Ile-Ife: Sips from the
fountain of wisdom
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday, May
11, 2006
 |
•Oduduwa
statue at Enuwa Square
PHOTOS: SUN NEWS PUBLISHING |
|
On the way to Ile-Ife, a mix of excitement and apprehension
shaped our mood. Ile-Ife, a town in Nigeria’s southwestern
Osun State, is held up as the cradle of civilization and the
Fountain of Wisdom but one or two developments in this settlement’s
recent history puts a rather incongruous vanish on Ile-Ife’s
claim to fame.
A numbing example of this jarring paradox is the case of Chief
Iyiola Omisore, who won election to the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria from behind bars.
Traversing this ancient Yoruba city, charred shells of burnt
buildings along some major roads are haunting mementos of
the Ife-Modakeke "wars," which at least twice brought
our Fountain of Wisdom under a darkening spotlight. In spite
of these saddening developments, the tourist looked forward
with optimism to a fruitful encounter.
Although our latest visit was prompted by the transition of
Dr. Isola Omotoso Eluyemi, one of that town’s chiefs
and immediate past Director General of the National Commission
for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), going to Ile-Ife was nonetheless
like some pilgrimage.
Welcome to Ile-Ife, often simply called Ife. Although the
local Yoruba people believe in the existence of a paramount
deity, Olodumare, Ile-Ife actually boasts 201 gods and goddesses.
"There are 201 gods and goddesses in Ife," the late
Dr. Eluyemi once declared.
The deceased director general of the NCMM, who said he could
represent several title chiefs as well as Obatala and Ogun
priests at certain functions, had added that "The Ogboni
is the oldest title-taking society in every part of Yorubaland."
As holder of the Ogboni title of Apena-Ola, the man probably
knew what he was talking about.
It is not for nothing that the Yoruba hail Ile-Ife as a holy
city. Ile-Ife is also believed to be their first city, for
it was here the earth came to be, courtesy Odùduwà
and Obàtálá.
Odùduwà and Obàtálá
The Yoruba believe that Olodumare directed Odùduwà
and Obàtálá to create the universe. And
that Obàtálá made the first humans from
clay, while the former became the first divine monarch of
the Yoruba race. This creation myth has it that Ile-Ife is
both the Garden of Eden and the place, where the world came
to be. Historical sources state that archaelogical discoveries
show evidence of human settlement in Ile-Ife dating back as
far as 500 BC.
Oduduwa was the first Ooni (King) of Ile-Ife and is said to
have sired 16 sons, believed to have founded the original
16 kingdoms of Yoruba land. Yoruba folklore says God Almighty
(Olodumare) lowered Oduduwa down from a chain at Ile-Ife.
Oduduwa came down with a cock, some earth and a palm kernel.
Oduduwa poured the earth into water and the cock spread it
to form the land, while the kernel grew into a tree with 16
limbs. These represent the original kingdoms, which include
Abeokuta, Ila, Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Ondo and Oyo.
Another Yoruba tradition says following religious persecution
in Mecca, Oduduwa fled from Arabia to Ile-Ife, bringing with
him the Ifa religion, which he firmly established in Ile-Ife.
Oduduwa, the same lore continues, founded the Ogboni cult
to protect the ancient customs and institutions of his people.
According to the Oduduwa Heritage Organization web site www.oho.org,
there are many versions of the fables of Oduduwa. However,
all are unanimous he founded Ile-Ife and is linked to the
Benin Kingdom. Oduduwa did not only found Ile-Ife, he ruled
over the city for decades.
According to one Yoruba legend, Oduduwa and his son, Oranmiyan,
had travelled out of Ife, “to look after the people
of Benin.” However, Oduduwa left his son in Benin and
returned to Ile-Ife after emissaries from his homeland came
to Benin to beg him to come back and rule the city he founded.
Following his return and after ruling Ile-Ife for many more
years, Oduduwa, knowing that he would not remain on the earth
plane forever, invited Oranmiyan back to rule over Ile-Ife.
Sources say Oduduwa, who described this city as "the
nearest to his heart," added that he "would be comforted
knowing that a wise ruler, who is of his own blood, succeeded
him as king of Ile-Ife." Oranmiyan had consequently returned
to occupy the throne after the passage of his father. Oral
tradition says Oranmiyan was a man of unique gallantry and
awesome sight and having never lost a battle Ile-Ife continued
to prosper during his reign.
But the continued prosperity of Ile-Ife was bound to arouse
envy in other states’ rulers, who subsequently plotted
to attack and plunder The Source, after the death of Oranmiyan.
The lore also has it that Oranmiyan did not die and was not
buried like ordinary mortals. Close to death, he had stamped
his feet on the ground, which parted and the deity descended
into the earth.
It is said that a dying Oranmiyan had summoned the elders
of Ile-Ife to him. "You are a noble people. Though I
will soon be gone, you can still live as heroes, so that the
name of Ife is always spoken with awe," he is said to
have told the gathering. When the people begged him not to
abandon them, Oranmiyan had responded that he could not cheat
death.
He then promised never to forget Ile-Ife, and to return in
the town’s hour of need. He had then revealed some secret
words, with which his return to Ile-Ife could be invoked,
to the oldest of men in the gathering. After this, Oranmiyan
walked to the market place, where as he thrust his staff into
the earth he implored the people to "Remember the courage
of heroes." The staff miraculously transformed into a
column of stone (Opa Oranmiyan), which stands in Ile-Ife to
this day.
Welcome to Ile-Ife, alias Fountain of Wisdom in Nigeria’s
fabled State of the living spring (Osun State). No one knows
it all, and Ile-Ife is a permanent reminder of this axiom.
It is in allusion to this collective wisdom the Yorubas say
Omode gbon, agba gbon, ni won fi da Ile-Ife. Thus, in spite
the confounding nature of some developments in this town,
Ile-Ife’s Fountain of Wisdom remains unscathed. We return
to this community’s folklore for a classic example.
It is said that news of Oranmiyan's transition filled envious
leaders of neighbouring nations with joy and they had quickly
mobilized frightening garrisons, which marched toward Ife
with a view to laying waste the great city. Naturally, the
aborigines were alarmed and the town ran to the old men crying:
"You must invoke Oranmiyan, or our city and everyone
shall be destroyed."
In response, the old men went to the marketplace, and uttered
the secret words, which sources say roughly translate as "Come
swiftly, Oranmiyan; Ile-Ife is in danger." Pronto, the
world trembled and an armed Oranmiyan emerged from the bowels
of the opened earth to lead the people of Ife against their
aggressors. Quickly, most of the invaders were slaughtered
and the others fled and Oranmiyan once more disappeared into
the bowels of the earth. Expectedly, no army dared the invincibility
of Ife, for a long, long time.
Thus, cocooned in their peace and prosperity, Ile-Ife people
gloried and held many festivals. It is not known if Iputuputu-Jijemimu
(feasting, wining, dining and merry-making) entered Ife’s
culture at this point. However, in the evening, on a day of
one of these fiestas, after several hours of drinking palm
wine and merry-making, the people remembered Oranmiyan and
wished their redeemer could join them in their celebration.
"After all, Ile-Ife’s prosperity and greatness
owed to his protection,” they probably reasoned. Again,
the town requested the old men to summon Oranmiyan to them.
The sages would not, because the city faced no danger. "He
asked that we only call upon him in times of need," the
old men reminded the younger ones. But the town persisted
in their demand that Oranmiyan be invoked. They wished to
express their gratitude to the deity, the people explained.
Overwhelmed, the old men bowed to their demand and uttered
the secret words.
Voila! Oranmiyan surged from the bowels of the earth to confront
the enemy. In the darkness, he mistook the men in the market
place for the invaders. Oranmiyan thus sprung into battle
and slaughtered his descendants all night. Words cannot express
Oranmiyan’s grief at daybreak, when looking down at
the carcasses around his feet, he saw his victims’ ila-eke
(tribal marks on the cheeks).
Ye pa! He must have cried in anguish, on realizing that he
had slaughtered Ile-Ife people. As the fable goes, the deity
had thrown away his sword, lamenting: "I came, when called
to protect the city. Instead, I have killed my own people.
Never, will I fight again, ever." As usual, he had subsequently
disappeared into the ground, after stamping his feet and never
to be seen on this plane again.
Sightseeing
Ile-Ife boasts Moore (pronounced Mor-reh) Street, where scores
of traders display virtually all sizes of charred meat on
countless tables along both sides of the road. One end of
Moore leads to Ifewara community, down the road from Ife City
Hall, coming Enuwa Square.
Ile-Ife boasts numerous other centres of attraction. Some
of these tourist sites are sacred places, out of bound to
non-initiates, so the traveller needs a local guide or someone
from the local palace or museum as guide. These include Oduduwa
shrine, generally held up as the cradle of Yoruba culture;
Opa Oranmiyan, Ita Yemoo and the Temple of Peace.
The visitor is also advised to tour Ife Museum and several
traditional carvers’ studios, for Ife’s fame had
also been enhanced by art. The ancient bronze, terra cotta
and stone sculptures of Ife, done in naturalistic styles,
are known worldwide. Art history scholars say the rendition
of these art forms reached its apogee sometime between 600
and 800 years ago. Production of such artefacts is said to
have decline subsequently, following the shift of political
and economic power to the neighbouring Benin kingdom.
Great Ife
Despite their enviable heritage and towering place in history,
the native of Ile-Ife still come across as very genial and
accommodating. Somehow, the aborigines of Ile-Ife would win
you over, any time, with their civility and modesty. Travelling
through this town, you’d run into countless passersby
who greet you in the street. And if you ever asked for direction
inside a bus, virtually all the passengers would be eager
to lend a helping hand. In fact, some inhabitants might momentarily
alter their itinerary to lead you to your destination. Such
was my experience in this town fondly called The Source.
The tourist could glean some insight into the strategic location
of Ile-Ife just by standing at Mayfair Roundabout. Coming
from Ibadan, the wayfarer would notice on getting to Mayfair
that another road to the left, which seems to run parallel
to Ibadan Road, also meets that turning point. This is the
Old Ede Road. Just as two roads meet one end of Mayfair Roundabout,
the junction’s opposite side also opens into two avenues:
Ilesa and Ondo Roads to the left and right respectively.
Being a point of intersection between Ibadan, in neighbouring
Oyo State, and Ilesa as well as Ijebu-Ode and the Ondo and
Ekiti States towns of Akure and Ado-Ekiti respectively, Ile-Ife
was naturally going to develop rapidly.
But how did such an important crossroad in this ancient Yoruba
town come to be named Mayfair? The local hospitality and tourism
industry played a big role in this. Barely 100 meters into
Ilesa Road, the tourist would notice a dirt road to the left.
Like many streets on Ile-Ife’s undulating terrain, this
narrow strip is also on a slope. You’re in Mayfair close.
Like the nearby roundabout, this cul-de-sac, which terminates
at a school, also borrowed its name from Mayfair Hotel that
stands to the left as one enters the lane. Sources say Mayfair
is the oldest hotel in town.
Whether Mayfair is the premier or oldest extant lodge or not
in Ile-Ile, the inn, which occupies a sprawling terrace-like
landscape, is vibrant to this day. However, this is not to
say that many similarly great, if not greater, hotels have
not sprung up across Ile-Ife. For example, there are decent
guesthouses within the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) complex.
Ile-Ife also boasts Ife-Ibadan Hotel, Hilton Hotel and Diganga,
among several others. However, the traveller that prefers
to stay on campus needs to know that after 10pm, bus shuttles
in and out of the university stops, and the guesthouses are
kilometers away from the gate.
A correspondent said Diganga, which stands around Km 1 along
the Ife-Ibadan Expressway is as old as Mayfair but it was
difficult to confirm which preceded the other. In any case,
the rates at both inns are apparently the same. For example,
a night’s stay in a standard room at Diganga set us
back N1, 800, which is what the guest at Mayfair’s Double
King size room also pays.
However, the lodger has to pay a refundable deposit of N200
and N700 before checking into Diganga and Mayfair respectively.
Estimates put Ile-Ife’s population at around 502, 000.
Ile-Ife’s inhabitants are into various forms of businesses
including trading and farming. Cassava, yams, tobacco, cotton
and sundry grains are among major crops. Ile-Ife might be
more famous for other reasons but this town also boasts a
9, 000 capacity stadium. Ile-Ife also hosts a museum of Yoruba
Pottery at Ita Yemoo. This repository’s exhibits include
antique terra cotta pieces collected in the 1960s and the
early ‘70s by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier. These artefacts
are now in the custody of the Ife Museum, located in Enuwa.
Ile-Ife isn’t called The Source for nothing. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica states: "It (Ile-Ife) is one of the larger
centres and probably the oldest town of the Yoruba people."
Although this settlement, which lies 64km east of Ibadan,
is more popular as a centre of culture, its stature is also
waxing stronger as a centre of scholarship. Aside OAU and
a Centre for Professional Studies and Distance Learning, affiliated
to Houdegbe North American University in Benin Republic, a
University of Technology is currently under construction some
20km out from the city, on the way to Ibadan.
Epitaph
Having edited, at various times in the past, the Arts and
Review pages of Sunday Times, Thisday and National Interest
newspapers, I met Dr. Eluyemi in the line of work. Since Eluyemi
was a scholar, you couldn’t fault his perspicacity.
But questions would linger as regards the propriety or otherwise
of saddling him with the responsibility of running the NCMM,
given his many interests.
To me, Eluyemi came across as a self-effacing personality
and it would have been a surprise to hear him raise his voice.
Eluyemi lived a quiet life but after death, his funeral invoked
traffic jams along many usually sleepy streets of Ile-Ife.
A large crowd, including sympathizers from far-flung places,
turned up to pay their last respect. At Ife City Hall or along
Imore Road and wherever else Eluyemi’s remains lay in
state or his casket travelled, carried by pall-bearers from
famed corporate undertakers, Ebony, there was a human thicket.
Even a king couldn’t have wished for a more elaborate
farewell.
Born on November 13, 1938 in Ile-Ife, Dr. Eluyemi died on
February 18, 2006 in a military hospital in Lagos. After training
as a teacher, Eluyemi travelled to the then Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR), where he earned a Master of Arts
(MA) in Archaeology. Years later, he returned to the then
communist enclave for his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D). In
1963, before the completion of his doctoral thesis, he had
joined the faculty at Obafemi Awolowo University as a Junior
Research Fellow.
Interestingly, the man never ventured outside Ile-Ife until
he was in his 20s, when he enrolled at Government College,
Moore Plantation, Ibadan (GCI). Eluyemi had his early education
at Saint Paul’s Primary School and Saint Murumba’s
Teachers’ College both in Ile-Ife. After his course
at GCI, he had quickly returned to the land of his birth,
Ile-Ife, for his Advanced Level studies at Saint David School.
Despite training at various Christian mission institutions,
Eluyemi was a diehard traditional worshipper. Similarly noteworthy
is the fact that Eluyemi built a network of formidable contacts
across Nigeria’s various ethnic groups and geopolitical
zones, even though his world seemed to revolve around Ile-Ife.
President Olusegun Obasanjo put this succinctly, when he observed
in his letter of condolence to the deceased’s family,
that "In many respects, Dr. Eluyemi represented the absolute
pinnacle of the African spirit, knowledgeable in the modern
ways of western civilization without losing the traditional
values of his native heritage."
Just as Eluyemi was at home with various cultures, numerous
callings also fitted harmonious into this one man. Eluyemi
was, in deed, a man of many parts. He was an archaeologist,
a scholar, a traditionalist, a museum administrator and even
a politician, among others. As a politician, Eluyemi who ran
on the platform of the UNCP, was elected Member, House of
Representatives for Ife Constituency in 1998. In the chieftaincy
realm, Eluyemi was not only the Apena-Ola and the Apesin-Awo
of Ile-Ife but also the Asiwaju of his clan, Moore.
He, however, bagged his first chieftaincy title, Odole of
Idita in 1977. All together, Eluyemi held seven traditional
titles, including Apesin-Agbaye conferred on him by the National
Council of Ifa Religion. That Eluyemi got decorated as Kesinro
of Ketou in Benin Republic and Okaa Ome 1 of Igbo-Ukwu, shows
that his honours were not confined to Yoruba land or Nigeria
alone. In fact, Eluyemi’s first international award
probably came in 1965, when he received First Class Gold Medal
for a Foreign Soviet Scholar. Despite training in a communist
enclave, Eluyemi maintained good contacts with the Western
world and enjoyed what could be considered special relationship
with several US states, notably California, Florida, Georgia
and Philadelphia.
The Palace of the great Ife Kingdom would miss Chief Eluyemi.
Last year, when asked to describe the functions of Apena-Ola
of Ife, he had explained that his job is to be the fore-runner
to the Ooni. To be in front of the king, and ritually clearing
the way. The chief had added that the Apena of Ife is “the
custodian of the history of all the chieftaincy titles conferred
on people in Ife.” Thus, he personally read the citation
of all the new chiefs in Ife.
Critics complained about Eluyemi’s numerous trips abroad,
but it could be recalled that the NCMM recorded the recovery
46 cultural objects barely 18 months after Eluyemi assumed
office as that body’s director general. His protagonists
pointed out this feat was a fruit of the man’s tours
of several European countries such as Britain, France, Netherlands
and Switzerland, where countless such antiquities are being
held illegally.
Cynics may counter that 46 is a negligible number of the countless
Nigerian antiquities stolen and kept abroad; nonetheless,
Eluyemi’s teeming supporters would commend his effort.
Speaking while Eluyemi’s body lay in state at Ife Museum,
the acting Director General of the NCMM, Chief Nze Joseph
Okoro, remarked: “The loss of Dr. Eluyemi is a loss
to the whole country. But in the midst of this painful loss,
we celebrate the life of our departed Director General, who
had done so well.” Nze Okoro observed that in life,
“Eluyemi was like water. He had no enemy.” According
to the acting DG, Eluyemi was a detribalized Nigerian.
Hear him: “Although I am Igbo and Dr. Eluyemi was a
Yoruba man, we enjoyed a very good relationship, both at the
personal and official levels.”
Mr. Bode Adesina, Curator of Ife Museum, said Eluyemi’s
death was a terrible blow to him. “He was like a father
to me. He was also a role model to many of us.” Adesina
remarked that Eluyemi brought a lot of positive changes to
the NCMM during the late DG’s tenure. “He woke
us (the NCMM) from slumber, and facilitated the rehabilitation
of many national monuments as well as created jobs for numerous
people,” Adesina, who was appointed curator of Ife Museum
in 2001, said.
To Dr. Seyi Hambolu, outgoing Curator of Lagos Museum, his
relationship with the deceased DG could be taken at two levels.
Hambolu, a former curator of the Kano station of the NCMM,
said his interaction with Dr. Eluyemi dates back to the early
1980s. “As professional archaeologists, we had cause
to work together even before Dr. Eluyemi was appointed DG
of the NCMM. At the personal level, he was a fatherly figure.
We enjoyed working with him because he was accessible and
had a sense of mission,” Hambolu observed. Dr. Hambolu,
who is moving to the NCMM headquarters as Director of Research,
Planning and Publications, added that Eluyemi would be remembered
for setting a great store by manpower development and capacity
building.
When asked, if Eluyemi’s shoe would be too large to
fill, Hambolu replied: “I believe in the running of
systems. A well-developed system would always run. Continuity
is desirable and positive.”
Uncomfortable shoe to fill
Given the acute under funding that has continually plagued
the nation’s culture sector, it is doubtful Eluyemi’s
successor would have an easier ride. In 2002, for example,
the then director general had lamented: “There is never
enough fund to do what one wants to do for the promotion and
preservation of our heritage.” Such frustration must
have prompted the rue by Eluyemi, which revealed that barely
80 of the nation’s monuments had been registered by
2001, and that most were yet to be documented.
He had, however, added that efforts to register various monuments
in Cross River, Kaduna, Osun and other states would be accelerated.
It remains unclear; to what extent he succeeded in doing that.
Although Dr. Eluyemi narrowly missed the fabled milestone
of three-scores-and-ten years, much consolation could be found
in the fact that he did so much in the 68 years and some months
that he shared with us. Sun ‘re o, Asiwaju.
|
