Igede community Ogbomoso celebrates Igede National Day, lauds Oba Ghandi’s Cradles Festival’s initiative
Abdulrasak BELLO
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Igede Community in Ogbomoso zone of Oyo state Thursday gathered to celebrate the Igede National Day 2024 featuring different events including thanksgiving, exhortation, Igede national dance, goodwill messages, lavish serving of pounded yam (Iyan) with egusi soup and sumptuous meat etc.
This is as Chief Alex Otumala, Adigede of Ogbomosoland, heaped encomiums on the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III for what he called the monarch’s developmental strides particularly declaring support for the Ogbomoso Cradles Carnival, whose first edition is slated for December 2024.
Close to five hundred hilarious Igede tribes men and women participated in the occasion held at the Independence Hotel, Sabo, decked in their traditional wears, with an Igede traditional musician dishing out soulful songs.
Chief Otumala, highlighting the significance of the age-long festival, said it is the celebration of an important aspect of their culture embodying victory during a critical war in their homeland in Benue state and to mark the beginning of new yam harvest.
He however clarified that it is not New Year Festival they are celebrating as erroneously believed in some circles explaining it is more than that.
“Many do misconstrue our festival as New Yam Festival, it is not, it is Igede National Day, it is our freedom anniversary. Usually when new yam is out each family prepared yam to celebrate but then they came together to turn it into a yearly celebration and they consulted the then Igede king who aligned with the idea and told them they should choose the day they crossed the river and escaped the enemy during the time of their fathers.
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“So, it’s fixed for every September, as a remembrance anniversary of that significant event. Thus, it is not New Yam Festival, and it doesn’t involve rituals. It’s in remembrance of that important victory that gave us freedom. Our warriors were able to navigate a very wide river like from here to LAUTECH area, many were losing their lives hitherto, prompting Ifa divination and they followed Ifa’s instruction; it was after that that the enemy force was defeated as they could not cross the river, that is the day we commemorate today,” Chief Otumala said.
He recalled that when he was young he participated actively in the celebration in Ogbomoso, “Our elders invited people from far and near, musicians would come from Ilorin, Lagos, we danced disco then, it was a popular festival. But it was stopped.”
He commended one of his subjects, Gabriel Ogah, for its revival, saying the person worked very hard for the revival of the festival. “But this young man came to me that he wanted to revive the festival and he assured me he would ensure its success. In the light of this, I challenge other youths to emulate Gabriel Ogah, may God spare his life. It will be an annual event. There won’t be a fixed date but between September 1 and 5, any day our market day, Isigile Market Day, falls on, is the day it is usually celebrated.”
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Also, Mr. Idoko Samuel, “chairman committee for the five local governments in Ogbomoso zone, under our father Chief Alex Odumala, and the overall chairman Chief Dennis Onah,” lauded the youths for bringing back the festival, praying “God will continue to protect and bless everyone. The festival will be bigger as the years roll on.”
Mr. Ogah Gabriel, the initiator of the revival of the festival, enthused, while also speaking with Ogbomoso Insight, “I am happy today, when l was young, my fathers celebrated this festival but they stopped the celebration some time. So, l went to ask our traditional head in Ogbomosoland, Chief Alex Otumala, why the celebration of the festival was discontinued and he told me the present youths were not focused. I now voluntered to revive it and so I invited other youths.”
He challenged his colleagues to join in promoting their heritage, noting through that, “those who have talents can showcase what they have got. God is blessing we Igede people, let’s promote our culture. I commend our chief for his support, he gave us full support, he provided everything.”
Gabriel condemned the attitude of some of their tribe people who are not proud to associate with the tribe, noting, “Everyone should be proud of their tribe, why must you be ashamed of where God put you. Our young ladies are especially guilty of this. When you speak our language to them they pretend not to hear. But when they run into problem you see them coming. This is not ideal.”
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Mr. Okanga Emmanuel Audu, first zonal chairman (for 10 years) under Alex Otumala, also debunked the insinuation that the festival was ritualistic blaming some clergymen for this “misconception.” He remarked, “What we are doing does not involve rituals or offering of sacrifices. We have worked through the year, and that is why our fathers instituted the festival to celebrate our success in the farm and in other ventures. When new yam is produced they arranged it so that every family would on the same day prepare the yam, slaughter fowls or any other livestock to complement the yam meal.
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“It’s first held same day, individually, not collectively, they would consume the yam. But on the third day they would hold a joint celebration. And it won’t be in any month but September, on the day we regarded as Isigile Day. People will go to the market to buy what they needed, different drinks on the eve, and the celebration began over the night, they would drink, they would have interface, and flavoured the occasion with different proverbs, and on the main day, everybody celebrated.
“The significance is to offer thanksgiving to God for sparing our lives, after engaging in strenuous work all through the year, they felt they should celebrate, be happy along with their children, wives and different guests who would come. That is what we are doing today. The challenge however is that some pastors confused our people dissuading them against the celebration, yet they had no tangible reason.”
Audu explained there are three kinds of clothes in Benue – Tiv, Idoma, Igede, “this one I am wearing is Igede’s, this is our colour, and it is sewn in different styles. This is our colour for this festival.”
The Rev’d Peter Esimi Odigiri, of Methodist Church, Caretaker, Ogbomoso, who delivered the exhortation proudly informed that like Ogbomoso, Igede people were never conquered though he said they fought different battles against different foes. “So, this festival is in commemoration of these victories. Yam is our main food, we farm yam, and at the commencement of harvest we celebrate this festival. They founded a big market Isigele, where the harvested yam and other produces were sold. But before that our fathers would harvest the yam the same time to cook, eat together and rejoice together. It is not about rituals, they only mentioned about ritual to scare people from stealing others’ yam. In my preaching, I said the festival is in remembrance of the day our fathers were liberated, and I charged everyone to live in peace, and be modest in everything.”
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Meanwhile, the Adigede, said his people would love to participate in the forthcoming Ogbomoso Cradles Festival in December if invited “we will be happy to showcase our rich culture.”
Asked the population of Igede people in Ogbomoso, he boasted they are 15 percent of Ogbomoso population. “Some of us were born here like myself and some migrated later. We have a large population of Igede people in Ogbomoso, about 15 percent of the population. We contribute to the economy of the town in diverse ways. We are excited about the developmental initiatives of Oba Ghandi. He is filling an important gap in Ogbomoso. His Majesty knows where the shoe pinches in his domain and he has been making efforts to soothe it with balm of development. We should all rally round him. If we are invited we will cheerfully participate in the Ogbomoso festival. We will even parade our culture too to make it all encompassing,” Chief Otumala stated.
