Adimu Orisha Play

The myth, creed and socio-cultural significance of Adamu Orisa Play 

The present-day razzmatazz and glamour which marks the Adimu Orisa Play notwithstanding, this highly rated festival which has an occasional spot on the cultural calendar of the cosmopolitan city of Lagos is yet to lose its traditional and religious essence. Behind the scene, it is still heralded by divination and rituals peculiar to the African traditional religion.

Its veiled rituals perhaps explains why the festival which is popularly known as Eyo Festival is largely perceived to be a mere cultural fad with mass appeal transcending creed and race within the city of Lagos, where the predominantly Christians and Muslim populace would not publicly fraternise with adherents of African traditional religion.   

As a rule, it is staged in honour a deceased king, chief or eminent citizen of Lagos who had contributed to the growth and development of Lagos State during his or her lifetime. Essentially, the Adimu Orisa Play venerates the dead in a social form which is an expression of the traditional African religious belief in the spirit world.

Governor Babatunde Fashola in Eyo Regalia

Truly, the Adimu Orisa Play is more than a notch above the less glamorous and much dreaded ancestral worship festivals (Odun Egungun) which is wide spread among the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria. It is exclusive to Lagos State and can only be staged within the boundaries of Lagos Island. Ironically, is not indigenous to Lagos.

Its origin remains debatable with two divergent views holding sway among its adherents. Some believe that the deity was imported from the ancient Benin Kingdom in present day Benin City in Edo State, while a contrary view traced its origin to among the primeval Ijebus from Ibefun in Ogun State.  

Tracing the origin of the Adimu Orisa Play, Lagos indigene and patriarch of the Olugbani Family, Ganiyu Olugbani said it was bequeathed to Lagos by the people of Ijebu-Ibefun. He explained further that the festival evolved to its present glamorous state from the primeval parades of Egun Adimu (Orisa Oko), Egun Olugbani (Orisa Ologede) and Egun Oniko (Orisa Apena) in Ijebu-Ibefun area, from where it was brought to Lagos in the 17^th century.  

According to him, Efunyemi Olugbani, the queen of Oba Ado visited the deities in Ijebu-Ibefun to request a child. She offered sacrifice to the deities and soon after, she had a child. Upon her demise in the year 1750, Ejilu and Malaki, two of her male cousins sought the permission from Oba Akintoye, the then Oba of Lagos to bring the Adimu Orisa Play to Lagos in honour of Olori Efunyemi Olugbani.

The request was granted and the Adimu Orisa journeyed from Ijebu Ibefun to Oke Opa, present day Alexander Avenue in Ikoyi, for the funeral obsequities of Efunyemi, but it never returned back home. Subsequently, the Adimu Orisa Play held at Oke Opa in honour of other eminent Lagosians, until its performance was moved to Lagos Island by royal fiat.

However, there is a different historical viewpoint from that of the patriarch of the Olugbani Family. It states that Adimu Orisa was brought to Lagos from Benin in 1630 by Olorogun Agan, who settled at Oke Opa with the consent of Oba of Lagos. The allure of the Orisa Adimu Play was such that the Oba and his Chiefs travel from Lagos Island to Ikoyi to witness its lively performance. This was not for long. When Oba Ologunkutere of Lagos ascended the throne of Lagos, the festival moved to Ita Ado on Lagos Island, where it has remained since 1772.

Eyo Festival boosts tourisms in Lagos State

Unarguably the most popular social masquerade in the country, the Adimu Orisa Play is not an annual event. It is always at the behest of an individual or family that afford the expenses of staging it in honour of a deceased friend or family member. However, staging of the festival is subject to clearance from the Oba of Lagos, who decides if the deceased truly contributed to the development of Lagos.

Once clearance is gotten from the Oba of Lagos, the person or family interested in staging the Adimu Orisa Play will be led with the King’s staff of office (Opa-Oba) to the Olorogun Agan and Olorogun Igbesodi families domiciled Awe-Adimu at Ita-Ado in Isale-Eko, Lagos Island. At the Awe-Adimu, an Ikaro listing requirements for rituals as well as the cash requirement for performing the Adimu Orisa Play will be issued.

Once the Ikaro is settled, the Awe-Adimu consults the Ifa Oracle for a date which is then communicated to custodians of Orisa Oniko and Orisa Ologede, the two other deities that are part of the Adimu Orisa Play. The leaders of Eyo Onilaba or Alakete Pupa and Eyo Agere which are two equally important Eyo sects are also informed of the impending play.

In recent times however, it has become necessary for the Awe-Adimu to apply to the Lagos State Government for a permit Adimu Orisa Play can be staged because of the need to restrict vehicular movement on Lagos Island, divert traffic on Ikoyi and Victoria, while also ensuring the security of lives and properties during the festival which presently attracts local and international tourist in their thousands.

From obscure beginnings, this tribal funeral obsequity evolved into a festival of international standard ranked higher than Brazil’s highly rated Rio Carnival, by international spectators. Recognizing its tourism potentials, the Lagos State Government played a leading role in the 2009 edition of the Adimu Orisa Play staged in honour of Chief Theophilus O. Shobowale Benson, a prominent Lagosian and Nigeria’s first Minister of Information, at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.

Colourful, fascinating and lively, the festival featured a procession of several groups all adorned in white, broad-rimed hats of various colours and armed with a ceremonial staff used dexterously in dancing and for mock whipping of spectators.

Popular among the Eyo groups which featured in the procession are Ashogbon, Erelu Kuti, Eletu Odibo, Obanikoro, Oshodi, Bajulaiye, Oloto, Olumegbon, Eletu Iwashe, Akitoye, Onikoyi, Jakande, Etti, Oshodi, Sogunro, and Bajulaiye, as well as Agere, Ologede, Oniko, Alakete Pupa and Adamu Orisha, the five Eyo deities.

On a grand scale, the increasing popularity and international appeal of the Adimu Orisa Play has positioned Lagos State into a culture tourism destination, with all the income generation potentials that come with it for hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies, tour companies and souvenir shops, among others, which cascades into different levels of employment for the people of the state.