indigene of Iwo, who watched the performance, Biola Alarape, expressed his satisfaction at the outlook of the masquerades, commending the families for their cooperation with the directives from the Oluwo.

“I can say that we are seeing is good for our eyes. We can easily present his show to outside world. This life is not static; we live in a dynamic world in which things change quickly. There is no reason we should not upgrade our culture to follow the acceptable trend,” Alarape, who claimed to have also watched last year edition, said shortly before the show was rounded off.

Commercial activities at the surrounding streets witnessed a boom as sachet water and soft drinks hawkers did not subject themselves to much stress to sell to willing buyers who thronged the palace and filled the entrance to catch the fun of this year’s Egungun Festival in Iwo land.

Law enforcement operatives drawn from the regular police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) made their presence known amidst the crowd at this year’s Egungun Festival. Guided by reports of usual breakdown of law and order at performance involving many masquerades, the security agents lived up to expectations and provided check on would-be troublemakers.

Oba Akanbi justified their presence and summed it up thus: “There was always annual crisis during Egungun Festival before my enthronement. I brought sanctity and orderliness in. Since my reign, no single case of mayhem is recorded.

“And this is going to be the standard in every year. This Egungun Festival is supposed to be for catching fun; not making trouble. I am happy that we are walking away from that ugly past when tales of sorrow followed the Egungun Festival.”

Surrounded by about 20 traditional rulers from Iwo Kingdom, the Oluwo urged other towns to borrow a leaf from his innovation and upgrade Yoruba festival to the status of Christmas and others which are observed with fun and pageantry devoid of attacks and attendant violence.

The Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Information and Strategy, Alhaji Semiu Okanlawon was no less impressed by the glamour and excitement that characterized the festival, pointing out that Yoruba is blessed with rich cultural value and Iwo people with spirit of tolerating different religions.

Okanlawon, an indigene, who spotted a casual T-shirt, noted that the state government realized the significance of culture in general development, hence Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s special interest in giving equal opportunity to all faiths including officially recognizing a day known as Isese Day since the administration was inaugurated in 2010.

“What we saw today is evidence of enabling environment for each religion to express itself. That is the policy of the government into which the people of the state have keyed. You can see excitement in the people. You can see the large turnout. That goes to tell you that despite the fact that Iwo is Muslim dominated town, the people don’t forget their cultural heritage passed on to them,” he said.

Among the guests of the Oluwo was the Director of Museum and History of the Obafemi Awolwowo University, Professor Adisa Ogunfolakan, who also expressed his enthusiasm at the vision of Oba Akanbi to make Yoruba festival more attractive to the Non-Yorubas at home and in the diaspora.

With the donation and dress improvement, it is clear my message is yielding. I’m hopeful next year will be more enthusiastic. The Ludo game which we introduced this year also excited the people to identify with the Egungun Festival,” he revealed.

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